Forest Sector Development Project

The development objective of the overall World Bank Forest Sector Development Project is poverty alleviation through sustainable forest management, which will be achieved through expansion and better management of Vietnam’s plantation forests and the stimulation of small-scale production forestry, particularly by poor, small-holder farmers. The global environmental objective of the project’s GEF co-financed component is to conserve biodiversity of global significance in Vietnam’s Special Use Forests. This objective will be achieved by: (a) establishing a pilot national SUF financing mechanism (a Conservation Fund) that will provide start-up support, on a competitive basis, to up to 50 poorly-managed SUFs of high biodiversity value to help them design and implement their first conservation management plans; and (b) providing technical assistance support on SUF conservation and management.