Swiss Re launched the ReSource Award to promote sustainable watershed management.
Swiss Re presented its second annual ReSource Award yesterday, an initiative to actively promote the development and introduction of sustainable watershed management.
The first prize of the 2003 ReSource Award went to a project in Vietnam aimed at allocating land rights to indigenous communities, thereby delegating the responsibility for conserving natural resources to those directly affected. The project is a partnership between the WWF Indochina and the Quang Nam Forest Protection Department.
Swiss Re took the opportunity offered by the awards ceremony to gain further insight into this exciting, pioneering project, which is a prime example of successful cooperation between a government office and a non-governmental organization.
Interview with representatives of the winning project:
Ms Nguyen Thi Dao, Ecoregion Manager of WWF Indochina and Project responsible,
and
Mr Thai Truyen, Vice Director, Provincial Forest Protection Department of Quang Nam Province
First, our warmest congratulations to your project… How do you feel about getting the first prize in the 2003 ReSource Award?
Ms Dao: Personally, I feel very proud, and I’m also very excited for the project organization. We received the announcement that we had won rather late, so it was a big, last-minute surprise.
How did the project come into being? How did it evolve?
Ms Dao: This pilot project is part of a bigger project called MOSAIC (Management of Strategic Areas for Integrated Conservation) which the Quang Nam provincial government has been running for over three years now. MOSAIC was set up to devise a conservation strategy for the region’s biodiversity and to safeguard the local population. In the initial stages of the overall project, we identified priorities for conservation in the province and did a lot of community-based work, and our project was based on that. Basically, we are working with the government to protect the area’s natural resources for the ultimate benefit of the Ka Tu communities.
Can you briefly describe what makes your winning project special?
This project’s main aim is to allocate land and resource rights to the indigenous Ka Tu communities. Through this approach, they are given responsibility for their own welfare, ensuring sustainable management of the region’s forest and rivers by the indigenous population.
How is your local government involved in this project?
Mr Truyen: The government is and always has been concerned about protecting natural resources, and has realised the importance of involving local people to guarantee long-term success. However, in the past, the land wasn’t allocated to a community but to individuals or families: in Vietnam we have 54 different ethnic groups, and that didn’t make the situation easier! But in 2001, the government began a new initiative which recognises communities as legal entities in order to protect and restore natural resources. It was this change in law that provided the foundation for this project.
How do you see the government involvement as the project moves on?
Our provincial government is committed to protecting natural resources, but we have neither the money nor the people to do everything ourselves. Therefore our main involvement will be to educate the people. It’s basically a win-win situation: the local community will get land ownership; we will educate the new land owners; and then the government will have more people with the interest in protecting our natural resources as well as the know-how to do it.
What has to be done in your view to adapt this project setup for other regions?
Ms Dao and Mr Truyen: It needs the willingness of the government to make some reforms happen in resource management. After a long period of centralising, it has been realised that centralisation might not always be the best way to benefit the country. You have to realise that the involvement of the people is very strong in every way. The slow change to a more market-orientated economy that we witnessed over the past 10 years gave us confidence that people can help in managing the resources and can support the government. After all, to make such a project happen, all the stakeholders have to be open and work together, in a transparent way, towards a common goal that will benefit everyone. In this respect – and in the Vietnamese framework – it proved to be very successful. Hopefully, our pilot project will be adopted in other parts of Vietnam.
The award comes with a prize of USD 75,000. Do you have any ideas on how you will use this money?
Ms Dao: Most of the money will be used for conducting surveys and financing PC equipment for the project office. These steps will allow us to create a 3D model of the area which will help to properly identify the land allocated and keep a clear overview of the process.
Finally, what will be your major focus for this year?
We will be setting up a planning team. One government representative will be seconded to work on this project, and we are also looking into the possibility of recruiting a coordinator in the province: with that, we can carry out an economic evaluation of the area.
