National Target 11 corresponds to Target 11 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The target aims to ensure that the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services is assessed, maintained and enhanced through sustainable use, the reduction of negative impacts on biodiversity, and the application of nature-based solutions in socio-economic development, natural disaster prevention and climate-change adaptation so that ecosystem functions and services are restored, maintained and enhanced for the benefit of all people and nature.

The target derives directly from the third strategic target of the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, vision to 2050 (Decision No. 149/QD-TTg, 2022), the Scheme on developing the multi-purpose value of forest ecosystems to 2030, vision to 2050 (Decision No. 208/QD-TTg, 2024), the National Target Program on Sustainable Forestry Development 2021-2025 (Decision No. 809/QD-TTg, 2022), the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy (Decision No. 523/QD-TTg), the National Forestry Master Plan (Decision No. 895/QD-TTg), the National Biodiversity Conservation Plan (Decision No. 1352/QD-TTg), the National Environmental Protection Strategy (Decision No. 450/QD-TTg), the Scheme to expand marine protected areas (Decision No. 1539/QD-TTg), Decree No. 107/2022/ND-CP on the North Central Emission Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) and Decree No. 58/2024/ND-CP, 2024 on investment policies in forestry.

Key quantitative elements

Valuation and payment for ecosystem services:

• Guidelines on ecosystem service valuation developed and piloted in nature reserves; policies on payment for forest environment services (PFES) developed; and policies for payment for wetland and marine ecosystem services researched, piloted and applied in order to protect, recover and develop biodiversity and natural scenery (Decision 149).
• Revenue from forest environmental services growing on average 5% per year (Decisions 208 and 523), reaching around VND 3.5 trillion per year in 2021-2025 and around VND 4 trillion per year in 2026-2030 (Decision 895). Forest environmental service fees to be institutionalized so as to reflect the real value that forests provide, with revenue reinvested in forest protection and development and fairly shared with local communities (Decision 208).
• Types of forest environmental services diversified and expanded, including forest carbon sequestration and storage, eco-tourism, leisure, entertainment and aquaculture services (Decisions 208 and 895).

Multiple-use value of forest ecosystems:

• Economic value per unit area of cultivated land increased by 20% or more by 2030 through integrated agriculture-forestry-fisheries models under the forest canopy, in addition to the value of planted timber (Decision 208).
• Value of processed non-timber forest products and medicinal herbs increased 1.5 times against 2020 by 2030 (2.0 times by 2050); exports of NTFPs and medicinal herbs grown under the forest canopy reaching 10-15% of total forest-product export value by 2030 (25% by 2050).
• Revenue from community tourism, ecotourism, resort tourism and entertainment activities increased by 50% against 2020 by 2030 (100% by 2050), with impacts assessed and strictly controlled to minimize negative effects on forest management, nature conservation and biodiversity.
• Domestic timber meeting at least 80% of the wood processing industry’s raw-material needs by 2030 (100% by 2050), with 100% of timber and wood products from legal sources.
• Special-use forest area maintained and expanded by 10-15% by 2030 against 2020, improving nature conservation and biodiversity in forest ecosystems.
• Over 50% of ethnic-minority workers living in forested areas engaged in the forestry sector by 2030; 40% or more of forestry workers trained by 2030 (70% by 2050); average income of ethnic-minority workers in forestry increased 1.5 times by 2030 against 2025 (2.0 times by 2050).

Carbon and climate-regulating services:

• Under the North Central ERPA, the agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MARD) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), Vietnam transferred 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 from natural forests to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF); 95% of the transferred emission reductions were returned to Vietnam to serve its Nationally Determined Contribution (Decree 107).
• ERPA revenue is legally defined as revenue from forest environmental services for forest carbon absorption and storage and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by limiting forest loss and degradation, sustainable forest management and green growth. Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund received and allocated the revenue to forest owners, residential communities participating in forest management, and commune People’s Committees through provincial funds to improve their livelihoods (Decree 107).
• Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by limiting deforestation and forest degradation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks and applying sustainable forest management (REDD+) (Decisions 809 and 208).
• Carbon storage capacity of typical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove forests/coastal wetlands, is assessed. Payment for natural ecosystem services will be implemented in marine areas (Decision 1539).

