Increase income through forest protection in the headwaters of the Da River.

In Lai Chau, forest protection is a key and central task in helping local people increase their income and protect the ecological environment of the headwaters of the Da River.

Mu Ca commune ( Lai Chau province) has a forest area mainly located at the headwaters of the Da River. Preserving the headwater forests in Mu Ca commune (Lai Chau province) is extremely important because the protective forests here help regulate water, prevent erosion, floods and droughts, protect water sources for downstream areas, and at the same time protect the living environment and border security.

Over the past period, the commune has done a good job of disseminating information and mobilizing people to plant new trees, care for existing trees, prevent fires, and protect forest areas in the locality. Currently, the entire commune has over 29,000 hectares of forest, with a forest cover rate of nearly 80%, mainly consisting of natural forests.

Forests provide a stable income for people in the highlands. Photo: Van Tam.

In 2024, payments for forest environmental services helped each household in the commune earn nearly 40 million VND. This allowed them to purchase many household items to improve their living standards and agricultural production. The payment of forest environmental service fees to those contracted to protect the forest proceeded smoothly.

The Protective Forest Management Board proactively coordinated with the Commune People's Committee to hold meetings to agree on the payment plan and ensure the public posting of information at payment points, making payments to the correct recipients and in the correct amounts.

Simultaneously, the forest rangers coordinated with and advised the People's Committee of the commune to strengthen the dissemination of information to the people on protecting and developing forests. They implemented forest fire prevention and control tasks following the principle of "prevention is key, firefighting is timely" with the motto of "four on-the-spot": on-the-spot forces, on-the-spot logistics, on-the-spot equipment, and on-the-spot command.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/nang-cao-thu-nhap-nho-bao-ve-rung-o-dau-nguon-song-da-d789664.html