Publicity and transparency in payment for forest environmental services

BHG - Strengthening inspection and supervision of the implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services (PFES) is an important solution that Meo Vac district focuses on implementing to bring the policy into life, ensure publicity and transparency, contribute to creating livelihoods for people, and at the same time improve the effectiveness of forest management, protection and development.

The policy of paying for forest environmental services is a major policy of the Party and the State, officially implemented since 2011. This is a sustainable financial mechanism, aiming to mobilize resources from organizations and individuals using forest environmental services to pay forest owners, those who are directly protecting and preserving the forest ecosystem. According to this policy, units such as hydropower plants, clean water supply companies, and ecotourism are responsible for paying forest environmental service fees to the Forest Protection and Development Fund. This amount is then allocated to organizations, households, and communities participating in forest protection. Thereby, creating stable income for people in mountainous areas, promoting awareness of forest protection, forest fire prevention and fighting, and sustainable forest management.

Khau Vai commune officials (Meo Vac) check the current status of the forest.

In order to ensure that the payment of forest environmental services is carried out in accordance with the provisions of law, ensuring publicity and transparency, in recent years, Meo Vac district has paid special attention to the inspection and supervision of the payment of forest environmental services. Accordingly, the District People's Committee has directed the District Inspection and Supervision Board for Forest Environmental Services Payment to develop a plan and conduct inspection, supervision and assessment of the payment of forest environmental services to communities, villages and forest owners. At the same time, inspect and supervise the management and use of forest environmental services in villages and hamlets in the area. Develop inspection and supervision reports based on the implementation, implementation, and assessment of difficulties and limitations to propose to the District People's Committee solutions to resolve and remove them.

Implementing the direction of the District People's Committee, every year, the District Inspection and Supervision Board has organized inspections and supervisions of the implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services in communes and towns. The content focuses on the leadership and direction of communes and towns in the implementation of the policy; the disbursement, management, use and settlement of forest environmental services; the posting and public disclosure of the list of organizations and individuals receiving payments; the organization of village meetings to discuss and agree on the use of forest environmental services funds; the assessment of the activities of specialized forest protection teams and groups in villages... Through inspections and supervision, it can be seen that the Inspection and Supervision Boards for payment for forest environmental services at the commune level are regularly strengthened when there are changes in members; the mass groups for forest protection, forest fire prevention and fighting in villages are established and operate effectively; the public disclosure of the budget for payment for forest environmental services is fully implemented according to instructions and regulations. In addition, communes and towns have done a good job of forest management and protection, preventing serious and complicated violations of the Forestry Law and forest fire prevention and fighting. In particular, with the money from DVMTR paid to the community, the villages have held meetings and agreed to use it for purposes such as supporting patrol teams, protecting forests, purchasing forest fire prevention and fighting equipment. In addition, the villages also set aside a portion of the budget for village development activities such as building concrete roads, repairing cultural houses or building village funds to serve other essential tasks.

Vice Chairman of Meo Vac District People's Committee, Le Xuan Huong, said: Thanks to the promotion of inspection and supervision of the implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services, many positive results have been achieved, ensuring that the policy is implemented in accordance with regulations, publicly and transparently. Thanks to that, people's awareness and perception of forest management, protection and development have been raised. In 2024, the forest coverage rate of the whole district will reach 38.2%, an increase of 3.4% compared to 2020.

In order for the policy on payment for forest environmental services to continue to be deployed and implemented effectively, in the coming time, Meo Vac district will focus on synchronously implementing solutions, focusing on the inspection and supervision of payment and use of forest environmental services. Thereby, contributing to promoting the effectiveness of the policy, promoting socio-economic development associated with sustainable environmental protection.

Article and photos: SON HA

Source: https://baohagiang.vn/kinh-te/202505/cong-khai-minh-bach-trong-chi-tra-dich-vu-moi-truong-rung-a2c33fe/