Severe floods, National Assembly delegates recommend special attention to forest protection

Special attention must be paid to forest protection.

On the morning of October 28, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the Report of the Supervisory Delegation and the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on the results of the thematic supervision of "the implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection since the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 took effect".

Acknowledging the impressive results in the monitoring delegation's report as well as the orientations in environmental protection in the coming time, delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu - National Assembly Delegation of Gia Lai province said that in forest protection, the data has not been specifically collected.

Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu said that, in the face of serious landslides and floods across the country, special attention must be paid to forest protection. Photo: Gia Han

"The delegate said that we must cover the forest with green. But in my opinion, the most important thing is to try to keep the natural forest. Perennial trees are our lungs. This is an effective mechanism to preserve soil and water, and to avoid landslides and floods that are becoming more and more serious in all regions of the country," said Mr. Hieu.

Delegates said that the great value of forests has been shown in many documents of the Party and State, but the area of natural forests has been shrinking from year to year with no sign of stopping.

In reality, the plan to convert forests for socio-economic development purposes in many provinces and cities in Vietnam continues. It is estimated that in the next 10 years, there will still be forests that must be converted for socio-economic development purposes.

"I suggest that there should be more specific reports on the situation of natural forest protection from the monitoring team. How much forest will be used in the future, what is the replanting plan, what trees will be planted. In particular, we need to investigate the current situation of using precious natural wood to make items such as cabinets and beds. We need numbers to confirm that they are determined to protect the forest and have achieved positive results in the past time" - Mr. Hieu said.

According to delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu, the two root problems that need to be focused on to protect forests are deforestation for wood to make utensils and the use of forest land to develop projects.

Citing lessons from countries around the world, such as Norway which has a law against deforestation, and China which has made many improvements in afforestation and forest protection, Mr. Hieu said that Vietnam is a country heavily affected by natural disasters, so it must pay special attention to solutions to protect forests.

Proposed solutions to restore upstream forests

Delegate Chu Thi Hong Thai - Lang Son delegation also requested that the National Assembly's supervision report and resolution pay more attention to the issue of natural disasters and floods.

Delegate Chu Thi Hong Thai - National Assembly Delegation of Lang Son province. Photo: National Assembly Media

According to Ms. Thai, natural disasters in our country are becoming more extreme and unusual, causing serious consequences in many areas.

Storms, heavy rains, flash floods, landslides, droughts, and saltwater intrusion have caused serious damage to people and property, directly affecting the livelihoods of tens of thousands of households in many localities. Infrastructure systems for transportation, irrigation, schools, and medical stations have been damaged, and many agricultural production areas have been washed away or lost. Some mountainous and coastal areas have had to urgently evacuate residents due to the risk of landslides and prolonged flooding, putting great pressure on social security and post-disaster recovery.

Based on reality, the female National Assembly delegate proposed that the Government direct the integration of climate change response and natural disaster prevention into socio-economic development planning and land use planning of localities.

It is necessary to invest in monitoring systems, early warning of natural disasters, landslides, saltwater intrusion, improve forecasting capacity and risk communication to the community. At the same time, focus on afforestation, protection and restoration of upstream forests, coastal protection forests and consider this a fundamental long-term solution to minimize damage and protect the ecological environment. There is a mechanism to support the restoration of production, livelihoods and environment for heavily affected areas, combined with state budget sources with natural disaster prevention funds and environmental protection funds.

"In addition, it is necessary to promote research and replication of circular agriculture models, agriculture adapted to climate change, saving resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and encouraging businesses to invest in renewable energy projects and solid wastewater treatment associated with the goal of developing a green economy," said Ms. Thai.

Source: https://laodong.vn/thoi-su/lu-lut-nghiem-trong-dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-kien-nghi-can-dac-biet-luu-tam-bao-ve-rung-1599358.ldo