Public investment underpinning ecosystem services:

• Funding for special-use forest/protected area protection: an average of VND 150,000/ha/year for special-use and protection forest management boards (in addition to recurrent operating expenditure) and VND 500,000/ha/year for residential communities and other assigned entities; rates rise to 1.2 times in zone II and zone III communes and 1.5 times in coastal areas, reflecting the higher value and vulnerability of these protective ecosystems (Decree 58).
• Funding for forest rehabilitation and management: an average of VND 400,000/ha for developing sustainable forest management plans and obtaining sustainable forest management certification. Funding for natural regeneration averages VND 1,000,000/ha over six years and VND 2,000,000/ha with supplementary planting within three years and then followed by VND 1,000,000/ha for the next three years. In addition, funding is provided to support forest fire prevention and control, the construction of forestry roads, increasing forest coverage, and high-tech forestry, with provincial People’s Councils setting specific rates according to local socio-economic conditions (Decree 58). Funding for livelihood development and life improvement of inhabitants in buffer zones of special-use forests: an average of VND 50 million per community per year, prioritised for agricultural and forestry extension, cultivars and breeds, small-scale processing equipment, and community structures such as clean water, lighting, communication, rural roads and cultural houses, is conditional on successful forest protection and a commitment made with the special-use forest management board (Decree 107).

Nature-based solutions and regulating services:

• Nature-based solutions are increasingly being adopted in socio-economic development, disaster prevention and climate-change adaptation. The ecosystem approach is applied in vulnerable areas such as river basins and the Red River and Mekong deltas to raise the resilience and recovery capacity of natural ecosystems (Decision 149).
• Negative impacts on biodiversity are limited through improved strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment, and by keeping resource use and emissions within the pollution load of the ecosystem (Decision 149).
• Coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves restored to regenerate marine ecosystems and provide coastal protection (Decision 1539); water-, air- and disaster-regulating services supported by the environmental quality targets of Decision 450 (river-basin water quality index, urban air quality index, and clean water supply of 100% urban and 80% rural by 2030).

References

Decision No. 149/QD-TTg dated 28 January 2022 approving the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205263

Decision No. 208/QD-TTg dated 29 February 2024 approving the Project on developing the multi-purpose value of forest ecosystems until 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=209821

Decision No. 450/QD-TTg dated 13 April 2022 approving the National Environmental Protection Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205605

Decision No. 523/QD-TTg approving the Viet Nam Forestry Development Strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=202996

Decision No. 809/QD-TTg approving the Sustainable Forestry Development Program for 2021-2025 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=206117

Decision No. 895/QD-TTg dated 24 August 2024 approving the National Forestry Master Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=211000

Decision No. 1539/QD-TTg dated 10 December 2024 approving the Scheme on expanding and establishing new marine protected areas and fisheries resource protection zones and restoring marine ecosystems to 2030, in order to ensure that marine and coastal protected areas cover 6 percent of Viet Nam's natural marine area (in Vietnamese). https://chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=211963&classid=0

Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of several articles of the Law on Forestry (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=195435

Decree No. 107/2022/ND-CP on pilot transfer of emission reductions and financial management of the greenhouse-gas emission reductions payment agreement for the North Central Region (in Vietnamese). https://congbao.chinhphu.vn/van-ban/nghi-dinh-so-107-2022-nd-cp-38413/42749.htm

Decree No. 58/2024/ND-CP on a number of investment policies in forestry (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=210315

• Assess and value biodiversity and ecosystem services: Expand the ecosystem service valuation in the special-use forest/protected area system. Build the national biodiversity database and value the multiple values of forest, wetland and marine ecosystems (Decision 149).
• Develop and expand payment for ecosystem services: implement and improve PFES; institutionalize service fees that reflect the real value forests provide; diversify service types and payers, including forest carbon sequestration and storage, eco-tourism, leisure, entertainment and aquaculture; and expand payment for wetland and marine ecosystem services (Decisions 149, 208 and 895).
• Develop the multiple-use value of forest ecosystems: develop legal timber and large-timber plantations; develop non-timber forest products and medicinal plants under the forest canopy; build integrated agriculture-forestry-fisheries models; and develop controlled ecotourism, resort and community tourism linked to traditional crafts and indigenous cultures (Decision 208).
• Implement results-based forest carbon finance: transfer emission reductions under the North Central ERPA to the FCPF through the IBRD, with 95% returned to serve Vietnam’s NDC; treat the revenue as forest environmental service income for carbon absorption and storage and channel it through the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund and provincial funds to forest owners, communities participating in forest management and commune People’s Committees; apply the prescribed expenditure norms (forest-protection funding at least equal to and up to twice state-budget support; VND 50 million per community per year for livelihoods); and implement REDD+ by limiting deforestation and forest degradation and conserving and enhancing carbon stocks (Decree 107 and Decision 809).
• Secure public investment for the ecosystems that supply the services: fund special-use and protection forest protection (VND 150,000/ha/year for management boards; VND 500,000/ha/year for households, communities and other assigned entities, with 1.2x in zone II/III communes and 1.5x in coastal areas); fund livelihood development for buffer-zone communities at VND 50 million per community per year; fund sustainable forest management solutions and certification at up to VND 400,000/ha. Other elements that may be funded include natural regeneration, forestation, firefighting, forestry roads and increased tree coverage (Decree 58).
• Apply nature-based solutions and the ecosystem approach: increase adoption of nature-based solutions in socio-economic development, disaster prevention and climate-change adaptation; restore coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves; assess blue-carbon storage in marine ecosystems; and replicate ecosystem- and community-based livelihood models adapted to climate change (Decisions 149, 1539, and 1117).
• Reduce negative impacts on biodiversity: improve the quality of strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment; integrate biodiversity into planning and public investment projects; supervise biodiversity commitments during project implementation; and keep extraction, use and emissions within the ecosystem’s pollution load (Decisions 149 and 450).
• Share benefits fairly and secure livelihoods: ensure fair sharing of ecosystem-service revenue with local communities; engage communities in tourism planning, management and service provision; preserve and promote indigenous knowledge and traditional cultural identity; and raise the incomes of ethnic minorities and people living in and near forests (Decisions 208 and 149; Decrees 107 and 58).
• Other measures: apply science, technology and databases; build capacity for biodiversity valuation and train foresters; attract social and international resources; and implement monitoring and evaluation (Decisions 208, 809, and 149).

