The Mu Cang Chai Regional Forest Protection Department is managing more than 74,000 hectares of forest, spread across 6 communes: Che Tao, Nam Co, Pung Luong, Lao Chai, Khao Mang and Mu Cang Chai. According to the leaders of the Forest Protection Department, the most impressive change is the increasing awareness of forest protection among the people. Clearing vegetation, building firebreaks, and regular forest patrols have become regular activities of community forest protection teams.
Since the beginning of the year, in the communes in the area, 11,898/13,019 households (accounting for 91.38%) have signed a commitment to protect and prevent and fight forest fires. Forest ranger stations have closely coordinated with local authorities to organize 107 village meetings, attracting more than 14,000 participants. Awareness of forest protection has been transformed into concrete actions, each household and each residential area has a clear task and responsibility associated with the forest assigned to manage.
In the movement of unanimous forest protection, Che Tao commune is a typical locality. Thanks to the synchronous implementation of many measures and close coordination between the government, forest rangers and forest protection teams, over the past 9 months, the commune has not had any cases of deforestation, encroachment on forest land or large forest fires, becoming a "bright spot" in forest protection work in the Mu Cang Chai area.
In this particularly difficult land, the mark of the forest rangers has been deeply imprinted in every forest. Mr. Sung A Rua, an officer of the Che Tao Commune Forest Protection Station, has been in the profession for 22 years. As a son of Ta Dong village, Che Tao commune, Mr. Rua knows every slope and stream, and understands the lifestyle of the Mong people here. When asked why he chose this profession, Mr. Rua just smiled and said: "I choose to protect the forest, because protecting the forest means protecting myself."
Che Tao Commune Forest Ranger Station currently has 5 people, responsible for managing more than 19,389 hectares of forest, mostly special-use and protective forests. The area is large, traffic is difficult, and borders many other communes and provinces, making patrolling extremely difficult.
“Sometimes we have to walk for hours over steep mountains to get to the scene of a forest fire,” said Mr. Rua.
Not only sticking to the forest, Mr. Rua and the local forest rangers also proactively advised the Commune People's Committee to develop a specific plan for forest fire prevention and fighting propaganda for each residential area. After each summary, the Che Tao Commune Forest Ranger Station coordinated with the area chief and the community forest protection team to organize propaganda at the cultural house, showing the assigned forest map so that people could clearly understand the area under their management.
“We disseminate the Forestry Law, Decree 35 and documents on forest fire forecasting; then invite each household to sign a commitment to forest fire prevention and fighting, assign 24/7 guard duty at the watchtowers, have a handover book, and clearly sign and receive. Anyone who discovers smoke or fire must immediately report to the Commune Sustainable Forest Development Steering Committee” – Mr. Rua shared.
Not only the forest rangers, but also the people of Mu Cang Chai area have truly become an "extended arm" in forest protection work.
In Che Tao village, Che Tao commune, Mr. Giang A Long is a shining example in the movement to mobilize people to protect forests. For many years, he has always been at the forefront of propaganda and mobilization of people not to burn fields indiscriminately, not to cut down forests for farming, and to actively participate in fire fighting when incidents occur.
Mr. Long said: "We protect the forest to protect the water, the land, the food and clothing for our children and grandchildren in the future."
From his example, many households in the village voluntarily signed a commitment to protect the forest, patrolling and guarding against forest fires together.
Despite the high consensus, forest protection in Mu Cang Chai area still faces many challenges.
In the first 9 months of 2025, the Mu Cang Chai Regional Forest Protection Department and local authorities discovered and handled 67 forestry violations, of which the Forest Protection Department directly handled 37 cases and advised the Commune People's Committee to handle 30 cases; collecting 383.5 million VND to the state budget. In particular, there were 22 cases of illegal deforestation, causing damage to more than 1.2 hectares of forest.
However, thanks to drastic control, no major forest fires occurred in the entire area.
The close supervision of the authorities and the forest protection awareness of the people in Mu Cang Chai area have contributed to effectively controlling the encroachment of forest resources, while keeping more than 74,293 hectares of forest safe, with a coverage rate of 67.4%.
Along with the protection work, forest development in Mu Cang Chai area has also been promoted. Up to now, localities have planted 109 hectares of new protective forests, and cared for nearly 590 hectares of planted forests with a high rate of good tree growth.
In particular, the policy of paying for forest environmental services continues to be an important driving force to help people feel secure in their attachment to the forest. In 2024 alone, the total payment budget in the communes in the Mu Cang Chai area reached more than 53 billion VND, helping hundreds of households have more stable income and be more closely attached to the forest.
To improve forest protection and development, in the coming time, Mu Cang Chai Regional Forest Protection Department will focus on effectively implementing two key tasks: strengthening forest fire prevention and fighting and improving the effectiveness of forest management and protection.
We clearly identify key areas with high fire risks, arrange 24/7 security forces during the dry season, and apply information technology and digital maps to provide early warning of forest fire risks."
At the same time, the Mu Cang Chai Regional Forest Protection Department continues to maintain regular and surprise patrols; strengthen inspection and control of forest products, strictly handle illegal exploitation, trade and storage of forest products to prevent hot spots in the area. The goal is to replicate effective community forest protection models, integrate forest protection into the activities of Party cells and organizations, so that forest management and protection work can truly go into depth and be sustainable.
Protecting forests in Mu Cang Chai area today is not only an administrative task, but has become a habit and daily work of the people. When each household considers the assigned forest as their own property, the message of “protecting forests from the heart of the people” has truly taken root firmly in each village and way of life.
Source: https://baolaocai.vn/rung-xanh-tu-nhung-cam-ket-cua-long-dan-post884796.html
Comment (0)