Records in Quynh Loc commune, Hoang Mai town, one of the localities with a large area of pine forests, show that the vegetation under the forest canopy is dense, posing a high risk of forest fires. Following the pine hillsides in late June, it is easy to see thick layers of dry fallen pine needles spread out under the canopy.
“In the past, people living near the forest often went into the forest to collect pine needles for fuel. But now there are gas stoves and electric stoves, so not many people collect them anymore. Over time, the accumulated vegetation becomes thicker and thicker, making it easy for fire to occur,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Lam, a resident of Quynh Loc commune.
According to Mr. Ho Quoc Uy - Chairman of Quynh Loc Commune People's Committee, the commune currently has about 288 hectares of pine forest, mainly assigned to local people for management. Although propaganda and mobilization for ground cover treatment have been stepped up, most of the area has not been cleared yet. The main reason is that the price of pine resin has dropped sharply in recent years, making local people no longer interested in forest care. As a result, the work of clearing, collecting pine needles, and ground cover treatment has also been neglected.
According to Mr. Le Ngoc Huu - Head of Quynh Luu Forest Protection Department - Hoang Mai Town, the entire area has more than 6,000 hectares of pine forest, but only the Bac Nghe An Protective Forest Management Board has been able to handle about 600 hectares. Most of the remaining area managed by the communes has not yet been treated for vegetation due to lack of funds and human resources.
This situation is not only happening in Quynh Luu district but is also common in many other localities. Nam Dan district is in a similar situation. Out of a total of 4,000 hectares of pine forest, only 366 hectares in key areas such as the tomb of Ba Hoang Thi Loan, King Mai Hac De temple, and Dai Tue pagoda have been treated. The remaining area has not been treated yet.
Another hot spot is Dien Chau district - where there are over 6,000 hectares of pine forests but almost no area has been treated for vegetation. The biggest difficulty here is that the locality does not have a specialized forest management unit such as forestry companies or protective forest management boards. Most of the forests are managed by communes or households themselves, leading to a lack of investment in fire prevention and fighting.
According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Nghe An, the whole province currently has 15,867 hectares of pine forests at high risk of fire, along with 8,895 hectares of mixed eucalyptus forests spread across areas such as Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town... However, the total area of treated vegetation has only reached 2,642 hectares, a number too low compared to actual requirements.
Currently, the treatment of vegetation mainly relies on funding from specialized units such as forestry companies and protective forest management boards. Therefore, areas managed by communes or households are not given attention.
Faced with the increasing risk of forest fires, Nghe An Forest Protection Department needs to have more drastic instructions, especially requiring localities and households contracted to protect pine forests to proactively implement vegetation treatment right from the beginning of the hot season. In addition, mobilizing social resources for this work is also a necessary solution to ensure the safety of forests during the hot season.
Source: https://baonghean.vn/nhieu-dien-tich-thuc-bi-o-nghe-an-chua-duoc-xu-ly-triet-de-nguy-co-chay-rung-thong-tang-cao-10301145.html
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