No abstract

Enabling local stakeholders to implement a Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme requires a critical understanding of their knowledge, interests and expectations of landscape functions. Bac Kan was among the first provinces in Viet Nam to pilot a Payments for Forest Environmental Services scheme, in 2012, after two years of technical assistance and training of local stakeholders. Stakeholders' knowledge and skills were found to be highest instantly after the training but quickly dissipated when not used or if not immediately followed by further training. The perceived complexity of PES and low understanding of buyers of environmental services and financial management demotivated stakeholders but they still aspired to implement PES schemes because the schemes were perceived to support livelihoods and enhance forest protection. Concerns are raised that local capacity for implementation is not highlighted in policies and guidelines. A comprehensive capacity-development program is required, including progressive training.

In this study, we focus on studying data and calculating climatic features of hail. In this study, a hail dataset was created by combining historic records from 186 meteorological stations for the period 1961 - 2021. The data are obtained from several sources including observations from the Viet Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration (VNMHA), annual reports of the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate change (IMHEN) and the Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VDMA). The data used in this study is defined from the official data sources. Therefore, the data quality control shows that this data may be considered good available data of hail. Research results for 1961 - 2021 show that the highest number of hail events was observed in the Northwest (743 events), and in the Northeast (557 events) subregions; the lowest number of hail events was observed in the South Central (16 events) and the South (27 events) subregions. The higher frequency duration of hail occurs from March to May, with the peak in April. The largest hail diameter, recorded in Vietnam is 12 cm at Bac Ha station on March 27, 2013; the common largest hail diameter size in history at stations is around 3 - 5 cm at the Northern stations and 1 - 3 cm at the southern stations.

The Leng River basin in BacKan province, northwest Vietnam hosts critical natural resources where lessons learnt from the pilot project of payment for forest environmental services (PFES) in Lam Dong and Son La provinces can be applied. PFES is broadly defined as an economic instrument that facilitates payments of forest environmental service flows to forest dwellers. The passage of a national PFES Decree in Vietnam where the K-factor framework was used to determine the payment level of environmental services created both opportunities and challenges in the design and implementation of PFES schemes.This paper presents how the national PFES policy was adapted, and how lessons in the pilot provinces were considered in developing a local PFES scheme. Important considerations and criteria for determining K-factors to standardize payments for similar environmental services, as well as the proposed PFES scheme for the Leng River Basin are discussed. The paper concludes that national policy framework and local interpretation of K-factors are crucially important in designing a PFES scheme that meets the realistic and pro-poor elements of PES. Finally, a PFES scheme must have detailed implementing guidelines that are developed with local stakeholders.