vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn  

Natural hue: The forestry sector’s work has paid off at Ho Phu Ninh in the central province of Quang Nam, which is building a reputation as an eco-tourism destination. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuan Quang

Govt clears the way for forestry development, job creation scheme

HA NOI — Viet Nam is to launch an ambitious forest strategy that will ramp up the reforestation process, develop the timber industry and create up to six million jobs.

Under the draft plan, forest cover will increase from last year’s 10.9 million hectares (or 33.2 per cent of the country’s total natural land area) to 14.4 million hectares (44 per cent) by 2010.

Around 13.3 million hectares of existing forests will be protected, another 2.6 million hectares of land will be set aside for afforestation, and some 300 million trees will be planted in scattered places.

The plan envisages generating enough raw materials for paper production to allow an annual output of up to 1.2 million tonnes of paper and pulp.

The forestry industry will also produce one million cubic metres of artificial wood planks, and generate jobs for some 2.5 million households – a total of no less than six million individual forestry workers.

Forestry will become a key economic sector in midland and highland regions, with export earnings tipped to reach US$1 billion a year.

The draft strategy, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has been presented at several scientific conferences to garner input before it is submitted to the prime minister for consideration.

The document reviews the drop in Viet Nam’s forest cover from 14 million hectares in 1943 to 9.3 million in 1995, examining the causes and proposing reforestation and afforestation measures.

Setting the agenda

Forests will be divided into three categories. The first is special-purpose forests, which will cover 1.5 million ha (or 13.8 per cent of the country’s total forest land) by 2010.

This kind of forest comprises the 12 natural parks, 64 natural conservation regions and 18 forest areas with cultural and historical significance.

The other two categories are protective forests, which prevent erosion, landslides and flooding, and economic forests, which will be exploited for commercial purposes.

By 2010, protective forests will cover some six million ha, with 5.6 million ha marked off for headwater forests. Economic forests will extend over eight million hectares, of which 78 per cent will be natural forests.

The draft strategy divides the country into eight territorial regions for forestry development, tailoring each plan to accommodate the natural environment of that area.

The north-western and north-eastern regions are mountainous, and have great potential to increase their forest cover by regreening bare and denuded hillsides.

Headwater forests are of great importance in these regions, where several water reservoirs and big hydro-electric plants have been built.

In the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), natural forests cover up to 53.2 per cent of the total land area, and waste land still accounts for 20.1 per cent.

The target set for this region by 2010 is to increase the forest cover to 61.6 per cent.

In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, tree planting will focus on preventing soil erosion and landslides along rivers, and on checking sand encroachment into cultivated areas in coastal regions.

Forest belts, designed to ensure environmental values are protected, will be planted in Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong and Ha Long, and in industrial zones and historical and cultural sites.

The strategy also emphasises the role of investment capital in the industry’s development.

Capital should be channelled into a processing industry encompassing both modern large-scale plants and household-based operations.

Several obstacles to the industry’s growth will also be removed, the strategy states.

State oversight of the industry must be efficient and transparent, with all administrative levels in line for reform and reorganisation to create leaner, more effective bodies.

Policies on the application of scientific and technological advances in forestry, personnel training, and particularly long-term forest land-use rights, must be rethought and updated.

One priority programme is the afforestation of five million ha by 2010. This will help accelerate the nation-wide struggle against hunger and poverty in rural areas, particularly remote mountainous regions and offshore islands.

Other key programmes focus on: sustainable forest management and development; timber and other forest product processing; surveys, assessment and monitoring of forest product processing; forest nurseries; and the development of human resources for forestry industry. — VNS

www.ecologyasia.com

_________________________________________________________________________