“Avoidance of Deforestation and Forest Degradation along the Border in Central Vietnam and Southern Lao PDR in Salavan and Sekong Provinces (CarBi Phase 2) is a transboundary project that contributes to the protection, restoration, and sustainable use of ecosystems and the conservation of biological diversity in the Central Annamites Landscape (CAL). Through innovative and transformational conservation interventions, CarBi 2 supports the governments of Laos and Vietnam to meet their obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity. By the end of 2025, this project is expected to achieve four outputs, which include: 1). The protected area network is expanded and effectively conserved; 2). Capacities of local role players to implement national policies and international regulations on illegal wildlife and timber trade, including CITES are enhanced; 3). Effective community engagement in sustainable natural resource management and protection is increased, and 4). Sustainable financing mechanisms are developed and promoted to key decision-makers.
The project area falls within the CAL mountain range, covering an area of about 300,000 hectares in the provinces of Salavan and Sekong in the South of Laos, as well as in the Vietnamese provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue. Being one of the biggest contiguous natural forests in continental Asia, the region is a storehouse of rich biodiversity. In Laos, the project will help to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystems in and around the forest complex of Xesap National Protected Area. This will be achieved through improved natural resource management by key role players, including civil society organizations, and by reaching across borders to cooperate with Vietnam. The activities will be implemented in the districts of Kaleum - Sekong, Samouy, and Ta Oy - Salavan Provinces under the guidance of the Project Steering Committee, consisting of the Department of Forestry, Department of Planning and Finance, Department of Forest Inspection, Department of International Organisation, Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Offices as well as Provincial Office of Education and Sport in Sekong and Salavan Provinces, District Governor’s Offices of Kaleum, Samouy and Ta Oy Districts, and WWF-Laos.
The project's main implementation management committee consists of the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office in Sekong and Salavan province, and WWF-Laos.
The Carbon and Biodiversity Phase 2 Project (CarBi 2) is implemented by WWF through KfW, and part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.