Establishment of Forest Reference
Level in Viet Nam
Presenter: Nguyen Dinh Hung
Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI)Tokyo, 7 February 2018

What is FREL/FRL?
••••

Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) and Forest Reference Level (FRL) arebenchmarks for assessing the performance of REDD+.
FREL: including deforestation & forest degradation
FRL: including reforestation & forest restoration (i.e. enhancement of C stock)
To obtain and receive results-based finance, developing country Parties shouldhave a national FREL/FRL, or as an interim measure, subnational FRELs/FRLs(Decision 2/CP.17. Par.64; Decision 1/CP.16. Par.71).

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FREL/FRL technical guidance• Unit: tCO2/year• Should follow most recent IPCC guidelines as adopted orencouraged by the COP• Should maintain consistency with GHG Inventory in National
Communications (data & methods)• Data sets, approaches, models and assumptions should betransparent, complete, consistent and accurate.
• Should conduct uncertainty assessment• May use a stepwise approach; use subnational FRELs/FRLs asan interim measure• Should update FREL/FRL periodically taking into account newknowledge, trends and any modification of scope andmethodologies• Allow adjustment to national circumstances3

International FREL/FRL process• FREL/FRL is the only REDD+ element to be technicallyassessed by UNFCCC• The technical assessment (TA) is a facilitative process;consider as opportunity for improvement• 25 countries have submitted FREL/FRL to UNFCCC• Vietnam is among the countries having TA reports
published4

Viet Nam FREL/FRL submission process
2015 Preparation
FREL
submittedto UNFCCC

Final reportof TAMay 2017

Jan. 2016• Prepared by FIPI and VAFS withtechnical support from FAO(UN-REDD Programme)• Consultation meetings forimprovement• Validated & endorsed byMARD (VNFOREST)

TA review& exchangewithnationalteam

TA reviewprocessMar. 2016
ModifiedFRELsubmittedinJul. 2016

• National FREL/FRL submitted
to UNFCCC on Jan 2016
• Technical assessment from Mar
2016 to April 2017
• TAR was published on 5 May
2017
5FREL/FRL parameters• Scale: national (all forests are considered as managedforests)• Scope: All 5 activities divided into FREL and FRL• Reference period: 1995-2010 (15 years)• Pools included: AGB and BGB• Gases included: only CO2 (non-CO2 is insignificant)• Data: NFIMAP’s sample plot data and wall-to-wall forest
cover maps every 5 years from 1995 to 2010.
NFIMAP: National forest inventory, monitoring and assessment program6

Forest definition and classification
Forest definition:– Following Circular no. 34 (2009)– Minimum area: 0.5 ha– Minimum height: 5m– Minimum canopy cover: 10%Classification:– 17 types in total– 12 forest types (1 to 12)– Types 1 to 3 are based on
timber volumeCode1234567891011121314151617

Forest and land use type
EGBL - rich
EGBL - medium
EGBL - poor
EGBL - regrowth
Deciduous
BambooMixed woody - bambooConiferous
Mixed broadleaf - coniferous
Mangroves
Limestone forest
Plantations
Limestone without forest
Bared land
Water bodies
Residence
Other land7

Land stratification
NortheastNorthwest

Red River Delta
North
CentralCoast

Paracel Islands

CentralHighlands
MekongRiver
Delta

8 agro-ecologicalregions based on
both ecological andadministrative units

South
CentralCoast

Southeast
Spratly Islands

8Activities included
All 5 REDD+ activities areincluded:• Reducing emissions
from deforestation• Reducing emissions
from forest degradation• Conservation of C stock• Sustainable
management of forests• Enhancement of C stock9

Approach for calculating emissions/removals

Activity Data(ha yr-1)

Land Monitoringx

Emission/Removal
Factors(CO2 eq. ha-1)

REDD+ GHG
Inventory=National forest inventory
Allometric equations(CO2 eq. yr-1)

GHG Emissions andRemovals
National
Communications
REDD+2005

Inventory

QA/QC

e.g.
100 ha of EGBL forest
deforested each year

Each ha of deforestation of
EGBL forest emits 500 tCO2e

UNFCCC

Emissions
Inventory
Database

Emission is 100 x 500 =50,000 tCO2e per year10

Activity data generation

1995200020052010• Forest cover maps (1995, 2000, 2005and 2010) are used
• Originally generated by FIPI as results ofNFIMAP 4 cycles• Based on satellite imagery interpretationin combination with ground surveys• Improved by several international andnational supports (NORDECO, JICA,MARD, UN-REDD)• Equivalent to IPCC’s Approach 3

Forest maps

Land use changematrices

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Emission/removal factors calculation• Calculated as the difference of C densities between 2 classes ofchange, and converted to tCO2e.
– EF/RF = (Cbefore – Cafter) X 44/12– If > 0: emission factor (EF)– If < 0: removal factor (RF)

• C densities for forest types are derived from NFI 4 cycles plot datain combination with country-specific allometric equations• For mangroves, C densities are taken from literature review• For non-forest areas, C densities are assumed as 0
• IPCC’s default root-to-shoot ratio (0.20 for AGB < 125 tC/ha and0.24 otherwise), carbon fraction (0.47)• Equivalent to IPCC’s Tier 212

Carbon densities calculationNFIMAP plot data
DBH

H of 3trees/plotHeightcurve

WD

H of alltrees
Country-specificallometric equations
Biomass/carbon

Calculation of missing tree heights

Species

AGB: Country-specific data & AEs

BGB: Default R/S ratios (0.20 or 0.24)
Carbon: Default carbon fraction (0.47)
13National circumstances & adjustment

Programme 661
Programme 327

 Need to adjust for the major national efforts of reforestation under Prog. 661
Method: Conduct studies to estimate the successful rate of Prog. 661
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Results of emissions and removals

No clear trend =>using averageResults of Prog.
661

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Proposed FREL/FRL
FREL: ~60 million tCO2e/yr

FRL: ~-40 million tCO2e/yr

16Summary of technical assessment• Viet Nam’s FREL/FRL is overall
accordance with the guidelines
for submission of information onFREL/FRL• Acknowledges Viet Nam’s efforts
to improve the transparency ofthe data used in the constructionof its FREL/FRL• Commends Viet Nam for showing
a strong commitment to thecontinuous improvement of its
FREL/FRL estimates in line withthe stepwise approach17

TA recommendations• Use of a consistent approach to geospatial image interpretation
across the time series• Harmonization of the activity data and emission factors used
between the GHG inventory and the FREL/FRL submission• Provision of time-series information on forest and land usetransitions• Use of time-series consistent data in the estimation of carbon
stock densities• Improvement of the definition of forest degradation to include
thresholds like canopy cover or carbon stock decline to exclude
short-term loss of carbon stocks• Inclusion of non-biomass pools and non-CO2 gases• Assessment of the effect of forest fires on the resulting non-CO2
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

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Future improvements• Develop forest cover maps based on previous maps toincrease consistency and reduce artifact changes• Generate time-series information on forest and land
use transitions• Harmonize the activity data and emission factors used
between GHG inventory (LULUCF) and FREL/FRL• Include other carbon pools (deadwood, litter)• Revise the classification system to make uncertainty
assessment easier

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Thank you for your attention!
FREL/FRL development process has been supported by:• UN-REDD Viet Nam Programme• Norway, Finland, Japan Governments• FAO• MARD• Others

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