More than 23,000 hectares of pine forests in Nghe An have not been treated for vegetation.

(Baonghean.vn) - The whole province has more than 30,000 hectares of pine forests that are susceptible to fire, of which the key area is 16,000 hectares. However, the annual clearing of vegetation only reaches 5,000-7,000 hectares, while more than 23,000 hectares of pine forests have not been cleared, and the risk of forest fires is very high.

Farmers in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh have only cleared the vegetation, but have not processed it according to the correct procedure.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Thuc, Head of the Yen Thanh District Forest Ranger Department, shared: The district has over 3,000 hectares of pine forest. At the beginning of the hot season, the district's Forest Protection Management Board handled over 500 hectares, the communes handled about 500 hectares, and the remaining nearly 2,000 hectares of pine forest managed by the communes have not been handled.

Do Luong district currently has nearly 7,000 hectares of pine forests, of which the area of ​​resin pine forests reaching the age of exploitation is over 1,000 hectares. Of this pine forest area, over 500 hectares are under the management of Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., the rest are under the management and protection of 12 communes and towns in the district. Up to this point, Do Luong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. has processed over 500 hectares, leaving over 6,500 hectares of pine forests that have not been processed.

Some pine forest areas in Xuan Thanh and Yen Thanh communes are exploited for resin and people have allocated part of the budget to treat the vegetation.

In Nam Dan district, there are over 7,000 hectares of forest distributed in 15 communes, of which the forest area managed by the Special Use Forest Management Board is 5,600 hectares. Nam Dan forest is mainly pure pine, with relatively large slopes, thick vegetation, bordering districts such as Thanh Chuong, Nghi Loc, Huong Son, Do Luong. Therefore, the risk of forest fires is very high if not handled well and promptly.

Dense vegetation in Thuong Son commune, Do Luong

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Head of Forest Protection Management Department, Provincial Forest Protection Department said: Treating the ground cover is very expensive, from 70-80 million VND/ha, while the source of pine resin exploitation is limited, so most of the pine forest area managed by the commune has not been treated.

Currently, the provincial Forest Protection Department is proposing that the Central Government support 12 billion VND from the project “Improving the capacity of forest fire prevention and control in Nghe An”. Of which, over 60% of the above amount will be reserved for vegetation treatment, mainly supporting communes with large areas of pine forests.

According to Mr. Tuan, the Sub-Department is currently directing the forest rangers to continue to mobilize people in communes with pine forests to treat the undergrowth. For families with conditions to treat thoroughly, after clearing, the area must be burned, and the forest rangers will closely monitor while burning the undergrowth.

Van Truong