Metla Bulletin

Metla reforms inventory procedures in Nepal and Vietnam

The research and education project coordinated by Metla contributed to the export of national forest inventory expertise to Nepal and Vietnam for two and a half years. Work continues within the partner countries. What was the outcome of the completed ICI project?

Metla’s partner agencies in the “Improving Research Capacity of Forest Resource Information Technology in Vietnam and Nepal” project included the Department of Forest Research and Survey of Nepal, Tribhuva University’s Institute of Forestry and the privately-owned Kathmandu Forestry College, which is affiliated to the university. The Vietnamese partner agencies in the project were the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and the Vietnam Forestry University. The project was funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland through the Institutional Cooperation Instrument (ICI).

Below is an interview with the Project Coordinator, Dr. Kalle Eerikäinen, who is very pleased with his project team’s contribution.

Why were Nepal and Vietnam chosen as partner countries?

– The ICI funding is designed for inter-institutional cooperation between various Finnish government offices and institutions and their counterparts in primary target countries for development cooperation. The main focus is on strengthening those government bodies’ capacities. Many suitable target countries exist on various continents, and those in Asia include Nepal and Vietnam. Both countries have forests and the need to improve the monitoring of forest resources. In addition, Nepal and Vietnam aim to be included in the UN-REDD Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. Participation in the programme requires the partner countries to provide reliable forest resource data on the basis of which changes in the amount of carbon conserved by standing forests can be reported. This is an important and current topic and, in this case, ICI funding was targeted at developing the national forest inventory work in Nepal and Vietnam.

What was the outcome? Did you achieve the project goal? Wasn’t the intent to improve the target countries' practices and existing methods to meet the current requirements concerning accuracy and reporting?

Most of the training was implemented through workshops. Here are some participants of a workshop held in Kathmandu, Nepal (above). Photo: Reija Haapanen. People came to experience a Finnish forest in Koli (below). Photo: Metla/Markus Lier.

– At the beginning of the project, we surveyed the practices and methods for gathering forest resource data in use – where they existed. In Vietnam, they are still using the old inventory system. There has been some discussion on whether it pays to invest the resources currently demanded by a rather heavy measurement scheme or could the same data be gathered using a lighter system that also helps reduce costs. In the end, we decided to create new data analysis methods and instruments while using the data content provided by the existing inventory scheme as the starting point. As part of the project, a tool was created for implementing a multi-source forest inventory for generating charts on canopy cover, stand volume and, in the future, biomass. In Vietnam’s case, we were able to provide a considerable amount of added value to the existing materials.

– In Nepal, forest inventories ended on account of the civil war and we had to relaunch them at the national level. This part of the activities was coordinated by the Forest Resource Assessment in Nepal project (FRA Nepal), financed with Finnish development cooperation funds. Metla and its NFI researchers also participated in the implementation of this project. FRA Nepal generated a new and more effective scheme for conducting samplings and measurements. With ICI, we provided significant additional input in the development of the inventory data management and result calculation processes – this part of the work was also based on Metla's know-how.

– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs required open-source software tools to be used in the development work. When compared with commercial software, their deployment and adoption might require more effort, but they will provide the user with more freedom. The source codes of the software can be modified according to individual needs, making it possible to use them freely for various data management tasks and routines, and enabling the copying and distribution of the original software as well as its modified versions. In my opinion, our main achievement was the successful creation of the calculation instruments and the overall process in two countries using completely open source code. We used existing materials in Vietnam, and new materials in Nepal. Another achievement was being able to base the education and training provided under the project completely on the data management and calculation instruments created as part of the project, and using these instruments with both Vietnamese and Nepalese data.

How were Finland and Metla received in the target countries?

– In Vietnam and Nepal, Finland has a good reputation as a nation of forests. Metla’s NFI, with nearly one hundred years of experience, is practically a brand within the forestry sector. And what’s more, Finland has supported forest inventory work in Nepal before, in the 1990s. Metla is perceived as a reliable partner – in fact, organisations similar to Metla are in charge of forest inventories in these two countries.

