Sustainable forestry development program in Bac Kan province - Part 1: Practical effectiveness of the program

Forests - important economic and ecological resources

The total forested land area of Bac Kan province is currently over 396,357 hectares, of which natural forest is 264,072 hectares, planted forest is 86,244 hectares, and planted but not yet forested land is 46,040 hectares, bringing great advantages in forestry economic development. The province has issued many mechanisms and policies to encourage people to participate in planting, caring for, and protecting forests, especially focusing on forest allocation, forest protection contracts, and planting production forests in the direction of ecology, large timber, and non-timber forest products.

Afforestation has brought a large source of income to the people. In the photo: People in Luong Thuong commune (Na Ri) exploit and sell wood from planted forests.

The work of forest protection and development in the province in recent years has been paid attention to and well directed by Party committees, authorities and functional sectors through programs, projects or self-investment by the people. The forest planting movement has brought positive effects in environmental protection, natural disaster mitigation, climate change response, job creation, income increase, poverty reduction and improvement of people's lives.

Mr. Hoang Van Thai, Chairman of Bang Phuc Commune People's Committee, said: Bang Phuc Commune is one of the localities with a large natural forest area in Cho Don district with a total area of over 3,535 hectares, of which the protective forest area accounts for nearly 2,000 hectares. Through the target program for sustainable forestry development, the areas of protective forests, natural forests, and production forests have basically been assigned to communities and households for protection, thereby creating stable income for people, while preserving the air environment and protecting the green lungs of Bac Kan province in particular and the Northeast region in general.

Effectiveness of forest protection contract support policy

In the 2022-2024 period alone, the whole province has implemented forest protection contracts for tens of thousands of hectares each year, with the participation of thousands of households and communities. Typically, in Ba Be, Cho Don, Na Ri, Bach Thong districts, etc., the policy of supporting forest protection contracts for protection of protective forests and production forests has helped people have a stable income of 3-5 million VND/household/year. In addition, the integration of support for rice, seedlings, technical training, and forest environmental services has made an important contribution to sustainable poverty reduction. The province's forest coverage rate remains stable at over 72%, forest quality has improved significantly, and forest encroachment has been gradually controlled. Community awareness in protecting forest resources has been increasingly raised.

Phuong Vien Commune Cultural House was built from part of the local forest protection budget.

Implementing Sub-project 1, Project 3 and the Sustainable Forestry Development Program for the period 2021-2025, the area of forest protection contracted has increased each year. By 2024, the whole province has contracted 138,155 hectares of forest protection to 744 village communities and 12,884 households. Of which, support for forest protection contracted for the area of protective forests assigned by the State to economic organizations, the area of natural forests directly managed by the People's Committees at the commune level is 66,919 hectares/685 communities and 19 households; support for forest protection for planned forests as protective forests and production forests as natural forests assigned to communities and households is 71,236.3 hectares/59 communities and 12,865 households.

To date, the province has over 28,000 hectares of special-use forests that have been well protected by the Forest Management Boards according to the approved forest management plan, in which priority is given to assigning forest protection to local communities every year. The disbursement result for forest protection assignment and support for forest protection in the period 2021-2024 is 124,750 million VND (an annual average of 31,187 million VND).

Forest patrols are regularly carried out by local people and authorities.

Mr. Nguyen My Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Bac Kan province, assessed: The implementation of the policy to support forest protection and forest protection contracts in the whole province has been effectively organized by all levels, sectors and localities, especially the community, households and individuals have raised awareness and actively participated in forest protection activities, thereby contributing to the protection of existing natural forest areas and gradually improving the quality of natural forests. However, in the early stages, the People's Committees at the commune level were assigned to be the investors and directly implement policies on forest protection, so there were many confusions and difficulties. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee has directed and specialized agencies at all levels have proactively guided and resolved the issues, so up to now, the organization of forest protection contracts and support for forest protection at the grassroots level has basically become stable and effective./. (continued)

Dinh Van

Source: https://baobackan.vn/chuong-trinh-phat-trien-lam-nghiep-ben-vung-tinh-bac-kan-ky-1-hieu-qua-thiet-thuc-tu-chuong-trinh-post70031.html