References

Decision No. 149/QD-TTg dated 28 January 2022 approving the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205263

Decision No. 208/QD-TTg dated 29 February 2024 approving the Project on developing the multi-purpose value of forest ecosystems until 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=209821

Decision No. 450/QD-TTg dated 13 April 2022 approving the National Environmental Protection Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205605

Decision No. 523/QD-TTg approving the Viet Nam Forestry Development Strategy for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=202996

Decision No. 809/QD-TTg approving the Sustainable Forestry Development Program for 2021-2025 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=206117

Decision No. 895/QD-TTg dated 24 August 2024 approving the National Forestry Master Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=211000

Decision No. 1539/QD-TTg dated 10 December 2024 approving the Scheme on expanding and establishing new marine protected areas and fisheries resource protection zones and restoring marine ecosystems to 2030, in order to ensure that marine and coastal protected areas cover 6 percent of Viet Nam's natural marine area (in Vietnamese). https://chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=211963&classid=0

Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of several articles of the Law on Forestry (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=195435

Decree No. 107/2022/ND-CP on pilot transfer of emission reductions and financial management of the greenhouse-gas emission reductions payment agreement for the North Central Region (in Vietnamese). https://congbao.chinhphu.vn/van-ban/nghi-dinh-so-107-2022-nd-cp-38413/42749.htm

Decree No. 58/2024/ND-CP on a number of investment policies in forestry (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=210315

• Ecosystem approach: National target 11 is built on managing and valuing ecosystems as providers of multiple goods and services, and the ecosystem approach is explicitly applied in climate-change adaptation and in vulnerable areas such as river basins and the Red River and Mekong deltas (Decisions 149, 208 and 1539).
• Access to financial resources: the target both depends on and generates finance. Decree 58 sets the legal framework of funding per hectar, such as a funding of up to VND 400,000/ha for developing a sustainable forest management plan and obtaining a sustainable forest management certification, while PFES, forest carbon payments under the ERPA and ecotourism revenue generate returns that are reinvested in forest protection and development and shared with communities (Decisions 208 and 809; Decrees 58 and 107). 
• Contribution and rights of local communities: fair sharing of ecosystem-service benefits is required; communities participate in tourism planning, management and service provision; and both the ERPA (Decree 107) and Decree 58 provide VND 50 million per community per year for livelihood development for communities participating in effective forest management and protection. Direct beneficiaries include ethnic minorities, people in mountainous areas, forest workers and people living near forests (Decisions 208 and 149; Decrees 107 and 58).
• Different value systems: the traditional cultural identity, scenic and historical values and indigenous knowledge of local communities are preserved and promoted, and indigenous knowledge is used to increase the added value of forests and to build tourism products (Decisions 208, 149).
• Fulfillment of the three objectives of the Convention: VN11 balances conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services (Decisions 149, 208).
• Intergenerational equity: ecosystem services are to be sustainably used and maintained so as to generate benefits for the general public, ensure ecosystem security and support the country’s sustainable development for present and future generations (Decisions 149 and 1352).
• Science and innovation: valuation guidelines, ecosystem-service and carbon-storage assessments, biodiversity databases, and research and technology transfer underpin the assessment and enhancement of ecosystem-service values (Decisions 149, 208 and 1539).
• National circumstances, priorities and capabilities: the target reflects Vietnam’s forest-dependent livelihoods, its established PFES system, its exposure to natural disasters and climate change, and its valuation and accounting capacity (Decisions 149, 208 and 450).
• Consistency with international agreements or instruments: the target supports Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contribution and the Paris Agreement through forest carbon services and REDD+, and cooperates with the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility under the ERPA (Decree 107; Decisions 809 and 208).
• Formal and informal education: training and technical guidance for forestry workers (40% or more by 2030), workshops, dissemination and communication on the values of forest ecosystems and ecotourism are built into implementation (Decisions 208 and 809).
• Cooperation and synergies; whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach: implementation spans the ministries responsible for agriculture, forestry and environment and provincial People’s Committees, with forest owners, enterprises, communities and social resources engaged through public-private partnership (Decisions 208, 149 and 809).
• Collective effort towards the targets: National Target 11 is delivered through a coordinated set of biodiversity, forestry, environmental, marine and climate-finance instruments.

