VNBusinessNews – Desertification is threatening a vast area of the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, with a corresponding loss of biodiversity and productive land for farming.

A survey conducted by the Viet Nam Office for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2005 estimates the degraded land area in the province is already nearly 390,000ha out of 954,258ha, with a large percentage of the remaining land under threat.

Deputy director general of the Department of Forestry Pham Minh Thoa says, Dien Bien Province is among the hardest hit by desertification in the northwest region.

Yet, she stresses that an official survey has not been conducted on a national scale to reveal the impact of desertification.

The Department of Forestry is implementing a 2006-2010 national action plan to assess the desertification process, with priority given to most-affected provinces including Dien Bien, An Giang, Kien Giang (the Cuu Long delta), Tay Nguyen (the Central Highlands) provinces and central coastal ones stretching from Thanh Hoa to Ninh Thuan.

Thoa, who is also director of the country’s UNCCD office, admits that despite the recognised severity of the situation in Dien Bien, the province has not received any funds to combat desertification.

Limited funding has forced the department to turn its attention to central coastal provinces, where desertification is also causing severe affects, she says.

The action plan started in 2006, but the department has only received funding this year for implementation. It has received VND200 million (US$ 11,000) to carry out a series of activities, including the assessment of desertification situation nation-wide and building an official database on the issue.

Thoa says the funds allocated are not enough; VND12.5 billion ($735million) would be necessary to finish these activities by 2010.

Slash-and-burn agriculture and population density are being blamed as the main reasons for land degradation in Dien Bien.

Rotation shortened

Population increase has shortened the period of crop rotation, causing a decline in the fertility of agricultural land with a corresponding decrease in food output and an increase in fallow land area in the province, according to Dien Bien Agriculture and Rural Development deputy director Nguyen Van Chua.

Most ethnic people in the province are cultivating on mountain slopes where slash-and-burn farming still dominates, contributing greatly to deforestation, land degradation and biodiversity loss, he added.

Forest cover in the province was 39.7 per cent last year. But a majority of this area consists of replanted trees; very little natural forest remains here.

Desertification happens when climactic change and man’s impacts cause land degradation. This process affects about 10ha of land every minute throughout the world. The process causes a loss of productive land and can therefore contribute to poverty.

Statistics released by the Viet Nam National Office for UNCCD showed that about 9.3 million hectares of land across the country is facing desertification, accounting for about 28 per cent of land. The process is estimated to be adversely impacting 22 million people.

“Viet Nam is among countries suffering from a fairly high speed of desertification, leaving a large area of land no longer suitable for cultivation,” opines Dr Pham Manh Cuong at the Forest Management Office.

Both Thoa and Cuong agree that desertification is not receiving enough attention or action from ministries or industries.

Desertification concentrates on sad strips along central coastal provinces, mostly from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan, accounting for a total area of about 419,00ha. The figure is 43,000ha in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

According to the UN Agriculture and Food Organisation, Viet Nam has about 462,000ha of coastal sand, making up one-quarter of the natural area nationwide.

It is estimated that roving sand causes a loss of between 10-20ha of agriculture land in the country every year. Thousands more hectares of land continue to be degenerated and affected by drought. (VNS)