From October 11-12, in Hanoi, the Government Office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, organized a conference to review the implementation of the “Project to Plant 5 Million Hectares of Forest.” At the conference, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from 1998 to 2005, forest coverage in Vietnam reached 36.7%
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A corner of the forest in Cat Tien National Park |
According to the report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from 1998 to 2005, Vietnam’s forest coverage has now reached 36.7%, an increase of 3.5% compared to 1999.
The project to plant 5 million hectares of forest is a significant initiative approved by the National Assembly, which emphasizes the importance of protecting existing forests and aims to increase forest coverage to 43% by 2010. This contributes to environmental security, disaster risk reduction, enhances water resource capacity, conserves genetic resources, and maintains biodiversity, especially for rare flora and fauna.
Mr. Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated that the progress of the project remains slow compared to the plan. Over 7 years (1998-2005), newly planted forests have only achieved 49% of the target set, reaching 1.39 million hectares; this does not meet the needs of the wood processing industry. Although the area of natural forests has increased, forest productivity is uneven.
The planning of forest and forestry land use, alongside the establishment of processing facilities, lacks synchronization; the development planning of raw material forests in many localities is not linked with the construction of factories. Beneficiary policies that encourage local communities to participate in forest protection and development are limited, particularly for poor households living in and near forests.
The reform of management in state-owned forestry enterprises remains hesitant in many localities, resulting in ineffective management of forest land and resources.
Despite these limitations, according to the assessment by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there have been significant advancements in forest management and protection, with forest areas nationwide recovering rapidly. Notably, in the mountainous midland regions of the North and the provinces of the North Central Coast, the area of devastated forests has decreased.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the leading agency in implementing the project, has directed the government to deploy policies for forest allocation and contracts, enabling local communities to gain greater benefits from forests to ease budget pressure and enhance local awareness of forest protection.
At the aforementioned conference, delegates will evaluate the achieved results, highlight existing challenges, and propose solutions for the project’s implementation in the 2006-2010 period.
