Nghe An: Handing over more than 200,000 hectares of forest land to households and communities for management

The Provincial People's Committee has just held a conference to summarize the Project on forest allocation associated with land allocation and granting of forestry land use right certificates for the period 2018-2025. Up to now, this locality has allocated more than 200,000 hectares of forest, reaching 76.02% of the approved project target.

Forest cover in Nghe An province in 2024 will reach 59.01%, higher than the national average.

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, in the period of 2018-2025, despite many difficulties in resources and implementation conditions, Nghe An province has achieved most of the goals of the Forest Allocation Project. The whole province has allocated 202,049 ha/265,771 ha of forest; allocated to 27,339 households and 468 communities in 53 communes; at the same time, newly issued and exchanged 18,694 Forest Land Use Right Certificates.

Forest allocation helps households and communities actively coordinate with local authorities in patrolling and protecting forests. People's awareness has been raised, especially in preserving natural forests and limiting illegal exploitation. The number of forestry law violations has decreased sharply from 902 cases (in 2018) to 462 cases (in 2024). Forest cover reached 59%, higher than the national average.

For ethnic minorities, forest allocation to communities is also important in preserving and conserving indigenous culture and knowledge, contributing to social stability, security and national defense.

In addition to the achieved results, there are still more than 170,000 hectares that have not been assigned to forest owners for management. Some localities have not implemented the project due to scattered forest areas and overlapping boundaries; unsynchronized legal documents; and the status of certificates that have been transferred or traded makes it difficult to review. The lack of consistency between the 2024 Land Law and the 2017 Forestry Law continues to affect the progress of natural forest allocation.

Local people and authorities actively protect forests.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; local authorities, organizations, households and communities in the process of implementing the project.

To effectively implement land and forest allocation work; and at the same time complete the Sustainable Forestry Development Project for the period 2026-2030, the Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee assigned relevant Departments, branches, units and localities to focus on completing legal documents and thoroughly handling existing problems.

At the same time, strengthen post-land allocation management and promote the role of the community. Expand forest protection teams and groups; strictly handle acts of deforestation and encroachment on forest land. Promote the application of digital technology such as remote sensing, forest development database, and fire warning system to improve the effectiveness of forest resource monitoring.

In addition, relevant units closely follow the policy of sustainable development, climate change adaptation; prioritize improving the quality of natural forests; expand the forest area granted with Sustainable Forest Management Certificate; link forestry planning with the socio-economic development orientation of the province. To effectively build and implement the Forestry Development Project for the period 2026-2030

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/nghe-an-giao-hon-200-000ha-dat-rung-cho-ho-gia-dinh-va-cong-dong-quan-ly-10397256.html