Prevent slash and burn

(Baonghean) - We went to Tien Phong commune - Que Phong, in addition to the planned swidden area, there are quite a few households here illegally clearing swidden land for farming. Going along Na Den village, the resettlement villages of Pieng Cu I, Pieng Cu II, Huoi Muong and Na Cang, the natural forests are all located close to residential areas, cleared by the people, waiting for the hot weather to burn for farming. Lo Van Xuan in Na Den village - one of the households illegally clearing swidden land for farming said: Due to lack of land for production, his family took the risk of illegally clearing swidden land for farming to make a living.

Na Den has 110 households, mainly Thai ethnic people, people's lives are still very difficult, the poverty rate is 83%, the whole village has less than 8 hectares of rice fields, and over 10 hectares of planned fields. There is a serious lack of production land, so many households have gone into the forest to illegally clear fields to produce food. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Kiem - Vice Chairman of Tien Phong Commune People's Committee is worried: What is especially dangerous is that currently the 4 resettlement villages of Pieng Cu I, Pieng Cu II, Huoi Muong and Na Cang have not been allocated production land, so it is very difficult to prevent resettled households from illegally clearing fields.

Mr. Bach Duc Hanh - Head of the Central Forest Ranger Station - Que Phong Forest Ranger Department (in charge of the area of ​​2 communes Hanh Dich and Tien Phong) said: From March 15 to now, the forest rangers in coordination with the People's Committee of Tien Phong commune have discovered and suspended 17 households illegally clearing fields in the Na Den village area, with an area of ​​over 12,000 m2 of illegal fields, many households clearing fields on a large scale such as Vi Van Tuyet 1,800 m2, Nguyen Thi Tam 1,000 m2, the rest are from 500 - 800 m2.

Slash and burn in Muong Noc - Que Phong.

In Thong Thu commune, there are many households illegally clearing fields for farming, concentrated in Hiep An and Hiep Phong areas. The entire Thong Thu commune has over 40,000 hectares of forest (the largest area in the district), with 13 villages, including 9 villages in the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement area, most of which live close to the edge of the forest. Previously, the entire commune had 138 hectares of rice fields, but due to the narrowing of the hydropower reservoir, now there are only nearly 60 hectares left, plus 30 hectares of fields allocated according to the planning, the people of Thong Thu commune still lack land for production. Therefore, since the early summer heat waves of 2014, many people have organized illegal clearing of fields for farming. The functional forces of Pu Hoat Forest Protection Department and Thong Thu commune have recently discovered and suspended 13 households illegally clearing fields for farming.

Mr. Le Hai Ly - Head of the Que Phong District Forest Protection Department discussed: The entire Que Phong district was assigned a planned swidden area of ​​over 800 hectares in 8 communes. However, due to the demand for land for production, since the beginning of 2014, illegal slash-and-burn farming has occurred in the communes of Dong Van, Thong Thu, Tri Le, Tien Phong... Since the beginning of the hot season, the Que Phong Forest Protection Department has coordinated with forest owners and commune People's Committees to expel and suspend over 50 subjects illegally burning slash-and-burn farming in the entire district and is advising the communes to impose penalties according to regulations.

Que Phong Forest Protection Department coordinated with Que Phong District People's Committee to allocate swidden land to people in Tien Phong commune.

In order to reduce the burning of fields causing forest fires, Que Phong Forest Protection Department and Pu Hoat Forest Protection Department have increased coordination with the functional departments of the district and commune to review the boundaries, the area of ​​fields and the planning to stabilize production and do a good job of fire prevention and control. From there, a plan has been implemented to closely monitor the production of fields according to the correct process. Instruct people to do fields according to the planning and regulations on fire prevention and control, requiring that before burning fields, they must notify the local authorities and the Forest Protection Department. The grassroots forest rangers are responsible for guiding the burning process, during the time of burning fields, assigning people to be on duty to prevent the fire from spreading into the forest, and at the same time mobilizing firefighting forces if a forest fire occurs. During the dry season, the risk of forest fires is extremely dangerous, so it is necessary to temporarily stop burning fields. Strictly handle those who violate the law or take advantage of swidden cultivation to illegally destroy forests or cause forest fires. Statistics, specifically determine the current status of area, type of cultivation and objects of swidden cultivation; review and plan swidden cultivation to ensure consistency with the planning of 3 types of forests and local land use planning.

To limit the risk of forest fires during the hot season, Que Phong needs to develop a program to convert sustainable swidden cultivation in the area towards intensive terraced fields. The locality needs to have a mechanism, integrate programs and projects to create financial support, provide technical guidance for people to plant forests, industrial trees, fruit trees and forage trees... to solve employment, increase income associated with forest protection. For the resettlement villages of Hua Na Hydropower Plant, it is necessary to be allocated land for production early so that people can stabilize their lives and limit going into the forest to burn and cultivate.

Van Truong