Improve the effectiveness of forest fire prevention and fighting
(Baonghean) - Nghe An has nearly 884,000 hectares of forest, of which nearly 149,460 hectares are planted forests. In 2011, the province's forest coverage reached over 53%. Many forests are contiguous, thousands of hectares between communes and districts of the province and some areas are adjacent to Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. That poses urgent issues for the Provincial and District Steering Committees in forest protection and forest fire prevention, control and fighting (PCCCR).
(Baonghean) - Nghe An has nearly 884,000 hectares of forest, of which nearly 149,460 hectares are planted forests. In 2011, the province's forest coverage reached over 53%. Many forests are contiguous, thousands of hectares between communes and districts of the province and some areas are adjacent to Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. That poses urgent issues for the Provincial and District Steering Committees in forest protection and forest fire prevention, control and fighting (PCCCR).
To do this job well, from the beginning of the year, the Standing Office of the Steering Committee advised the Provincial and District People's Committees to synchronously and effectively deploy solutions for forest protection and forest fire prevention and control according to the approved plans of the authorities at all levels. In 2011, the province and 20 districts, cities and towns established 345 Forest Fire Prevention and Control Command Committees at all levels, including 1 provincial-level Steering Committee, 20 district-level Steering Committees and 325 commune-level Steering Committees and forest owners. Along with that, more than 1,920 grassroots forest fire fighting teams and groups in villages, hamlets and forest owners with nearly 22,200 members participated. The core of this force is the mobile forest rangers, militia and self-defense forces and regular troops stationed in areas near the forest.
Along with propaganda work to raise awareness and responsibility for people and management units on forest protection and forest fire prevention, the Steering Committee organized inspections of units and localities implementing the 4-on-site plan (on-site forces, on-site command, on-site means and on-site logistics); the implementation of the standing regime, planning of swidden areas and clearing of vegetation; inspection of safety conditions in key forests. The Steering Committee also directed localities to organize commitments to prevent forest fires between the district, commune and forest owners; commitments between communes, forest owners and villages, hamlets and households living in and near forests.
Forest owners, People's Committees of Nam Dan, Anh Son, Nghia Dan, Quynh Luu districts have signed contracts with military units stationed in the area such as Military School of Military Region 4, Brigade 144 Engineers, Warehouse K852 - Technical Department - Ministry of National Defense... Fire prevention and control regulations in border areas of adjacent communes have been completed, especially in Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu and Thanh Chuong districts.
Military forces participate in forest fire fighting drills in Hung Tay commune(Hung Nguyen).
Some organizations responding to forest fire prevention and fighting such as the Provincial Youth Union have launched the PCCCR campaign and promoted the whole society to participate in forest protection, signing a commitment to compete in forest protection (BVR). The Youth Union of Nam Dan district, in response to the BVR movement, has participated in clearing vegetation, flammable materials, and cleaning the landscape environment of over 100 hectares of special-use forest at the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan, mother of Uncle Ho, in Nam Giang commune. In addition, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, and Do Luong districts have built 300 km of new firebreaks in key forest areas with fires and pine resin exploitation activities, and treated vegetation on over 2,300 hectares.
The mountainous districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong and Quy Chau built 200 km of white runways to ensure fire safety in swidden production. Fire watchtowers are maintained to serve as permanent early detection stations for forest fires such as Nam Giang (
To meet the requirements of PCCCR, last year, the Steering Committee coordinated with the Provincial Military Command and the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district to organize a provincial-level forest fire fighting exercise in Hung Tay commune to gain experience for the whole province on the mechanism of operating and commanding forest fire fighting when many forces participate in forest fire fighting. In addition, the province and district organized more than 50 training courses for more than 2,100 key cadres at commune, village and hamlet levels; militia and self-defense forces, youth unions and forest owners to grasp the situation, command skills and techniques of forest fire fighting.
In addition to the office of the Executive Committee organizing a 24/7 force to receive information, process information, and organize forest fire fighting forces, all fire watchtowers are also on duty 24/7 to detect early fire spots such as Nam Giang watchtower, Hoa Son watchtower (Do Luong) and watchtower in Nghi Loc. In key forest areas with high risk of forest fires, the Executive Committee at all levels arranges forces to patrol and closely monitor people entering and leaving the forest and the use of fire in the forest and along the forest edges. Thanks to that, in 2011, there were only 6 fires in the province, a decrease of 32 cases, equivalent to 84% (in 2010, nearly 230 hectares of forest burned) in Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Nghia Dan and Dien Chau districts. The burned area was nearly 61 hectares, but the forested area was only over 7.3 hectares.
In 2012, the Steering Committees at all levels on forest fire prevention and control focused on seriously implementing the Prime Minister's Official Dispatch No. 300/CD-TTg dated March 6, 2012; Directive No. 07/CT-UBND dated March 16, 2012 of the Provincial People's Committee on strengthening forest fire prevention and control on the basis of paying attention to building a forest protection force and forest fire prevention and control from the provincial level to the district, commune, forest owner and village levels; establishing a Steering Committee on the Forest Protection and Development Plan for the period 2011 - 2020 in the spirit of Decision No. 57/QD-TTg dated January 9, 2012 of the Prime Minister on the basis of merging the Steering Committee for urgent issues in forest fire prevention and control and the Steering Committee for the implementation of the 5 million hectare reforestation project.
In which, PCCCR teams are established at the grassroots level; militia and self-defense teams in localities; military forces stationed in districts with forests. Along with developing PCCCR plans, signing PCCCR commitments with units, PCCCR Command Committees at all levels strengthen inspection and direction of grassroots units and forest owners to effectively and synchronously operate PCCCR measures. The Steering Committees at all levels attach importance to propaganda work on forest protection and PCCCR on mass media, aiming to raise awareness of the community and the whole society about obligations and responsibilities in forest protection and PCCCR.
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