Illegal forest clearances worry Deputy PM

Illegal forest clearances worry Deputy PM

Cleared: Forest in Ea Súp District in Đắk Lắk was destroyed in July. — Photo bnews.vn

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng has asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to examine forest protection and forest land management in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) provinces.

Dũng also ordered the two ministers to report the results to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc before March  三0.

The assignment was made on Wednesday following a series of reports published by Vietnam News Agency and Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper revealing that many projects on transferring forests and forest land to businesses to manage and protect had failed to meet targets.

The reports also included stories focusing on vast losses of forest land due to illegal encroaching and trading.

Violations of forest protection and management regulations were found rampantly spreading across the region, despite law enforcement forces chasing after them.

The media appealed for provinces in the Central Highlands regions to urgently take action to manage and protect forests and forest land.

In a nationwide teleconference in October, PM Phúc expressed concern about illegal logging in the Central Highlands caused by loose management and the irresponsibility of several officials and cadres.

According to the agricultural ministry, forest coverage in the Central Highlands has fallen by  三, 一 七0ha annually to more than  二. 五 五 million hectares in  二0 一 六.

From  二0 一 二- 二0 一 七, about  四, 二 一 八ha of forests were cut down illegally, accounting for  一 一 per cent of the total lost. In the first nine months of last year,  一, 六 九 七 cases of illegal logging were discovered,  七 五 七 of them in the Central Highlands. Up to  四 一 八ha of forests were damaged, up  五 三 per cent year-on-year from  二0 一 六.

In the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông alone,  二 二 五ha of forests were destroyed in nine months, up  九 九ha from  二0 一 六.

The PM asked departments and agencies to closely follow the resolution on sustainable forest protection and development adopted by the  一 二th National Party Congress, considering it as an important solution to create jobs, improve local income and raise forest coverage by  四 二 per cent by  二0 二0.

He ordered that forest gates be closed and projects on forest-use change be strictly monitored in line with Decree No 一 三 of the Secretariat and the PM’s directions. This includeds suspending moves to convert natural forest to farmland or for industrial use and construction of small hydropower plants. — VNS