Forested areas in the country have expanded in recent years thanks to efforts to improve management, according to an official.

Ha Cong Tuan, head of the Forest Protection Department, said the newly afforested area exceeded the number of hectares of trees that had been cut or burned down last year.

At the end of last year, Viet Nam has more than 12.9 million ha of forest compared to more than 12.8 million ha in 2007.

Forest coverage rate reached 38.27% of the entire country last year, according to the department.

Of the figure, 10.35 million ha are natural forests and 2.55 million ha are planted forests.

Under the national programme of planting an additional 5 million ha of forest in 2006-10, the country has planted an average of 581,200ha of new forests and more than 1 million rejuvenated ha of forests a year since 2006.

The department has also assigned households and organisations to tend and protect 2.3 million ha of special-use forests and protective forests a year since 2006.

Special-use forests include national parks, nature reserves and landscape conservation areas.

Protective forests are used to prevent soil erosion along embankments and coastal areas, and act as windbreaks in sandy areas.

Tuan said, however, there were still three million ha of forests that have not been allocated to families or organisations to tend and protect.

Last year, there were 42,246 cases of violation of the Law on Forest Protection and Development, an increase of 2,926 cases compared to 2007, he said.

Targets

The Government aims to plant 227,300ha of new forests and 596,000ha rejuvenated forests this year.

It also plans to assign 1.52 million ha of special use forests and protective forests for households and organisations to tend and protect.

The Government plans to allocate VND1 trillion (US$58.8 million) from the State budget for forest plantation and protection this year.

Investment priorities will be given to plant special-use forests and protective forests in coastal areas, salt-water submerged areas, strengthen sea dykes, large reservoirs and develop border areas to protect these areas.

The department will force all migrant families living in old-growth forests, special-use forests and protective forests to move out of the forests.

The work of assigning forestland and forests for households and organisations as well as granting land-use rights certificates to households and organisations must be completed by 2010.

By then, the department targets having one forest ranger for every 1,000 ha of forests.

All communes with forests will have a forest ranger force to consult local authorities in forest protection management.

The Government plans to increase the country’s forest coverage to 43% by 2010. (VNS)