ABSTRACT
Forests comprise a mix of blue and green water, meaning that the biomass produced utilizes rainfall that percolates down into the water table as well as that which moistens the soil. Preserving or destroying forested lands has dramatic impacts on the character of the hydrological regime. UNREDD (and REDD+) aim to preserve forests as a means of sequestering carbon. In many cases, this new role of the forest (as a global good in the fight against climate change) has negative impacts on its historical role as integral element of local livelihoods (through, for example, the provision of non-timber forest products). This negative impact derives from local people’s exclusion from the forest, and government’s characterization of them as a problem in the fight against climate change.
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UNREDD) in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. The aim in doing this is to demonstrate the challenges incurred in undergoing such a process in a developing nation set on sustainable economic growth. These challenges include conflicting policies and strategies for socioeconomic development, insecure land tenure and challenges to meaningful participation. In highlighting these difficulties, the paper illustrates the complexity of achieving blue and green water security within Lam Dong Province; moreover, it helps conceptualize a possible socially and environmentally positive future of UNREDD for all of Vietnam. For true success of UNREDD in the country, we argue, policy reform and increased recognition and involvement of indigenous peoples and minority groups that manage the forest are required. In this way, the boomerang effect witnessed in other parts of the world – e.g. Indonesia, Ethiopia – may be avoided.
