Support for people in the buffer zone of Thuan Chau special-use and protective forests

Thuan Chau Special-Use and Protective Forest has nearly 26,500 hectares of forest and forestry land. In addition to doing a good job of forest management and protection, in recent years, the Thuan Chau Special-Use and Protective Forest Management Board has implemented programs and policies to support the improvement of the lives of local communities, create livelihoods for households in the buffer zone of special-use forests, and motivate people to participate in forest protection.

Thuan Chau special-use and protective forests have a diverse ecosystem with many rich flora and fauna, like a "green lung" stretching across the communes of Thuan Chau, Nam Lau, Long He, Co Ma, Muoi Noi, Muong Bam, Quynh Nhai, Muong Sai, Muong Gion, Muong Chien. At the foot of the lush green forests is a buffer zone with villages of ethnic minorities, whose livelihoods are mainly based on corn fields, coffee, fruit trees, etc.

Reality in recent years shows that, when the poverty rate is still high, people's lives depend heavily on forests and forest land, leading to illegal exploitation of forest products and encroachment on forest land for production. With the attention of all levels and sectors with practical and effective policies and efforts to improve, the lives of ethnic minorities in the buffer zone are increasingly prosperous, people gradually change their habits, and reduce activities that negatively impact the forest.

Solar lamp posts along the road to Pom Khoang village, Nam Lau commune from the special-use forest buffer zone support program.

Located in the buffer zone of the special-use forest, Pom Khoang village, Nam Lau commune, will meet the new rural standards in 2024. Solid houses are built one after another, concrete roads run along the village, extending to the coffee plantations in the fruiting season. The village is assigned to manage and protect nearly 52 hectares of special-use forest. Previously, the village was supported with macadamia, green-skinned grapefruit, and coffee seedlings. In 2023 and 2024, each year it will continue to receive support of 40 million VND in coffee seedlings, canarium trees, and cement to make concrete roads and lighting poles according to the support policy for buffer zones of special-use and protective forests.

At the time of implementing the support program, Mr. Luong Van Dien, Head of Pom Khoang village (now Deputy Secretary of the village Party cell), said: The buffer zone support program has helped the village expand the area to 28 hectares of coffee, build a 500-meter concrete road to the production area, facilitate the transportation of fertilizers and harvest of agricultural products, and have electric lights to light up the traffic every night. Households are increasingly well-off, the village no longer has poor households, only 4 near-poor households, people's awareness of forest protection has also increased, and there is no longer the situation of deforestation as before.

To support livelihoods and improve the lives of people in the buffer zone of special-use forests, the Thuan Chau Special-Use Forest Management Board has focused on implementing well programs and policies on forestry development, such as: Circular No. 12/2022/TT-BNNPTNT dated September 20, 2022 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding a number of forestry activities to implement the sustainable forestry development program and the national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030, the support level for each village is 40 million VND/village/year; Decree 58/2024/ND-CP dated May 24, 2024 of the Government on a number of investment policies in forestry, with an average support level for communities in the buffer zone of special-use forests of 50 million VND/village/year.

Coffee growing area intercropped with Canarium in Pom Khoang village, Nam Lau commune from the special-use forest buffer zone support program.

Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Director of the Thuan Chau Special-Use Forest Management Board, said: Every year, the Board coordinates with local authorities to implement policies to support people and communities in the buffer zones of special-use forests according to the needs of the registered establishments. From 2023 to present, the Management Board has supported 92 villages with a total value of 3 billion 840 million VND, including: Supporting 75 villages with various plant varieties (coffee, green-skinned grapefruit, Thai jackfruit, black canarium, macadamia, etc.) and 17 villages with construction materials to repair internal village roads, domestic water tanks, cultural house grounds, install, renovate and upgrade lighting systems in residential areas.

In addition to providing seedlings, the Management Board of the special-use and protective forests also provides training and guidance on planting and tree care techniques, ensuring the highest survival rate. The source of seedling support helps people in the buffer zone of the special-use forest have more conditions to change the crop structure, increase income, improve the quality of life and contribute to greening bare land and hills. Supporting construction materials for projects contributes to improving living conditions for the community and improving the quality of life.

The encouraging result is that households in the buffer zone no longer depend on illegal exploitation of forest products, have raised awareness and responsibility in forest protection and development, and have actively contributed to the management and protection of the ecological environment. All villages have established forest protection and fire prevention teams to regularly patrol and prevent illegal exploitation of forest products, monitor and guide people to produce within production boundaries, not encroach on forest land, and promote propaganda and raise people's awareness of forest protection and development. In recent years, the Thuan Chau special-use and protective forest area has sharply reduced the number of forest clearing and slash-and-burn cases, and forest fires have rarely occurred.

With the support program for special-use forest buffer zones providing cement, Nhop village, Nam Lau commune built internal traffic roads.

The policy of supporting people in the buffer zone of special-use forests has brought about double effects in improving people's lives and is an effective solution in forest protection. However, the amount of support is still small, we hope that all levels and sectors will continue to have stronger and longer-term support policies, creating sustainable livelihoods, helping people in the buffer zone of Thuan Chau special-use and protective forests to improve their lives. Because when people have stable livelihoods and clearly recognize the value of forests, they will voluntarily become "forest guards", contributing to protecting the sustainable living environment.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/xa-hoi/ho-tro-nhan-dan-vung-dem-rung-dac-dung-phong-ho-thuan-chau-VByn1dXHR.html