Sustainable forest management and the development of forest certification (FSC) will open up great opportunities, promoting the sustainable and integrated development of the forestry sector from management, protection, regeneration to exploitation and processing of forest products. Therefore, in recent years, the province has encouraged households, groups of households planting forests, and forestry companies to participate, not only bringing economic benefits to forest planters and purchasing businesses but also contributing to environmental protection.
Inspecting a eucalyptus plantation produced according to FSC standards by Yen Lap Forestry Company, Yen Lap district.
Forest development according to FSC standards.
FSC certification is a voluntary standard developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to promote responsible forest management globally. This certification ensures that wood products are produced from controlled sources and comply with environmental, social, and economic standards.
As one of the businesses in the province implementing the FSC-certified sustainable forest management plan, Yen Lap Forestry Company in Yen Lap district has demonstrated the significant effectiveness of this management approach. Currently, the company manages over 2,000 hectares of forest, of which nearly 1,800 hectares have been granted FSC forest certification.
Before implementing the sustainable forest management plan, like other forest management units, the company still managed its forests using traditional methods. The limitation of this approach was that it only focused on ensuring the economic objectives of the forest, while other objectives such as environmental, social, quality, and biodiversity of the forest were not given sufficient attention.
In 2011, the company decided to switch to a sustainable forest management approach. After more than 10 years of implementation, the company has achieved its goal of using forest resources to sustain forest growth, conducting responsible timber business, and ensuring a harmonious balance of forest objectives.
Mr. Phung Manh Thang, Director of the company, shared: Thanks to sustainable forest management, the company's production and business have developed, stabilizing the lives of nearly 50 employees with an average income of 6 million VND/person/month. The company also creates jobs for more than 200 households participating in contracted forest planting, care, and sanitation.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Head of the Yen Lap District Forest Protection Department, with the goal of upgrading the quality of plantation timber, the district has currently coordinated with the Phu Tho Provincial Sustainable Forestry Cooperative to approve FSC sustainable forest management certification for all communes and towns in the district, covering an area of 10,000 hectares. FSC certification will help ensure that timber from local plantations is sold at a higher price than the market rate, and processed timber products will be allowed to be exported abroad.
Along with Yen Lap district, forest-planting households in Tan Son district have also invested in building sustainable forest certification. To date, Tan Son district has nearly 13,000 hectares of forest certified by FSC. If calculated from planting to processing and export, the economic efficiency increases 2.5-3 times, with the planting stage (forest planters) increasing 1.2-1.5 times compared to traditional forest planting. Businesses that purchase the products will bear the costs of assessing and obtaining FSC certification for forest-planting households, which is why the area of FSC-certified forests in Tan Son district has been continuously increasing recently.
Planting FSC-certified forests in the mountainous district of Tan Son helps producers increase their economic efficiency by 1.2-1.5 times, contributing to sustainable poverty reduction.
Enhancing the value of forestry production
With nearly 188,000 hectares of forest and forestry land, the province has, over the years, issued many mechanisms and policies to promote forest cover, and intensified propaganda on converting from small-timber plantations to large-timber plantations with sustainable certification, combined with support from international projects. The special-use forests are basically managed sustainably, and forest owners, including forestry organizations and companies in the area, have implemented FSC sustainable forest management since 2011.
To enhance the value of forestry production, the province has issued policies to support the certification of sustainable forest management through Resolution 05/2019/NQ-HĐND (Resolution 05), dated July 19, 2019; and Resolution 22/2021/NQ-HĐND, dated December 9, 2021, of the Provincial People's Council, replacing Resolution 05 on policies to support and encourage agricultural and rural development in Phu Tho province.
Thanks to this, the member forestry companies of Vietnam Paper Corporation, including 3 companies and 1 cooperative: Gem My Tan Son Company, Ong But Forestry Company, Luong Son Joint Stock Company, and An Viet Phat Cooperative, have developed sustainable forest management plans for nearly 32,000 hectares of production forest.
Implementing sustainable forest management is aligned with the province's forestry development strategy. Therefore, the province has mechanisms and policies to promote support and encourage businesses to collaborate with forest owners to form large-scale raw material areas, invest in planting large timber forests, and practice sustainable farming to achieve FSC certification. Simultaneously, all levels of government, sectors, and localities are strengthening communication efforts regarding the benefits of sustainable forest management and FSC-certified production; and disseminating information about the province's support policies for FSC sustainable forest management certification to organizations, individuals, and people with forests.
Comrade Tran Quang Dong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, said: FSC-certified forests will bring long-term benefits, ensuring the ecosystem of planted forests. Forest growers will receive technical advice from businesses on forest care and development monitoring, contributing to improving the economic efficiency of forests and creating opportunities to affirm the brand value of the province's forest products in domestic and international markets. With the benefits that FSC sustainable forest management certification brings, most forest owners in the province have unanimously responded and participated in the implementation of FSC certification assessment. Currently, in the province, there are 9 forest owners with more than 28,000 hectares of forest that have been FSC certified.
Sustainable forest management is a good direction for the development of the province's forestry sector, promoting economic development for farmers. With its potential and strengths in forestry, obtaining FSC certification is a crucial factor contributing to the sustainable management of forest resources, enhancing the economic efficiency of forestry for local communities and society as a whole, and providing an opportunity to affirm the brand value of local forestry products.
Hoang Huong
Source: https://baophutho.vn/nbsp-quan-ly-rung-ben-vung-218770.htm
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