VRG has actively cooperated with a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as PanNature, Oxfam in Vietnam and UN-REDD+ Vietnam to survey several member companies in Laos, Cambodia that aim to build and apply "Guidelines for voluntary risk reduction in agricultural investment abroad" VRG is also trying to cooperate with some other NGOs on re-issuing FSC certificates.
PanNature believes that in order to protect forests and biodiversity, people, community and social organizations need to have the right to join forest management activities.
Recently, The Inspectorate General of Finance, responded to People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature), Vietnam Mining Coalition’s coordination unit, about the coalition’s petition to stop Thach Khe iron mine project, sent to leadership of the party, the national essembly, the government and ministries, boards and branches on January 17th, 2019.
Based on the results of field research and survey combined with expert consultation in the mineral field, on January 17th 2019, Vietnam Mining Coalition sent a petition about stopping the iron mine project and closing the mine in Thach Khe to leadership of the Communist Party, the National Essembly, as well as relevant ministries, boards and branches of Vietnam’s government.
The Voluntary Guidelines on mitigating socio–environmental risks for Vietnamese outward investors in agribusiness were developed on the bases of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
To publish and widely circulate these Guidelines among business sector, on Jan 10th, 2019, PanNture, VCCI and Oxfam Vietnam jointly organized a seminar on Vietnam Cross-border Investment: Risks and Challenges on Legal Compliance.
Speaking at the event, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Department of Legal Affairs Dau Anh Tuan said Vietnam’s newly-registered overseas capital increased by 357.5 million USD during 11 months last year. Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar ranked first, second, and eighth among Vietnam’s top business destinations.
PanNature organized this meeting on December 10th, 2018 to connect our business partners in piloting program with NGOs in Laos to strengthen the exchange dialogue between NGOs and Vietnamese private sectors and open an opportunity for further collaboration.
Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-government organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, announces our intention to boycott the Mekong River Commission’s Prior Consultation process for the proposed Pak Lay hydropower project in Laos. Pak Lay is the fourth dam on the lower Mekong mainstream.
In Vietnam natural forests belong to the state, the condition which restrains local people access to special-use and forest protection. At the same time, overlaps in land use rights occur in many protected areas, stimulating illegal logging and affecting land uses by local communities, a panellist from Vietnam’s PanNature said. Giving people tenure to the land is seen as a way to help secure people’s rights to the forests, and Pan has been working in Vietnam to influence the government’s policies by offering recommendations and new models such as co forest management for community forests.