Mangrove forests in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu where aquatic species are bred to bring stable incomes to households protecting them. (Photo: VNA) Nguyen Van Ut, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Long An province, said hisprovince plans to grow 650ha new forests this year, including 150ha of specialuse and protective forests.
The special-use forests in particular help protect bio-diversity and conservegenetic resources and the environment, he said.
Forests also enable economic development and help create jobs and improveincomes, he said.
To achieve the afforestation target this year, the People’s Committee hasinstructed relevant agencies to strengthen advocacy to enhance public awarenessof the benefits of forests.
It has also instructed districts and forest managers to ensure they have plansin place to prevent forest fires.
Long An has more than 21,800ha of forests, including 1,800ha of special useforests and 2,000ha of protective forests with the remaining 18,000ha beingcommercial forests.
In Tra Vinh, authorities aim to plant 800ha of new forests, mostly mangrove, in2021-25 to increase the province forest coverage rate to 4.2%.
Tran Van Dung, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture andRural Development, said the province has preferential policies for growing newforests and protecting existing ones.
It subsidises households and organisations who manage at least 0.3ha of forestland their seedling expenses up to 37 million VND (1,600 USD) per hectare, hesaid.
They are paid 500,000 VND (21 USD) per hectare annually for protecting forestsof to up to 15ha in the case of individuals and 30ha in the case of households.
They manage 5,000ha of mangrove forests, also breeding aquatic spices such asshrimp, mud crabs and blood cockles there and earning 60-70 million VND (2,500-3,000USD) per hectare per year from it.
Ben Tre province plans to grow 171ha of new forests this year to add to itsexisting 4,470ha of mostly mangrove.
The mangrove forests are not large but play an important role in coping withclimate change and provide livelihoods to locals, according the provincialDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development.
But the mangroves are affected from coastal erosion and other factors, and sothe province pays attention to afforestation, it said.
Last year, 140ha were planted.
Ca Mau province, home to the largest mangrove forests in the country, planted300ha last year.
It has 94,000ha of forests, mostly mangrove.
Tran Van Thuc, deputy director of its Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said authorities are allocating more forests to households,individuals and organisations to protect and exploit their resources.
Authorities in the Mekong Delta, home to Can Tho City and 12 provinces, alsoplan to grow more new trees in residential and other areas this year.
Can Tho plans to plant 1.4 million new trees along roads, rivers and canals andin parks, gardens, schools, industrial parks, and other areas.
Long An aims to plant nearly 1.6 million trees in residential and other areas./.
VNA