What was included in the project preparations?

– Every time you teach, you learn something yourself. The training periods and packages were demanding to implement, because we were operating on the basis of the partner countries’ starting points. Our own methods had to be tailored to suit their materials. Knowing and understanding the new operating conditions was essential. Although as much as possible was done in advance, new questions and implementation solutions came up all the time. The need to make changes had to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and then the plans had to be modified accordingly. Luckily, our partners were committed enough to do the work so that the goals could be achieved.

When two cultures collide, there are also setbacks and challenges. What were the bottlenecks in this project?

– Undoubtedly one of the most significant risks was presented by the physical distance between Finland and the partner countries. Remote working is never the same as face-to-face interaction, so problems were bound to occur, especially regarding the provision of instructions and the implementation of practical work tasks.

– There are also huge differences in the surroundings and conditions. Here in Finland, electricity is always available and we have the necessary equipment and technical competence; the basics are in order. In developing countries, you have to have Plan A, Plan B, and even a Plan C. We learned this especially with the training periods organised in Nepal and Vietnam.

– We thought that our partners in the target countries would have been more familiar with open-source equipment, software and calculation environments. The set of orientation courses on these topics was enough to create plenty of extra work. It is clear now that there is also a demand for inter-university cooperation, a university-oriented ICI. In connection with the universities putting together their education packages, various IT management needs could be taken into account early on, as part of basic education.

– Timing, monitoring and reporting are the cornerstones of all operations in these types of projects. They work fine here in Finland, but staying on schedule requires effort when you are conducting operations in three countries in which the operating conditions vary significantly.

What is your evaluation of the training periods organised in the partner countries compared to those organised in Finland?

– The trainings organised in Finland lasted one month. Only five people at a time took part in the training, one from each partner agency. The training periods were intense and any unclear matters were resolved right away. And as I said before: the framework was in order.

– The training periods organised in Nepal and Vietnam were critical to us. Only being able to work remotely would have meant that the countries would have remained very distant. The partner countries organised workshops. The number of participants in various events was a lot higher than in Finland. However, the technology failed at times. Sometimes, we even had to perform the technical preparations regarding equipment set up and programme installation ourselves!

What’s next, Kalle Eerikäinen? I am conducting growth and yield research again. I am drafting prediction models for a range of Metla’s calculation environ­ments. One example is the development of models for predicting the deve­lopment trends of uneven-aged forests and a simulation system created using these models.

How did Metla benefit from the cooperation?

– Even though this is about conducting cooperation with a developing country, we must remember to think selfishly too. In this case, we received credit for being part of an international project’s responsible organisation as well as for using methods and expertise based on Metla’s research. We developed instruments and calculation tools for ourselves and will be able to utilise them in the future as well. For example, open source calculation routines and software, including the multi-source forest inventory tool, can be further developed and applied to Finnish materials and research in the future.

What comes next in forest inventory work in Nepal and Vietnam?

– In Vietnam, Metla’s NFI is cooperating with the FAO. In Nepal, Metla is involved in a five-year project, “Forest Resource Assessment of Nepal”, coordinated by Indufor Oy. The project comprises two more years of mapping the forest resources of Nepal.

Could you tell us something that occurred during the project that stuck with you?

– Before the project commenced, I visited the partner agencies of the target countries in early 2010. The memorable Finland-Nepal-Vietnam-Finland tour lasted ten days. It included almost 15 flights and a whole bunch of other transitions between the two Asian countries. The days were spent in meetings, negotiations, get-togethers and seminars, and the evenings were spent drawing memos and presentations. I got very little sleep in those ten days! But we passed the acid test, got the official agreements signed, and we were able to launch the project.

Further information

• Researcher Kalle Eerikäinen , kalle.eerikainen(a)metla.fi
• NFI coordinator, Senior Researcher Kari T. Korhonen, kari.t.korhonen(a)metla.fi
• "Improving Research Capacity of Forest Resource Information Technology in Vietnam and Nepal " -project
• National Forest Inventory