Part 3: Need to implement many synchronous solutions

(Baonghean) -Resolving disputes over agricultural and forestry land is a difficult and complicated task, so there needs to be both synchronous and specific solutions. Each relevant sector, unit and individual must clearly define their responsibilities to perform better, in order to improve the efficiency of land management and use, stabilize people's lives, and contribute to socio-economic development in mountainous districts in particular and our province in general.

>>Part 2: Authorities at all levels and state-owned farms and forestry farms have not fulfilled their responsibilities

Faced with the issue of forestry land disputes in recent times, the first task that needs to be carried out by all levels and sectors is to review and evaluate the current status of land management and use at state-owned farms and forestry farms, localities and people. Up to now, after more than 10 years of implementing Resolution 28-NQ/T.Ư dated June 16, 2003 of the Politburo on continuing to arrange, innovate and develop state-owned farms and forestry farms and Decree 200/2004/ND-CP dated February 3, 2004 of the Government on arranging, innovating and developing state-owned forestry farms, the current status of land use and forest resources of state-owned forestry farms still has many limitations.

According to the assessment, most of the forestry farms use land inefficiently; productivity and crop output are low. The forestry farms assigned to manage, protect and develop natural forests still allow forests to be cut down, become increasingly impoverished and the situation of leaving land fallow and unused land areas still exists.

In addition to objective reasons, subjectively, it is due to the heavy burden of subsidy ideology, dependence and waiting for preferential treatment and support from the State; many places still loosen land management, not paying attention to implementing solutions on land management and use according to the provisions of law. Therefore, a necessary task at this time is to review and re-evaluate land management and use at agricultural and forestry farms. For areas left fallow or used ineffectively, the land needs to be recovered and handed over to local authorities for management.

However, when allocating land to localities, priority should be given to people in areas that have been in production for a long time and have the potential for effective production. In reality, some forest farms, when allocating land to people, allocate land with difficult terrain, poor soil, steep soil, and land far from residential areas. For example, Que Phong Forest Farm once allocated over 40 hectares of production land to Coc village, Que Son commune, but because the steep terrain could not be cultivated, no one accepted the land.

Mr. Nguyen Van Theo's family, Ke Mui village, Giai Xuan commune (Tan Ky) hopes to soon be granted land for production.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: To improve the management and use of forestry land for the right purpose and effectively, all levels and sectors need to implement many specific solutions. Firstly, the organization helps the farms and forestry farms to review the land funds assigned to them for management. From here, they are responsible for developing a plan for land management and use. Determine how much is for production and business and return the rest to the locality for management. Mr. Lam also expressed his opinion: For more than 43,000 hectares of protective forest land and natural forest, it should not be assigned to the people. Because this is an area assigned by the State to organizations for management without being funded by the State and must be compensated with funds from production and business to serve the task of zoning and protection. If assigned to the people, the protection work will be more difficult.

In the spirit that all eligible people are allocated land for production with a minimum area, localities also need to review and re-evaluate the process of land allocation and land use in their areas. Currently, there are still some localities that have a large area of ​​land left over, but have not yet handed it over to the people to increase the efficiency of land use. Allocating forestry land to the people is creating a premise for real forest owners to develop household economies. From there, it will have a positive impact on forestry development, on the development of household economies, farm economies, and positively affect the production of forest products and socio-economic development in rural mountainous areas. Many localities "complain" of difficulties because they lack funds to review and measure the current situation. However, localities need to determine that this is an important task because it is related to social security issues and the local political situation.

Therefore, localities need to develop, plan, and allocate local and central funding sources into annual forest protection and development plans to implement forest allocation and leasing projects to meet the set schedule. In addition, it is necessary to focus on taking advantage of the attention and leadership of Party committees and authorities at all levels, assign targets and assign staff to directly monitor and direct in order to promptly remove obstacles to complete the plan.

Land and forest allocation work must be closely followed and implemented in accordance with Decree 02/CP dated March 15, 1995; Decree 163/1999/ND-CP dated November 16, 1999 of the Government on land allocation and leasing of forestry land to organizations, households and individuals for stable and long-term use for forestry purposes and Decree 181/2004/ND-CP dated October 29, 2004 on guiding the implementation of the 2003 Land Law. In the process of land allocation, priority must be given to local people and the right subjects. In particular, when allocating land to people, appropriate types of land must be allocated, with priority given to areas near residential areas so that people can easily cultivate and produce.

