On the 6th and 7th of July 2010, the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, His Excellency Mr. Alaster Cox, visited RUPES Project action research site in Bac Kan Province. The Ambassador was accompanied by Mr. Geoff Morris – the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Country Manager for Vietnam, the World Agroforestry Centre Vietnam – RUPES Project technical team, Mr Hoang Van Giap (the Project Director) and team members of the 3PAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded Pro-Poor Partnerships for Agro-forestry Development Project in Bac Kan.

“We are exploring collaboration with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for developing agroforestry systems in the northwest of Vietnam,” revealed by Dr Minh Ha Hoang, RUPES Vietnam Country Coordinator.

“The visit by the Ambassador to Bac Kan has opened doors for more collaboration with Australian partners and donors in payments for environmental services and climate change areas and we are all very happy for this development,” she added.

During the visit, the Australian guests discussed the framework, design and implementation of RUPES Project. They also watched a 15 minutes video entitled “RUPES Vietnam Story” which gave them better insights into the project.

The visitors also went on a boat trip on Ba Be Lake while discussing the development of ecotourism as one source of funding for rewarding upstream foresters. This was followed by a visit to Leo Keo village, where rewards for environmental services mechanisms are being planned with local stakeholders for piloting during the second half of 2010.

The Ambassador was impressed by the RUPES Project's work and said that he would want to contribute some seed funding to the development of environmental rewards mechanisms at Leo Keo community together with other RUPES partners such as the 3PAD Project, Ba Be National Park, and other local stakeholders. He also promised to find suitable Australian volunteers to work with RUPES and 3PAD in Bac Kan.

“I am always very interested in such a strategic project like RUPES. In this project, all partners, including local people, know what they want to do and the planned activities are clear and realistic,” said Mr Alaster Cox.

At the end of the visit, Mr Alaster Cox said that he is open to the idea of having REDD mechanisms to include payments for environmental services and that he would ask AusAID to discuss with the World Agroforestry Centre – Vietnam Office about the possibility of providing strategic support for Vietnam's response to climate change.

Mr Geoff Morris from ACIAR also invited the World Agroforestry Centre – Vietnam Office to propose ways of expanding RUPES work to other parts of Vietnam.

“There is a possibility of Australia supporting such kinds of projects,” he said.