Nghe An: Applying the new Forestry Law, sustainable forest management

Thanks to good work in planting, caring for, managing and protecting forests, Con Cuong's forest coverage has now reached over 85%, the highest in the province. Photo by Minh Hanh

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: The total natural land area of ​​Nghe An is 1,648,997 hectares, of which the forestry planning land is 1,166,109 hectares, accounting for 70.7%. Forested land is 879,302 hectares, accounting for 53.3%, non-forested land is 286,807 hectares, accounting for 17.4%. Forested land outside the planning of 3 types of forests is 70,149 hectares, accounting for 4.2%.

Of which, the total timber reserves of Nghe An province up to this point are 81,349,105m3 of natural forests, 9,654,183m3 of planted forests with 1,941,681 thousand bamboo trees. Special-use forests have a reserve of 29,079,642m3, protective forests 28,095,141m3, production forests 29,922,683m3 and forests outside the forestry planning land have 3,364,371m3. Currently, there are 45 wood processing enterprises in the area, 10,410 individual production and trading establishments of wooden furniture and wood products.

Since 2016, Nghia Dan Wood Processing Factory Phase 1 has reached a production capacity of 12,000 m3/year of laminated wood and 130,000 m3/year of MDF boards. In 2018, Nghe An continued to invest in an MDF fiberboard processing factory in Anh Son with a capacity of 400,000 m3/year. Therefore, the new Forestry Law, which took effect on January 1, 2019, is very necessary, as the law will bring greater efficiency to forest owners and forest protectors.

Staff of the Management Board and Forest Protection Department patrol the core forest area. Photo: PV

Specifically, the purpose of building the new Forestry Law is: Establishing a legal framework to regulate social relations in forestry. The economic and technical sector includes activities related to management, protection, development, use of forests, processing and trading of forest products in line with market orientation and international integration. Reasonable and stable management, production and business structure in the direction of modernity, sustainable development in terms of economy, society and environment; Contributing to increasing income, improving the lives of forest workers and the construction of new rural areas, responding to climate change and ensuring national defense and security.

The new Forestry Law contributes to the full and timely institutionalization of the Party and State's guidelines, policies and guidelines on forestry, management, protection and sustainable forest development. It is the foundation for forestry development on the basis of accelerating and deepening the policy of socializing forestry. Institutionalizing the forest ownership regime as prescribed in Article 53 of the 2013 Constitution, in sync with the provisions on the rights, obligations and responsibilities of forest owners and State forestry management agencies; attracting resources for sustainable forestry development.

The Law has institutionalized the forest ownership regime (Article 7) according to the provisions of the 2013 Constitution. The Law clearly stipulates the forestry development policy in the direction of supporting enterprises to cooperate, joint venture, and associate with forest owners to create raw material areas and manage forests sustainably. Consumption of products, application of science, high technology, advanced technology, new technology and green growth solutions, increasing added value. Prioritizing the development of supporting industries in forestry processing, supporting training of human resources in forestry processing. The State builds and operates a system to ensure legal timber in Vietnam. The forestry market development policy is in the direction of organizations and individuals cooperating, associating, purchasing, and consuming forestry products and providing preferential credit. The State supports activities of branding, trade promotion, market development, and providing information on domestic and international forestry markets.

Forest rangers patrol to protect Pu Mat forest in Chau Khe commune, Con Cuong. Photo: Van Truong.

Forest allocation, forest leasing, forest use purpose conversion and forest reclamation must ensure the principle of conformity with national forestry planning and existing local forest area. In accordance with land use planning, natural forest use purpose must not be converted to other purposes, except for important national projects; projects serving national defense and security, and other urgent projects approved by the Government. Disputed forest areas must not be allocated or leased.

UNESCO representative disseminates information on forest protection to people in Mon Son commune, Con Cuong. Photo: PV

Regarding the closure and opening of natural forests, the Law clearly stipulates that the principles of sustainable forest management, conservation of forest resources and biodiversity must be ensured. Publicity and transparency must be ensured, and the rights and legitimate interests of relevant parties must be guaranteed when closing and opening natural forests.

For Nghe An, recently, relevant sectors have deployed propaganda and training on the implementation of the new Forestry Law. The Management Board of the REDD+ Readiness Support Project in Vietnam Phase 2 in Nghe An province organized a workshop on "Consultation on strengthening forest law enforcement" at the district and provincial levels.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development added: Relevant sectors need to actively disseminate the new Forestry Law to forest owners, localities and people to better manage and protect forests. This is also a premise for the successful implementation of the Project "Emission reduction and transfer of emission reduction rights in the North Central region for the period 2018-2025" in Nghe An province.

The Forestry Law (Law No. 16/2017/QH14) was passed by the 14th National Assembly, 4th session on November 15, 2017, effective from January 1, 2019. The Law consists of 12 chapters, 108 articles, the new point of the new Forestry Law is: The Forestry Law has expanded the scope of regulation towards linking the chain of forestry activities from management, protection, development, use of forests, business, processing and trade of forest products (Article 1). It clearly shows that forestry is a specific economic-technical sector, including all activities related to the production of goods and services related to forests (Clause 1, Article 2). This is one of the most important new points, related to the entire content and structure of the law.