Site visits to the UK and Tanzania have contributed to gain knowledge and experience of lessons learned on poverty-environment mainstreaming in other countries.
    
PEI Viet Nam has conducted ten participatory case studies to improve knowledge and awareness of how natural resource and environmental management may contribute to poverty reduction. The results of these studies are now being used to develop and pilot, using participatory methods, poverty-environment policy investment models in two communes in Ha Tay and Ha Tinh Provinces. These reports are available on the project website and under ‘’Key documents for PEI’’.
    
Additional country specific evidence was developed: a research on “Poverty and Climate Change in South-Central Viet Nam” was conducted for the Ha Tinh and Ninh Thuan provinces; a case study on payment for ecosystem services was developed and a study on the Natural Resource and Environment 5-year plan and poverty-environment issues was carried out.  All these will further support poverty-environment mainstreaming,
    
Particular progress has been made in the mainstreaming of poverty issues into environmental legal frameworks and regulations, notably the new biodiversity law which was approved by National Assembly in November 2008.  A decree on compensation for damages caused by environmental pollution and degradation was also finalized and the development of a roadmap for environmental policy and legislation reform was initiated.
    
Pilot activities in Hà Tây and Hà Tĩnh provinces were developed with a view to involve poor communities in developing and implementing environmental policies, legislation and regulation and accessing funds for Natural Resource Management and bio-conservation.
    
Monitoring of poverty-environment indicators has improved through a review of existing indicators, developing a comprehensive list of indicators, and development of a Monitoring and Evaluation Manual. The set of indicators on poverty-environment was completed and will be used for mainstreaming poverty-environment concerns into national and provincial plans.
    
Capacities to integrate poverty-environment concerns into national and provincial planning, including developing pro-poor economic instruments and building partnerships, have improved. Policy makers were trained at the national and provincial levels (Ha Nam, Ha Tinh, Ninh Thuan and Ha Noi) and a report on partnerships for environmental protection was completed. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in particular has strengthened its capacity to coordinate donor support within a programmatic framework, to understand poverty issues, and to influence the development authorities to attend to environment issues.  PEI has also supported the Institute of Strategy and Policy on natural Resources and Environment to formulate a development strategy.
    
Communication has been strengthened through the development of the poverty-environment network, a communication network of over 100 members including Government officials from various Ministries, to provide better support to the development of partnerships between Government donors and civil society in addressing poverty-environment issues. The project also raised public awareness through the website which features documents and reports, essay writing, photo and poster contests on poverty-environment, and dissemination of messages on poverty-environment linkages using nine public billboards in Hanoi.