Turning Nghe An into a center of biodiversity and wood products

(Baonghean) - Nghe An is a province with a large forestry land area, with 1,116,042 hectares. Of which, special-use forests are 172,362 hectares; protective forests are 365,414 hectares; production forests are 622.46 hectares. Implementing the forest protection and development strategy, in recent times, with the attention of the Party, Government, international organizations and central ministries and branches, Nghe An has implemented many large and effective projects, and the socialization of forest protection management and planting has had positive changes.

Therefore, forest resources are basically well protected and developed, currently covering 54.6% of the total natural area. Nghe An's planted forest area is over 134,000 hectares, the province with the largest natural forest area in the North, still preserving many primary forests that are very rich in biodiversity. For example, at Pu Mat National Park, surveys have discovered 2,494 species of higher plants, belonging to 931 genera and 202 families. Of which, 69 are rare species listed in the Vietnam Red Book and 62 are in the International Red Book (IDCN); 662 species of vertebrates belonging to 109 families and 35 orders. Of which, 85 are rare species in the Vietnam Red Book and 421 are in the IDCN catalogue. Notably, some large mammals that have become extinct in many places on the continent still exist here, such as: Asian elephant, Indochinese tiger, gaur, brown-shanked douc, white-cheeked gibbon, pig-tailed macaque, and fire wolf. In particular, 4 new mammal species discovered in the 20th century are also present here: saola, large-antlered muntjac, Truong Son muntjac, and Truong Son striped rabbit.

Pu Huong and Pu Hoat Nature Reserves, although having natural differences, are also very rich and diverse. In Pu Huong, the GeKko Nalmatus species was discovered. Previously, Vietnam only had one specimen found in Mau Son, which is currently kept at the British Museum. Pu Hoat also has an endemic mammal: Muntiacus Puhoatensis.

Harvesting raw acacia at Nghia Dan Forestry. Photo: V.Đ

In Puxailaileng, although it is only an initial survey, 726 species of higher plants belonging to 398 genera, 13 families, 348 species of vertebrates belonging to 98 families, 30 orders have been recorded. Of these, 29 species of rare and endangered animals and plants are at risk of extinction. Notably, Puxailaileng ginseng (Pana SN) is very rare and needs to be preserved and developed (like Ngoc Linh ginseng).

Regarding the natural environment, Nghe An is also a province that has built a fairly complete system of special-use forests in terms of nature, including forest ecosystems from low to high: Pu Huong Nature Reserve (BTTN) with an absolute altitude from under 100m to 1,600m located in the center of the western region of the province; Pu Mat National Park (VQG) with an altitude of up to 1,841m on the southwestern border; Pu Hoat Nature Reserve with an altitude of up to 2,452m, on the northwestern border.

According to the advice of scientists (International Conference in 2003), based on the orientation of restructuring the Vietnam Forestry sector, increasing the area of ​​special-use forests nationwide from 2.2 million hectares to 2.4 million hectares and the results of the investigation and research on biodiversity of the Center for Resources and Development of the Provincial Science and Technology Association (the policy of the Department of Science and Technology), Puxailaileng with an absolute height of 2,711m, the highest in the Truong Son range and second in the country (after Fanxifan 3,143m) deserves to be built into a new nature reserve, completing the system of special-use forests and being the core area of ​​the Western Nghe An World Biosphere Reserve (recognized by UNESCO in 2007).

Continuing to promote those achievements, in order to effectively implement the restructuring project of the industry, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the province to deploy a forestry development program towards rapidly increasing the added value of forests. That is, along with reviewing and adjusting the planning of 3 types of forests, focusing on building mechanisms and policies, rearranging the management system, strengthening decentralization so that all forests have owners and are effectively developed. In particular, great attention is paid to attracting investors and enterprises to expand joint ventures and associations, quickly bringing technical and technological advances into production, linking the development of raw material areas with the construction of large-scale, high-tech refined processing facilities; building and developing eco-tourism associated with the conservation of rare animal and plant genetic resources, natural landscapes; environmental protection and biodiversity projects. On that basis, promote potentials and advantages, strive to turn Nghe An into a center of biodiversity and production of wood products for consumption and export, contribute to environmental protection, combat climate change, effectively carry out the work of hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and enrichment for the people of the Western region of the province.

Although the project was implemented in the condition of "walking and queuing at the same time", up to now, the activities of the forestry sector have shown signs of improvement. The system of 3 types of forests has been reviewed; the management boards and forestry enterprises in the province have been rearranged and have made new developments. With internal resources, Song Hieu Forestry Company has a production line of laminated wood with a capacity of 2,500m3 of products/year, 45,000 tons of paper chips/year, a joint venture to produce MDF fiberboard with a capacity of 40,000m3 of products/year, and a revenue of 168 billion VND/year. Con Cuong Forestry Company organizes the production of raw pulp with 300 - 500 tons of products/year, peeled boards with over 500 tons of products/year, and is building a production line of paper chips with a capacity of 5,000 tons of products/year. The system of civil wood processing among the people is also constantly developing with more than 500 production facilities, each year bringing millions of products to the market. Forest capital development is being carried out in the direction of socialization, tissue culture propagation technology has been successfully applied, bringing practical development to forest planting. In addition to planting fast-growing raw materials and instant products such as acacia, it also focuses on developing large, high-value timber groups, focusing on rubber, xoan dau, lim, tram... trees, of which 12-15 thousand hectares are newly planted each year in the province.

In particular, with great efforts, the province has called for and attracted May Forestry Company to build 2 production lines of MDF and laminated wood. This is the largest factory producing fiberboard and laminated wood products in Southeast Asia. The MDF and laminated wood production lines are equipped with advanced technology from the Federal Republic of Germany and Sweden with a total investment of 300 million USD; phase 1 invested 100 million USD with an MDF wood processing line with a capacity of 130,000m3 of products/year, a laminated wood processing line with a capacity of 12,000m3 of products/year, expected to go into production at the end of 2015; Phase 2, with an investment of 200 million USD, with a capacity of 400,000m3 of MDF wood products per year and 40,000m3 of laminated wood products per year, put into operation in 2018, will create favorable conditions for the consumption of raw materials from planted forests for the western districts of the province, helping the forestry industry to enter a new page...

However, to have new breakthroughs in the forestry industry, it is necessary to continue to make great efforts in attracting projects and scientific and technological advances, especially science and technology in forest management and biodiversity conservation, while at the same time paying attention to promoting the existing facilities, potentials and advantages of the forestry sector.

Nguyen Dinh Vo

(Vice President of Provincial Forestry Science and Technology Association)