Bright spot in forest protection work

Gio Linh district forest rangers strengthen forest monitoring and protection - Photo: HT

From early morning, Mr. Ho Van Duon, in Cu Bai village, Huong Lap commune, Huong Hoa district, prepared protective equipment and dry food for the forest patrol trip of the Cu Bai village community forest protection team. The 10 members of the team were divided into 5 small teams, taking turns patrolling the forest areas of sub-areas 612 and 613 assigned by the forest rangers and the Bac Huong Hoa Protective Forest Management Board, focusing on areas that are hotspots for forest exploitation and wildlife hunting.

For Mr. Ho Van Duon and members of the community forest protection team, contributing to protecting the local forest is a joy and something that every citizen needs to do right now to protect the forest ecosystem for future generations.

“Thanks to the propaganda, mobilization and explanation of the benefits of forests by the forest rangers and local authorities, most villagers actively participate in forest protection. In particular, by contracting to protect forests, people also have jobs, increase their income and protect the environment. To prevent forest encroachment, our team regularly assigns people to patrol the forest areas that the village undertakes to protect. As a result, the forest grows much better than before, and the area of ​​natural forests encroached upon has significantly decreased,” said Ho Van Duon.

Currently, the total forest area in the province is 248,189 hectares, of which 126,693 hectares are natural forests and 121,495 hectares are planted forests; the forest coverage rate is 49.4%. Quang Tri is also one of the first provinces in the country to grant sustainable forest management certification (according to FSC and VFCS standards) with the existing certified sustainable forest management area reaching over 26,000 hectares.

Identifying forest protection as an important key task, the work of fighting, preventing, checking, detecting and handling forest encroachment is continuous. Over the past time, the Forest Protection Department and its affiliated units have advised the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Environment, and local authorities to continue to strictly implement Directive No. 13-CT/TW dated January 12, 2017 of the Central Party Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in forest management and protection; advising on the development and good implementation of Plan No. 161/KH-SNN of the Department of Agriculture and Environment on implementing a peak period of fighting and preventing violations of forestry laws; affiliated units have strengthened coordination with relevant agencies, units, local authorities, forest owners... to drastically deploy measures to fight and prevent, organize many patrols and sweeps for many days into natural forests; At the same time, coordinate with forest owners and local authorities to organize and maintain the activities of forest protection teams and posts in key forest areas.

For example, in 2024, the Quang Tri Forest Protection Department advised the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to issue a decision to administratively sanction 1 case of illegal deforestation, imposing a fine of over 137 million VND and forcing the replanting of 3,700 m2 of ^forest on the destroyed area. On the other hand, the department also detected and recorded 67 violations, handled 79 administrative violations, imposed a fine of over 623 million VND; confiscated 87,134 m3 of round timber of various types; confiscated and released into the natural environment 12 silver-cheeked laughingthrushes and 7 palm civets, weighing 11 kg, and other forest products.

In particular, the Forest Protection Department has directed the Forest Protection Department of Huong Hoa district to prosecute 3 criminal cases of forest destruction occurring in the area, with a damaged area of ​​29,045 m2 ^. Dakrong district People's Court has tried 2 cases of forest destruction, and ordered compensation to be paid to the state budget in the amount of over 56 million VND; Huong Hoa district People's Court has tried 1 case of forest destruction (incident in 2024) with 1 defendant, sentenced to 24 months in prison with a suspended sentence, and ordered compensation of over 419 million VND.

In parallel with the activities of combating, preventing and handling forest encroachment, in order to effectively carry out forest protection work in the face of complicated weather conditions, prolonged severe heat, and high risk of forest fires, the Provincial Forest Protection Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Environment to issue documents directing the strengthening of forest protection and forest fire prevention and fighting (PCCCR); regularly updating weather conditions, announcing forest fire forecasts in the whole province (about 3 days/time) to organize PCCCR on duty, prepare forces and means to participate in forest fire fighting; promptly update forest fire forecasts to the Quangtri IOC Intelligent Operation Center of the province.

Based on the achieved results and the actual situation in the area, in the coming time, the Provincial Forest Protection Department will continue to perform well the assigned functions and tasks, focusing on effectively implementing Action Program No. 175-CTHC/TU dated July 2, 2020 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on implementing Directive No. 13-CT/TW dated January 12, 2017 of the Central Party Secretariat, Plan No. 4650/KH-UBND dated October 12, 2020 of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing Action Program No. 175-CTHĐ/TU of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on strengthening the Party's leadership in forest management, protection and development.

Continue to effectively implement the coordination regulations signed between the forest rangers, police, army, border guards, forest rangers of neighboring provinces and relevant authorities to organize patrols, protect forests, inspect and hunt down organizations and individuals who encroach on forests; strictly handle subjects who violate the Forestry Law.

Strengthening propagandaand education and raising awareness of forest protection and development to the whole society, at the same time mobilizing capital sources from the budget, support capital... of international organizations to protect and develop forests.

On the other hand, the units will strengthen the management of forest boundaries by forest owners; focus on investing in advanced and modern technologies to detect early deforestation such as flycam, planet satellite images and high-quality satellite images updated weekly to serve the monitoring of forest developments and forest management and protection.

Along with that, we will synchronously deploy PCCCR measures, promptly detect and prevent forest fires, and minimize damage caused by forest fires.

Ha Trang

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/diem-sang-trong-cong-tac-bao-ve-rung-193758.htm