The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's ForestryDepartment deputy director Nguyen Ba Ngai spoke with Nong thon Ngay nay(Countryside Today) newspaper about restructuring the forestry sector.
* The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD) has approved the forest sector restructuring project. Can yousay something about the project's details?
Theforest sector restructuring project will focus on four main areas,including restructuring three forest categories, among 16.24 million haof forest and forestry land, following a directive that around 2 millionhectares for special-use would be strictly protected. A part of theprotected forest would be used as a production and business forest,while increasing the area of the production forest to 50 percent of thetotal forest area. The project also aims to improve the added value ofthe forestry production chain, processing and trading.
We will also focus efforts on restructuring forestry companies,including State-run forestry farms, such as State-run farms followingthe enterprise laws and state farms performing public benefits orderedby the State, such as special use and protective forest management.
This means that State forestry farms with weak management or operatingat a loss must be dissolved. Management units of all forest categorieswill also be restructured. Additionally, forestry investment would berestructured following directives to reduce capital sources from theState and increasing fund from non-State sources. The State would focuson protecting 2.2 million ha of special-use forest and 50-60 percent ofprotective forest areas.
* What are breakthrough measures the forestry sector will do to assure that the project is successful?
The sector will review the scheme for the forestry system, includingthe forest master plan, the processing network, the management offorestry companies and all forest management units.
The Government has permitted the MARD and the forestry sector to carryout a national survey on forest resources, and the project has beencarried out in two provinces of Bac Kan and Ha Tinh. Further, theproject was implemented in 13 Central Highland provinces and 8 MekongDelta provinces in 2013 and will be in the remaining provinces in thecoming years.
In addition, we will restructure theprocessing network, review 148 forestry companies and 256 forestmanagement units. Research will focus on seeds with high productivity.Each region will focus on planting one main crop that is compatible withthe area's land and climate conditions. Some non-wood forest productsare to be put into production, such as products extracted from oil,bamboo, pharmaceutical plants and food plants such as anise, cinnamon,and rattan.
* Values collected from forest andforest product processing haven't met their potentials yet. Whatmeasures would your advise for MARD and the Government to better tap theforest's potentials?
In fact, we are implementing adirective for reducing raw material processing and export andencouraging the establishment of foreign joint-venture processingnetworks. Applications of science and technology would be considered inefforts to increase the value of products.
Theprocessing sector now seeks to minimise wood imports by using localproducts or materials through the support of a method on improving woodquality. The method that has been researched in Vietnam would be appliedin production in an effort to lower the cost of products compared toimported ones.
In order to take full advantage ofthe forest's potential, three current forest categories would beexploited and managed in combination with each other. Protecting theforest may be undertaken as a function of production with specificsources of income. Production forests should be protected through thequality of land, ecological diversification and protection from erosion.
* It is the correct policy to hand over land andforests to people to manage. However, forest keepers do not seem tobenefit much from their forests. What do you say about that fact andwhat sector could solve this problem?
There were twofacts that made people lose their advantages when they received landfrom enterprises, including: Forestry enterprises handed over exhaustedland areas in remote and mountainous areas or land with poor and lowreserve forests. They also handed over forest lands to people withoutinstructions, technical supports or training in trees, seeds andmarkets. This caused a situation of ineffectiveness and low productivityin production that made those receiving forests dissatisfied andleaving land uncultivated.
This was a shortcoming ofenterprises and local professional organisations, as they did not paytimely attention to, or carry out measures for supporting people afterthey were given land.
In the coming years, we willask forestry companies to develop programmes on land quality assessmentsand proposing measures for supporting local people.-VNA
* The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD) has approved the forest sector restructuring project. Can yousay something about the project's details?
Theforest sector restructuring project will focus on four main areas,including restructuring three forest categories, among 16.24 million haof forest and forestry land, following a directive that around 2 millionhectares for special-use would be strictly protected. A part of theprotected forest would be used as a production and business forest,while increasing the area of the production forest to 50 percent of thetotal forest area. The project also aims to improve the added value ofthe forestry production chain, processing and trading.
We will also focus efforts on restructuring forestry companies,including State-run forestry farms, such as State-run farms followingthe enterprise laws and state farms performing public benefits orderedby the State, such as special use and protective forest management.
This means that State forestry farms with weak management or operatingat a loss must be dissolved. Management units of all forest categorieswill also be restructured. Additionally, forestry investment would berestructured following directives to reduce capital sources from theState and increasing fund from non-State sources. The State would focuson protecting 2.2 million ha of special-use forest and 50-60 percent ofprotective forest areas.
* What are breakthrough measures the forestry sector will do to assure that the project is successful?
The sector will review the scheme for the forestry system, includingthe forest master plan, the processing network, the management offorestry companies and all forest management units.
The Government has permitted the MARD and the forestry sector to carryout a national survey on forest resources, and the project has beencarried out in two provinces of Bac Kan and Ha Tinh. Further, theproject was implemented in 13 Central Highland provinces and 8 MekongDelta provinces in 2013 and will be in the remaining provinces in thecoming years.
In addition, we will restructure theprocessing network, review 148 forestry companies and 256 forestmanagement units. Research will focus on seeds with high productivity.Each region will focus on planting one main crop that is compatible withthe area's land and climate conditions. Some non-wood forest productsare to be put into production, such as products extracted from oil,bamboo, pharmaceutical plants and food plants such as anise, cinnamon,and rattan.
* Values collected from forest andforest product processing haven't met their potentials yet. Whatmeasures would your advise for MARD and the Government to better tap theforest's potentials?
In fact, we are implementing adirective for reducing raw material processing and export andencouraging the establishment of foreign joint-venture processingnetworks. Applications of science and technology would be considered inefforts to increase the value of products.
Theprocessing sector now seeks to minimise wood imports by using localproducts or materials through the support of a method on improving woodquality. The method that has been researched in Vietnam would be appliedin production in an effort to lower the cost of products compared toimported ones.
In order to take full advantage ofthe forest's potential, three current forest categories would beexploited and managed in combination with each other. Protecting theforest may be undertaken as a function of production with specificsources of income. Production forests should be protected through thequality of land, ecological diversification and protection from erosion.
* It is the correct policy to hand over land andforests to people to manage. However, forest keepers do not seem tobenefit much from their forests. What do you say about that fact andwhat sector could solve this problem?
There were twofacts that made people lose their advantages when they received landfrom enterprises, including: Forestry enterprises handed over exhaustedland areas in remote and mountainous areas or land with poor and lowreserve forests. They also handed over forest lands to people withoutinstructions, technical supports or training in trees, seeds andmarkets. This caused a situation of ineffectiveness and low productivityin production that made those receiving forests dissatisfied andleaving land uncultivated.
This was a shortcoming ofenterprises and local professional organisations, as they did not paytimely attention to, or carry out measures for supporting people afterthey were given land.
In the coming years, we willask forestry companies to develop programmes on land quality assessmentsand proposing measures for supporting local people.-VNA
