Nghe An: Granting certificates for forestry development
(Baonghean.vn) - Developing raw material forests with sustainable forest certification (FSC) will create trust for people to participate in forest planting. People can take the initiative in consumption and sign contracts with partners to collect wood products.
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| Acacia harvesting in Tan Long, Tan Ky. Illustrative photo by Van Truong |
* Certification for 15,000 hectares of planted forests
| On the afternoon of March 8, comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee chaired a meeting between departments to listen and give opinions on the Project on developing raw material forests with sustainable forest certification (FSC) associated with high-quality wood processing in Nghe An province in the period of 2017 - 2020. Attending the conference were representatives of the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Finance, Planning and Investment, Industry and Trade, and Science and Technology. |
Nghe An has forestry land area accounting for more than 70% of the province's area, forest resources are extremely rich and diverse. The demand for raw materials from planted forests in terms of output and quality of factories and craft villages is increasing...
In response to the wood processing needs of enterprises, Nghe An province has implemented many projects and programs to plant raw material forests, but due to the demand for raw wood for large factories, the raw materials cannot meet the requirements. Especially in the context of international integration, it requires certification for raw material forest areas.
At the conference, delegates focused on discussing the Project on developing raw material forests with sustainable forest certification (FSC); discussing plans, mechanisms and policies to support households and groups of forest owners in planting production forests to meet the demand for raw materials eligible for export.
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| Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Photo: Van Truong |
To manage and sustainably use forest resources, conserve biodiversity and forest environmental service values, the project aims to build a raw material area of about 15,000 hectares of planted forests certified for sustainable forest management (FSC certification).
The average productivity of sustainable forest certified raw material plantations is from 25-30m3/ha/year; Average reserve is from 160-200 m3/ha; Average large timber ratio is over 80%. Ensuring stable raw materials for the MDF wood processing factory in Nghia Dan, striving to reach 400 thousand m3 of MDF wood products/year by 2020, and finger jointed boards reaching 70 thousand m3 of products/year. When participating in FSC certification, the income of forest growers will increase by 30-40%/ha. The project is implemented in the period 2017-2020 with a total implementation budget of 31 billion VND.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong agreed with the contents of the project and requested the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to pilot the project in 5 districts that have completed the issuance of forest land use certificates, then deploy the project in the remaining districts.
Once there are criteria, relevant sectors must guide and supervise to implement according to the set criteria, contributing to sustainable forest management and development.
FSC Sustainable Forest Certification is a system of standards for certifying the origin of wood for operators. FSC certification is granted to groups of households with planted forest areas according to the local household scale (total area > 300 ha/commune); Planted forests with red books. For organizations, planted forest areas over 1,000 ha are granted certificates. |
* Focus on developing large timber forests
Through the current survey, there are many families and groups of households in localities in the province that effectively plant large timber forests, such as Tuong Duong district currently has about 800 hectares of large timber trees; Con Cuong district intercrops 350 hectares of native trees such as Van Trung; Song Hieu Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. has planned and planted 2,700 hectares of large timber, currently has exploited 1,000 hectares, the remaining 1,700 hectares are still being exploited.
According to households and units, planting large timber forests often reaches 140 - 160 m3/ha with a cycle of 10 - 11 years, revenue from 180,000 - 200,000 million VND/ha, economic efficiency is 2.5 times higher than small timber forests.
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| Harvesting large acacia trees in Luc Da, Con Cuong - Photo by Van Truong |
Mr. Dang Xuan Minh - Deputy Head of the Forest Protection Department said: The current large timber forest area in Nghe An is about 4,000 hectares, concentrated in the districts of Nghia Dan, Quy Chau, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong. Especially the large timber forest used for multiple purposes, from laminated timber to chipping, not only brings high economic benefits, but also helps reduce soil erosion, leaching... contributing to environmental protection and combating climate change.
The People's Committee of Nghe An province also issued a decision approving the Project "Restructuring the Nghe An forestry sector by 2020", which includes the goal of achieving forest coverage of 57% and increasing the industry's production value by 4 - 4.5% per year.
The project also aims to protect and develop forest areas, gradually meeting the demand for wood and forest products for consumption and export; converting existing planted forests into large timber production and business forests of 15,000 hectares, planting new large timber forests on 8,000 hectares of non-forested land and replanting large timber forests on 30,000 hectares of exploited land.
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| Localities prepare hybrid acacia varieties for the new forest planting season. Photo: Van Truong |
For large timber plantation, since 2016, the Provincial People's Committee has had a policy mechanism to support 50% of the price of Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia mangium, and Sao da black seedlings (nursed by seeds or tissue culture) that meet the standards for farming households planting forests on assigned forestry land, or leased in large timber forest production and business planning areas approved by competent authorities. The province also has a mechanism to support 50% of the price of native tree seedlings (green lim, lat hoa, tram) for households planting forests on assigned forestry land, or leased in large timber forest production and business planning areas approved by competent authorities.
In 2017, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to temporarily assign plans to localities and project units to plant 17,000 hectares of raw material forests (an increase of 1,000 hectares compared to 2016). This year, the province plans to plant large timber forests of over 4,000 hectares, concentrated in Thanh Chuong, Quy Hop, Nghia Dan districts...
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