After reviewing and allocating land to localities for distribution to people, authorities at all levels need to carry out a master plan and thereby develop specific production plans for each locality, each region and each type of land. This is a long-term measure to fully exploit the potential value of forestry land in our province. In fact, the current value of forestry land production in localities is not high.

The reason is that the district and commune have not yet developed a good and suitable master plan for development. If there is, there is a lack of direction and attention during the implementation process, leading to the fact that what people like to plant and when to harvest is the people's business. For example, the situation of people selling young acacia has been going on for many years, causing acacia output and economic value to decrease, but no locality has taken measures to prevent it. Or the introduction of new tree varieties to help people escape poverty but they are not suitable for the climate, soil quality, and farming practices of the people, so after a while they have to be eliminated, leading to a waste of state capital, while people are still poor.

Therefore, this work must be given top priority by localities, because this is the main source of livelihood for people in mountainous areas, especially ethnic minorities. For the Western districts, the province needs to develop policies associated with forestry development such as building and attracting wood processing and medicinal processing projects, etc. so that localities can plan raw material areas, stabilize output, and increase product value. From there, it will create trust among farmers in the process of developing the forestry economy.

The desire to have forest land for production and to stabilize life is a legitimate aspiration of the people, especially those in mountainous districts. However, that cannot be the reason why people have the right to enter the forest to cut down, encroach, and compete for land with farms and forestry farms. This is an act of violating the law and those who lead, incite, and incite people need to be dealt with appropriately.

When people have been allocated land by the government once but have sold or transferred it to another person, they cannot be allocated land again. For households that do not have land for production, they can enter into a contract with forestry farms in the form of a cyclical contract or a phased contract according to Decree 135/2005 of the Government. Meanwhile, farms and forestry farms have large areas of land, have scientific and technological level, have capital but lack labor. People have time and labor but lack land for production. Therefore, farms and forestry farms should proceed to allocate production forest land to people.

The purpose of the contract is to use land resources effectively and sustainably and mobilize capital and labor from the contracting party, in order to improve the production and business efficiency of state-owned farms and state-owned forestry farms. In addition, when carrying out the contract, it is possible to ensure the harmony of interests between the people, the farms and forestry farms and the State; help the forestry farms and forestry farms develop stably, people have jobs, increase income for workers, contribute to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and ensure security and national defense in the area.

To effectively manage the forest land area in the area, authorities at all levels from district to commune need to step up propaganda and dissemination of the Land Law, the Law on Forest Protection and Development and documents related to policies and guidelines on forest allocation and leasing to all classes of people, so that people can participate in receiving forests, leasing forests for management and use. To reassure people in production, the Government needs to promptly issue additional mechanisms and policies to benefit organizations, communities, households and individuals participating in receiving land, receiving forests and leasing forests.

Strengthening the inspection and supervision of forest owners' management and use after the forest is allocated or leased. In particular, the issuance of land use right certificates needs to be accelerated by localities. Localities need to be proactive in developing plans and projects, avoiding waiting and relying on the State. Issuing land use right certificates to households aims to limit encroachment and mutual land disputes. When the land has a forest owner, it will create conditions to improve the economic thinking of household owners, providing new resources to "link land with labor" and develop household economy.

When land disputes occur, authorities at all levels from commune to district need to clearly define their responsibilities to implement them promptly and decisively. First of all, it is necessary to do a good job of propaganda and mobilization for people to comply with the State's policies and guidelines on the Land Law. Localities need to coordinate well with agricultural and forestry farms to resolve difficulties in order to stabilize the local socio-political situation. However, it must also be frankly acknowledged that the role of the Commune People's Committee in this issue is still very limited, mainly at the level of mediation.

While the district has a larger role, it lacks methods, facilities and resources to resolve the issue. In terms of management, the forestry farm is not directly under the local government but is managed by the Vietnam Forestry Corporation, so the role of the district and commune authorities in directing the forestry farm to resolve disputes is not feasible. Therefore, coordination and collaboration between relevant parties needs to be carried out more smoothly and decisively. On the other hand, the regulation of sanctions for strict handling of violations according to the provisions of the law for authorities at all levels needs to be supplemented in legal documents.

If the above measures are implemented synchronously, the situation of encroachment and competition for forest land by people with agricultural and forestry farms will certainly be resolved. Thereby, improving the efficiency of management and use of forest land at agricultural and forestry farms and localities. This is an important condition for people in mountainous districts, especially ethnic minorities, to develop their economy, creating a driving force for the districts in Western Nghe An to develop more and more sustainably.

Article and photos: Pham Bang - Van Truong