Nghe An: Many forests have not been cleared of vegetation, posing a high risk of fire.

According to PV's records in early May 2022, in many forests inNghe AnThere are many thick layers of vegetation, especially leaves and dry branches, with some spots being 5 - 10 cm thick. Just a small spark can burst into a large fire.

This is the season when pine leaves fall, a lot of fallen leaves create thick layers of vegetation, causing a high risk of forest fires. Photo: Quang An

For example, the Ru Bac area is located in the new hamlet 5, Dien Loc commune, Dien Chau district. Here, pine and cajuput leaves are fallen and dry, but the clearing of the ground cover has not been carried out synchronously, leading to the ground cover layer becoming thicker and thicker.

Mr. Phan Huy Thanh - Chairman of Dien Loc Commune People's Committee said: The thick vegetation in the forests is a problem that the locality is very concerned about. In fact, every year the commune mobilizes organizations and unions to clear the vegetation, but due to lack of funds, it cannot be maintained regularly. In addition, the lack of human resources, especially young human resources, also affects the work of clearing and clearing the vegetation.

Many forests in Dien Chau district have a thick layer of vegetation but have not been collected. Photo: Quang An

"Therefore, the most feasible solution now is to assign people to be on duty at vulnerable forest areas with the highest risk of fire to promptly detect and handle fires during the hot season, while at the same time strengthening propaganda work to raise people's awareness, especially among households assigned forests," Mr. Thanh emphasized.

In fact, in recent years, Dien Chau district has been the locality with the most forest fires in the province, especially the consecutive fires in Dien Loc, Dien Phu, and Dien An communes in 2020, which burned down hectares of forest. One of the reasons why fires flare up quickly and spread is the thick layer of vegetation, so fire prevention and fighting work, especially clearing vegetation before the hot season, needs to be carried out drastically.

In localities with forests, there are currently very few young workers, most of whom have gone to work far away, so the people who are on duty and guarding the forests are mainly the elderly. Photo: Quang An

In the districtNghi Loc, the work of clearing the ground cover before the hot season is also carried out by the locality, however in reality the ground cover is still thick in many forests, some firebreaks are covered with trees.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Son - Head of Nghi Loc Protective Forest Management Board said: Currently, the district has over 5,000 hectares of forest, mainly concentrated in the communes of Nghi Van, Nghi Lam, Nghi Hung, Nghi Quang... Before the hot season, the unit has implemented vegetation clearance according to the set plan, but the cleared area only accounts for a small proportion of the total forest area because it depends on the allocated budget. The selected points for clearing and clearing are mainly in forests with a high risk of fire..."

Nghi Loc district youth union members organized clearing and clearing vegetation before the hot season, but the area only accounted for a small percentage. Photo: Quang An

According to the reporter's investigation, not only in Dien Chau and Nghi Loc, but currently, the thick layer of vegetation is still appearing in many other forests in the province such as Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen... increasing the risk of forest fires when entering the hot season.

RepresentNghe An Forest Protection Departmentsaid: In early 2022, localities and forest owners in the province proactively cleared and collected the undergrowth on the forests. However, compared to the total area of ​​natural forests and planted forests, the treatment of flammable materials and undergrowth achieved is only a very small number.

The low price of pine resin is one of the reasons why forest owners are not "interested" in collecting ground cover. Photo: Quang An

According to calculations, on average, 1 hectare of vegetation costs from 50 to 100 million VND to clear, including the cost of transporting it out of the forest, while the allocated funding is limited, not enough for large-scale implementation. For forest owners, the price of pine resin is low, so they are not interested in collecting vegetation. Not to mention that currently, most of the young people in the localities have gone to work far away, leaving only the elderly at home, so mobilizing healthy human resources to effectively implement forest prevention and protection work and collecting vegetation is facing many difficulties.

Thick layers of ground cover and dry branches and leaves are among the main causes of forest fires breaking out and spreading rapidly in recent years. Photo: Quang An

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An has the largest forest area in the country with over 1,160,000 hectares of forest. In recent years, the afforestation movement has been quite strong, with 15,000 - 19,000 hectares newly planted each year, and the annual output of planted forests reaching 1,659,000 m3. However, in recent years, many forest fires have occurred in the province, causing heavy damage, especially in Dien Chau district in 2020. Since the beginning of 2022, there have been 2 forest fires and they have been promptly handled by the forces. However, with the large amount of vegetation, the risk of forest fires during the hot season still exists.