SMART 5th Meeting – Building up the standardised application of SMART tool

On July 4th, 2022, the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) officially issued Decision No. 197 on the Procedure for the standardised application of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) in protected forests in Vietnam. In order to provide more specific guidance for protected areas affected by this decision, VNFOREST and GIZ in cooperation with relevant partners held the 5th SMART Network Meeting in Danang on August 17th, 2022.

During the meeting, the delegates started off by specifically discussing the operational framework of the SMART network in Viet Nam. This was done within the context of the publication of the decision. The meeting also reached an agreement on the process of receiving feedback and updating the SMART data model. This is expected to be implemented by September this year. The above-mentioned efforts are aimed at promoting the large-scale implementation as well as the synchronous, and effective application of the SMART tool. This will assist in the management and conservation of protected areas in Viet Nam.

The meeting welcomed 91 delegates and had more than 50 online participants. Co-chairing the meeting was Mr. Doan Hoai Nam –  General Director of Department of Protected Areas and Special-used Forest Management. The attendees are representatives from 08 conservation organizations and 32 special-use and protection forests that are implementing SMART.

More information about the SMART tool:

SMART is internationally recognized as an effective tool to support for informing decision-making and management of protected areas.

• VNFOREST’s Decision on Promulgation of the Procedure in the application of Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) at protected forests: https://vnforest.gov.vn/content/uploads/files/QĐ%20197.QĐ-TCLN-ĐDPH.pdf

• SMART procedures and documents (Tab “Utility” >> The Information System for Management of the Forestry Sector >> “Information about Vietnam special-use forests”): https://tongcuclamnghiep.gov.vn