Le Loi Commune: Efforts to protect and develop forests

Recognizing forests as valuable assets, the commune government pays special attention to forest management, protection, and development. The commune regularly organizes awareness campaigns on forest protection and the Forestry Law in all 24 villages. They proactively send officials to the grassroots level to coordinate with local people in inspecting, clearing undergrowth, and creating firebreaks; and proactively prevent forest fires during the dry season.

Commune officials and residents of Chiềng Chăn 3 village inspect areas at risk of forest fires.

Mr. Ly Van Thai, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Le Loi commune, said: Currently, the commune has more than 15,000 hectares of forest with a forest cover rate of 48.5%. To motivate people to protect the forest, the payment of forest environmental service fees has been implemented effectively. In 2025, a total of more than 3.4 billion VND was paid to 1,913 households participating in forest protection. At the same time, to properly utilize forest resources, the commune proactively encouraged people to improve hilly land and plant economically efficient trees, both for reforestation and to increase family income.

People benefiting from the Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have gradually stopped indiscriminate deforestation and exploitation of forests. They are now clearly aware of the importance of forests in protecting drinking water sources, preserving arable land for economic development, and ensuring a green, clean, and beautiful environment. With the money received, many households have additional capital to purchase plant and animal breeds to develop their economy. This has contributed to reducing the poverty rate in the entire commune to 21.75% (a decrease of 6.2% compared to 2024).

Furthermore, to ensure effective forest protection, 24 villages in the commune have established specialized forest management and protection teams. These teams coordinate with relevant agencies to proactively patrol, protect, and care for the forest areas under their management. Simultaneously, they collaborate with village heads and influential individuals to incorporate regulations on illegal logging, forest resource exploitation, and slash-and-burn agriculture into village conventions, and strictly penalize any violations. In addition, the commune has organized the signing of commitments to forest protection and fire prevention with all 24 villages.

Officials and residents of Chiềng Chăn 3 village are creating firebreaks to protect the forest.

In addition to protection, the commune has also developed a detailed plan for reforestation, setting a target of 89 hectares to be planted in 2025, including 64 hectares of protective forest and 25 hectares of production forest.

Mr. Lu Van Hoan from Co Mun village said: "Previously, people used to go into the forest to cut wood for use and burn the forest to create fields for cultivation. After receiving guidance and encouragement from commune officials, I and other villagers have raised our awareness and proactively reclaimed 4 hectares of our family's hillside land to plant trees such as macadamia, mango, cinnamon, and mahogany. With the payment for forest ecosystem services, I invested in buying more plant and animal breeds to develop the economy."

Mr. Lu Van Hoan (from Co Mun village) takes care of his macadamia nut plantation.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of the Party committee and local government, along with the solidarity of the people, significant progress has been made in the task of protecting forests and preventing forest fires, thereby contributing to minimizing forest fires and deforestation in the area. As a result, since the beginning of the year, there have been no forest fires or violations of forest laws in the commune.

With the perspective of "People protect the forest, the forest sustains the people," in the coming time, thanks to the joint efforts of the government and people of Le Loi commune, the forest area in the locality will be protected and developed sustainably.

Source: https://baolaichau.vn/xa-hoi/xa-le-loi-no-luc-bao-ve-va-phat-trien-rung-866383