HCM City (VNS/VNA) ꦺ - Authorities in the Mekong Delta are tightening measures to prevent forest fires in the ongoing dry season.

The delta, which comprises 12 provinces and Can Tho city, has many forests facing high fire risks in the dry season which started in December. The delta’s forests are mostly mangroves in coastal areas and national parks. In Ca Mau province, the provincial People’s Committee has issued a plan to prevent and control forest fires in 45,600ha of forests in the U Minh Ha region and islands in this dry season. These forests have high risk of fires. The People’s Committee has required forest owners and forest management units to dredge canals and build temporary dams to store more water to prevent and control fires, repair and build fire watching towers, and buy fire fighting equipment. Dong Thap province has nine forest areas facing the second fire warning level and five facing the third fire warning level, according to its Sub-department of Forest Protection. Nguyen Tan Thanh, head of the sub-department, has informed forest owners about the forecast of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting, which warns about the complications of the ongoing dry season and the risk of forest fires. He has asked forest owners to maintain their fire-fighting equipment so they are available when there are fires. Human resources should be available around the clock at forest fire preventing and controlling boards, forest protection stations and forest fire watching towers to detect fires and extinguish them, he said. Forest monitoring activities should be strengthened to promptly prevent violations of forest protection regulations, he said. The sub-department has arranged forest management units to protect forests, and prevent and control forest fires. It has arranged human forces and equipment to prevent and control forest fires. When there are high tides, forest owners in Dong Thap pump water from rivers and canals into forest areas to increase humidity and store water for preventing and controlling fires. The delta’s provinces have repaired and maintained fire fighting facilities, made fire breaks in forests, dredged canals to store more water for fight fighting, and set up pump stations and fire watching towers. They have removed inflammable materials in forests and installed cameras in important places to monitor fires. National parks in the delta have tightened measures to prevent forest fires. The Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap province’s Tam Nong district has installed cameras in forest-prone areas to monitor fires. Nguyen Van Lam, director of Tram Chim, said the park’s A4 zone has a high risk of fire and the park has made fire breaks with a width of 60-80 metres in the zone. The park has equipped fire-fighting machines in each zone and mobilised local people and facilities to prevent and control fires, he said. Kien Giang province has about 82,600ha of forests, including special use, protective and commercial forests. Giang Thanh Khoa, Vice Chairman of the Kien Giang People’s Committee, said the province has instructed localities to strengthen the management and protection of forests, and prevent and control forest fires this year. Districts and cities which have forests and relevant agencies should monitor forests and review measures and plans to prevent and control forest fires, he said. In An Giang province, the mountainous town of Tenh Bien has taken measures to protect forests as the locality receives a large number of visitors to its pagodas in the spring. It has undertaken various activities, including awarness-raising activities on local media, to protect forests, and prevent and control forest fires. It has co-operated with travel companies to implement advocacy activities about forest protection and forest fire prevention in tourism sites to enhance the awareness of tourists about protecting forests. The delta’s forests are mostly mangrove and their areas have been declined in recent years because of natural and human factors. The delta’s provinces and Can Tho city have implemented many projects and programmes to grow mangrove forests to protect coastal areas. They have launched the movement “Tree planting festival to forever remember Uncle Ho” in 2025 after the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival. The An Giang province People’s Committee launched the movement to grow trees to prevent erosion along canals and dams on February 3. It aims to grow 3.1 million trees this year. In Ca Mau province, the provincial Border Guard Command launched the same movement on February 3. Tra Vinh province aims to grow about 150ha of new forests this year to increase the forest cover rate to 4.5% by year-end compared to 4.1% now. It has tightened managing and protecting existing forests and focused on growing forests in coastal areas and along rivers to prevent erosion. It has called on domestic and foreign investors to invest in growing and protecting forests in the province./.