Close coordination of forces in forest management and protection

(Baonghean) -The forest management regulations issued together with Decision 186/QD-TTg (dated August 14, 2006) of the Prime Minister stipulate that on average, 1,000 hectares of protective forest must have one full-time forest protection officer. Accordingly, the province still lacks hundreds of full-time forest protection officers. From this reality, the protection of protective forests depends largely on the awareness of people living in forested areas.

During the meeting between National Assembly and Provincial People's Council delegates with voters of Nghe An Forestry sector at the end of April, many opinions reflected on the difficulties in forest protection work. Representatives of voters of forestry units made recommendations to National Assembly delegates and the Government on the following issues: Financial support, allowances for forestry staff, especially for forest protection forces; Lack of technical equipment for forest protection forces; Building policies to encourage functional forces and grassroots people in forest protection and development work and increasing the number of personnel, organizing activities of functional forces for forest protection...

Mr. Le Phung Thieu - Director of Tuong Duong Protective Forest Management Board suggested: “Our force is very lacking, currently we only have 14 comrades including the leadership and administrative apparatus. With 104,658 hectares of forest and forestry land in Tuong Duong, of which 70,000 hectares are protective forests, according to Government regulations, we need 70 people, not 14 people as at present. Also according to Government regulations, upstream protective forests with an area of ​​over 20,000 hectares at high risk of encroachment need to be arranged with forest rangers to protect the forest.



Forest rangers and Border Guards patrol to protect Pu Mat National Park. Photo: Van Truong

Currently, we do not have this force. Whenever there is an unsafe incident in the forest, we report it to the local forest rangers or mobilize them, but the area is large, so the coordination is often not timely. Faced with that reality, we have contracted 20 more officers in the category of 2B civil servants to protect the forest, but the funding source depends on the budget and project programs, so life is difficult. That is also why their enthusiasm for forest protection sometimes fades. We earnestly request to add more forces and funding to complete the task well...".

As for Pu Mat National Park, considered one of the largest forest owners, with a conservation area of ​​over 94,000 hectares, there are only 100 people managing and protecting it. Due to the lack of forces and the large area, each forest protection patrol by the authorities usually lasts from 7 to 10 days. Therefore, there are times when Pu Mat forest protection forces cannot manage all areas, especially when the park area spans Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Anh Son districts and over 67 km of border with Laos.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan - Director of Pu Mat National Park frankly admitted: “With such a large area and such a thin workforce, if the forest is encroached on in some places, it will be difficult for us to control. Not to mention that if a forest fire occurs, it will be even more difficult because of the lack of people and firefighting equipment. What we have been able to ensure for a long time is thanks to strengthening close coordination with the authorities and people in the core and buffer zones. But every day, people still go into the forest, because for a long time their lives have been attached to the forest and when they go in and out of the forest like that, no one can ensure the safety of the forest and that animals are not hunted?!”

Of the total 734,515 hectares of natural forest in the province, there are currently management units considered as forest owners, including: District Forest Protection Management Boards; Youth Volunteer Corps; Pu Mat National Park; Pu Huong Nature Reserve and forestry companies. The general situation according to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is that “…the forest area is large but the forest owner’s protection force is small, so there is not enough force to carry out their forest protection tasks”.

Meanwhile, the treatment is not high, the awareness of the people is still limited, the illegal loggers operate recklessly, so some protective forest sub-areas in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Que Phong, Quy Chau, Quy Hop, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong and Pu Mat National Park, Pu Huong Nature Reserve are still cut down every year. The statistics of illegally cut wood captured by the authorities every year are still high, proving that the work of protecting the forest at the root is not good. In the first 3 months of 2013 alone, 405 cases of forestry law violations were discovered, with evidence of over 946 m3 of various types of wood, not to mention a lot of forest wood that has been cut down and is hidden among the people but has not been discovered or punished...

Mr. Le Cao Binh - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Head of the Provincial Forest Protection Department said: "In fact, we are lacking resources, both human and equipment for forest protection. The forest rangers in the whole province, if they ensure the correct number of personnel according to regulations, are still short of about 300 people. Meanwhile, the mountainous terrain is complex, people in mountainous districts have long been associated with the practice of clearing forests for farming, burning vegetation to plant forests, so fires easily spread into the forest. The forest rangers regularly go to the area to propagate and mobilize, but many times, for the sake of making a living, people are still subjective and cause damage to the forest". There are many current and long-term difficulties, but the task of protecting forests is to protect life.

Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee has directed local authorities and functional forces to closely coordinate with the people to strengthen forest protection. The whole province has developed 345 forest fire prevention and fighting plans, of which 1 plan at the provincial level, 20 plans at the district level, 325 plans at the commune level and forest owners have been approved. Along with that, there are about 1,926 grassroots forest fire fighting teams in villages and hamlets, in which the core is the mobile forest rangers, militia, army, police and forest owners' forces.

At the end of April, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held an online conference on forest protection and development in 2013 with provinces and cities with forests nationwide to assess the implementation of forest protection and development targets and find ways to remove difficulties and obstacles to complete the targets and tasks. However, recommendations from the grassroots level cannot be resolved in a day or two. Therefore, in the immediate future, Minister Cao Duc Phat suggested that localities proactively review and balance, integrate capital sources to implement this year's plan targets; speed up the approval of forest planting designs and establish forestry projects; continue to promote propaganda to raise awareness of the whole society about the role and value of forests; attract all economic sectors to participate in investing and benefiting from forests.

Entering the hot season this year, the Central Hydrometeorological Forecasting Center forecasts the risk of forest fires at level 4 in natural forests, special-use forests, and protective forests in the western districts of Nghe An. This is a matter of concern. Therefore, in addition to the proactiveness of functional forces and forest owners, raising people's sense of responsibility in forest protection is of decisive significance.

Nguyen Son