Enhancing good management of protected areas nationally with a standardized approach of SMART

On 07 July 2022, Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) issued the Decision promulgating the Procedure for the standardized application of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) in protected forests in Vietnam. The associated guidelines were previously developed by the Department for Protected Area Management (DOPAM) in collaboration with GIZ within the framework of the completed project “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services”.

SMART aims at supporting good management of Protected Areas. SMART allows for a harmonised monitoring approach and tailor-made data collection and analyses to support management decisions in and around protected areas. Its application in special-use and protected forests (SUFs and PFs) of Viet Nam has been initiated over the years by many projects and partners leading to different translations into Vietnamese, various data models being deployed, or different reports being generated. This also hampers the aggregation of data at provincial or central level for monitoring and decision-making.

Following an intensive, consultative process among many stakeholders, in 2021, the Vietnamese translation of SMART terms was unified and a final set for easy-to-implement SMART application at any protected area in Vietnam (conservation area, standard data model, standard queries, etc.) was developed. Several SMART network meetings confirmed the commitment of stakeholders.

The publication of the decision by VNFOREST to advise on the standardized implementation of SMART is a great step towards a simple and user-friendly deployment of SMART while ensuring all basic data collection requirements. GIZ continues collaborating with DOPAM and relevant partners to strengthen the SMART network and to update the standard data model.

For more information:

• 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

• Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Vietnam project: https://bit.ly/3vvaTzF