Pac Nga protects its "green lung".

Pac Nga commune currently manages over 4,400 hectares of forest, including 3,379 hectares of protection forest and over 883 hectares of production forest. To protect the existing forest area, the commune has effectively promoted the role of forest management, protection, and fire prevention and control teams at the grassroots level, in conjunction with the implementation of village regulations and conventions. This has created positive changes in mindset and practices, mobilizing community participation in forest protection and development.

Local forest rangers in Pac Nga commune are disseminating information and regulations on forest protection and fire prevention.

The headwater forest of Bo Hoi spring, which provides year-round drinking water for the people of Buoc village, Pac Nga commune, is strictly protected by the Thai community. It is also where the village holds the Xen Ban and Xen Muong ceremonies and performs rituals to worship the forest spirits at the beginning of each new year.

Under the cool, green canopy of ancient trees at the Bo Hoi spring, Mr. Lo Van Bung, Party Secretary and Head of Buoc village, shared: The villagers have unanimously agreed to establish a forest protection agreement, urging each other not to burn the forest for farming or to destroy it. Thanks to this, the village's headwater forest is always well-protected and developed, ensuring the Bo Hoi spring flows year-round, providing water for daily use to 176 households in the village.

In Na Tien village, 123 households are managing and protecting 534 hectares of protective and planted forest. Mr. Ha Van Minh, Party Secretary and Village Head, said: The village's forest protection team has 10 members and regularly patrols the forest 1-2 times a month, and 3-4 times a month during the dry season. Due to the large forest area and steep terrain, the team often divides into smaller groups to take turns inspecting, preventing forest encroachment, clearing vegetation, and creating firebreaks to minimize the risk of forest fires. For many years, there have been no instances of illegal logging or forest fires in the village.

Local forest rangers and the forest protection team of Buoc village, Pac Nga commune, are patrolling and protecting the forest.

Working alongside the people to preserve the greenness of the forests are the local forest rangers. Mr. Dang Van Dang, a forest ranger from the Forest Ranger Station Area IV, in charge of Pac Nga commune, shared: The local forest ranger team advises the commune People's Committee on forest management and protection, forest fire prevention and control; and strengthens the Steering Committee on forest development and the community forest management and protection teams of the 16 villages.

Given the complex weather patterns, local forest rangers, in coordination with forest protection and fire prevention teams in the villages, maintain 24/7 duty, intensify patrols, and inspect areas at high risk of fire, especially mixed forests, in order to detect and handle incidents promptly, particularly during the peak dry season.

Every year, the commune organizes propaganda conferences and broadcasts on the commune and village public address systems to raise people's awareness of forest protection. From July 2025 to the present, the commune has coordinated the organization of 9 conferences to disseminate legal regulations, integrated with signing commitments on forest management and protection, and forest fire prevention and control in villages and clusters of villages, attracting more than 1,100 participants.

The headwater forest of Bo Hoi spring, in Buoc village, was chosen as the venue for the Xen Ban, Xen Muong ceremony at the beginning of the new year.

Mr. Ly Trong Vinh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Pac Nga commune, informed: The commune received nearly 500 million VND in forest environmental service fees. This money was partly used to support members of the forest protection and management teams in the villages, and the rest was invested in repairing internal village roads, roads leading to production areas, purchasing equipment for the cultural center, and other activities, creating more motivation for people to better protect the forest. Thanks to effective forest protection, from July 2025 to the present, the commune has not experienced any violations of the Forestry Law, and the forest cover rate has reached 47.3%.

Determined to protect the existing forest area, the commune continues to strongly promote the role of forest management and protection teams and forest fire prevention and control teams at the grassroots level; research and develop a plan to orient the development of the forest economy , focusing on developing three types of forests associated with planting multi-purpose forestry trees such as teak, mahogany, mahogany, and bamboo shoots... At the same time, it fully and transparently implements the policy of payment for forest environmental services to create sustainable and long-term livelihoods for the people.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/xa-hoi/pac-nga-bao-ve-la-phoi-xanh-a5dAFXJvR.html