National Target 11 covers the following GBF Target elements:

• Restore, maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people: covered - the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services is assessed, maintained and improved through sustainable use, with quantified growth targets for forest environmental service revenue (5%/year), NTFP and medicinal-herb value (1.5x by 2030), ecotourism revenue (+50% by 2030) and per-unit-area value of integrated models (+20%) (Decisions 149, 208).
• Regulation of climate: covered - forest carbon sequestration and storage services, REDD+ and the North Central ERPA (10.3 million tCO2), and assessment of blue-carbon storage in coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves (Decree 107; Decisions 208, 809, 1539).
• Regulation of water and air, and soil health: partially covered - addressed mainly through the National Environmental Protection Strategy (Decision 450), which sets river-basin water quality, urban air quality and clean water supply targets, and through watershed protection forests and PFES for water regulation; these are reported principally under national target VN7.
• Protection from natural hazards and disasters: covered - nature-based solutions and the ecosystem approach applied in disaster prevention and climate-change adaptation, including watershed, coastal and mangrove protection forests and restoration of coral reefs and seagrass beds in vulnerable areas such as the Red River and Mekong deltas (Decisions 149, 1539).
• Reduction of disease risk: not specifically addressed within VN11; health-related aspects of biodiversity are reported under national targets VN5 (pathogen spillover and the One Health approach) and VN7 (pollution).
• Pollination: not explicitly addressed by a dedicated measure or indicator; it is covered indirectly through agricultural-ecosystem protection and the restriction of agrochemicals reported under VN7 and VN10.
• Through nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches: strongly covered - the explicit adoption of nature-based solutions in socio-economic development, disaster prevention and climate adaptation is a defining element of VN11 (Decision 149).
• For the benefit of all people and nature: covered - fair benefit-sharing of ecosystem-service revenue with local communities, and income, employment and training targets for ethnic minorities and people living in and near forests (Decisions 208; Decree 107).

Aspects not fully covered are that a national ecosystem-services account is not yet established; biodiversity valuation is at the pilot stage; and payment for wetland and marine ecosystem services is still being piloted.

There are no official commitments from non-state organizations to meet this national target; however, the following actors are actively working to help achieve it.

• Forest owners, enterprises, and the private sector are participating in PFES schemes and investing in ecosystem restoration. 
• Wood processing and exporting companies are required to implement Non-Detriment Findings (NDF) recommendations.
• Local communities and indigenous groups engage in sustainable forest management and protection of ecosystem services in exchange for benefit-sharing.
• Active international and local NGOs include: The World Bank supported the transfer of emission reductions under the North Central Emission Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) to the FCPF through the IBRD. UNDP-Vietnam supported the development of a scheme for payment of marine and wetland ecosystems, and other organizations such as GIZ, Winrock/USAID, CIFOR-ICRAF, Forest Trends, SNV, and WWF.

Additional means of implementation are needed, including: build technical and institutional capacity to establish a national ecosystem-services account consistent with headline indicator B.1 (SEEA Ecosystem Accounting); completion of the legal and methodological framework for valuing and paying for wetland and marine ecosystem services; expansion of results-based forest carbon finance beyond the North Central region and development of the domestic carbon market for forest carbon services; sustain and allocate predictable budget at the levels set by Decree 58; sustained investment in monitoring and in the fair distribution of ecosystem-service revenue to communities; capacity to assess and control the impacts of ecotourism on biodiversity; and continued international cooperation and technology transfer.

This target is a key component of Decision No. 895 (National Forestry Planning 2021-2030) and Decision No. 208 (multi-use forest ecosystem values), Decree No. 58 (investment policies), and Decision No. 232 (carbon market), which explicitly sets objectives and solutions to enhance the value of forest ecosystem services through 2030 and outlines the vision for 2050. It contributes directly to Vietnam’s NDC, net-zero 2050 goal, and multiple SDGs (13 and 15) and national climate and biodiversity strategies.