Inadequacies in allocating forestry land to people

(Baonghean.vn) - With the goal of creating production materials and improving people's lives, over the past years, the Provincial People's Committee has recovered tens of thousands of hectares of forestry land from farms, forestry farms, and forestry companies to hand over to localities, then hand over to households. Although this work has achieved results, there are still many difficulties and shortcomings.

Yen Hop Pain

Yen Hop Commune, Quy Hop District is a locality with many complicated and prominent cases related to forestry land. Here, from 2012 to 2014, the Provincial People's Committee reclaimed land from agricultural and forestry farms in the area for the district and commune authorities to hand over to the people with an area of ​​up to 1,612 hectares.

However, up to now, the People's Committee of Yen Hop commune has only been able to hand over nearly 700 hectares to the people, and more than 900 hectares of land have not yet been able to be handed over to the people to stabilize production; many households in the hamlets of Trong Canh, Cong, Thai Lao, Hop Thanh, Moi, and Tho still do not have forestry land to cultivate.

The main reason is that during the implementation process, many problems and difficulties have arisen, causing the People's Committee of Yen Hop commune to be in a mess.

Leaders of Yen Hop Commune People's Committee (Quy Hop) shared difficulties and shortcomings in the work of allocating forestry land to people. Photo: Nhat Lan

Unable to hide his anxiety, Mr. Le Van Thanh - Chairman of Yen Hop Commune People's Committee said that nearly half of the total area of ​​more than 1,600 hectares of land that the Provincial People's Committee recovered and handed over to households was land that people had previously encroached on for cultivation, and now they only agreed to hand it over according to the current usage status. As for the area that has not been handed over, it is mainly in Tat hamlet. Although the commune has made a plan to divide land for people in villages that do not have land, it still faces many difficulties.

Specifically, after receiving land from the forestry farm, the People's Committee of Yen Hop commune implemented a plan and divided 200 hectares of land out of a total of 1,048 hectares in Tat hamlet to 8 outer hamlets including Cong, Trong Canh, Na Phe, Dong Mong, Xat, Boc, Thai Lao and Hop Thanh. However, up to 150 hectares have been encroached and used by households in Tat hamlet for many years. Households in Tat hamlet did not agree to divide the land to other hamlets and continued to plant acacia from one crop to another.

In addition, there are about 452 hectares of production forest, the Commune People's Committee planned for 98 households in Tat hamlet but during the implementation of the plan, this area was encroached by some other households in Tat hamlet to plant trees. After the dispute occurred, the Commune People's Committee organized many meetings with the people to propagate, explain and mobilize people to immediately stop illegally occupying land but it was ineffective.

Not only struggling with the problem of resolving land disputes, Yen Hop Commune People's Committee is also very worried because there are currently more than 450 hectares of natural forest land that do not know how to allocate to promote efficiency and use the land for the right purpose. The characteristics of this area are primeval forest land, rocky mountain land, with large slopes, difficult to cultivate, so after receiving the land, Yen Hop Commune People's Committee is temporarily assigning it to the hamlet community for management.

Pu Dong mountain area in Bo hamlet is a natural forest and rocky mountain that is being managed by the People's Committee of Yen Hop commune to the Bo hamlet community. Photo: Nhat Lan

Mr. Lo Van The - head of Tat hamlet said that the natural forest area in Pu Co, Khe Mat, Pu Cap, Pu Thap areas... are high hills, limestone, steep slopes, difficult roads so people do not want to receive it. It cannot be divided among the people, the commune and hamlet agreed to hand it over to the hamlet community for management.

Mr. Dinh Van Duong, the village chief of Bo village, explained that the villagers wanted to leave more than 13 hectares of natural forest land and rocky mountain land for protection without assigning them to any specific households because when needed, bamboo and bamboo trees are easier to get.

Common difficulties

Since 2008, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district has allocated more than 5,300 hectares of forestry land to the people. After the decision to allocate land by the People's Committee of the province, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district has developed a plan and allocated specific land to each commune in the area in a timely manner.

However, when going down to the communes, many problems have arisen, causing the land allocation to be much slower. A common concern is that in the area assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to Quy Hop, a large part is natural forest and protective forest. In Chau Thai commune, out of 691 hectares of assigned forestry land, more than 92 hectares of protective forest land are interspersed in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve. Or in Chau Thanh commune, out of 1,569 hectares of assigned forestry land, there are nearly 500 hectares of natural forest land.

According to Mr. Vi Thanh Tuong - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, most of the areas that the farms and forestry farms returned to the district were previously managed ineffectively. Mr. Tuong wondered whether the area of ​​natural forest and protective forest should be handed over to the people or not?

In Quy Chau district, out of 2,341 hectares of forestry land handed over by the Provincial People's Committee, there are still about 220 hectares of natural forest land and rocky mountains in sub-area 193 of Chau Binh commune that cannot be handed over to the people. According to the leader of Quy Chau district People's Committee, the area that has been decided by the Provincial People's Committee to be recovered is mainly in areas far from residential areas and with difficult terrain.

Most of which are natural forests, so according to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law, natural forests cannot be allocated to households or individuals. The District People's Committee is proposing that the province implement a plan based on field results to prepare documents for contracting out protection and conservation according to regulations.

Although many localities have carried out land allocation in the field to households, the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates is still facing many difficulties. Currently, localities such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, Quy Chau and Quy Hop have established technical designs - estimates and implemented land allocation, extracted measurements and adjusted cadastral maps, declared registration, prepared dossiers for granting Forest Land Use Right Certificates to households and individuals, but are facing difficulties in paying for consulting units.

In Que Phong district, for 572.9 hectares of unused forestry land in Muong Noc and Que Son communes, the People's Committee of the commune has allowed households to receive land in the field but has not yet had the funds to measure and map to prepare documents to issue Forestry Land Use Rights Certificates. This has led to disputes and encroachment on forestry land, making management difficult.

The head of Bo hamlet (Yen Hop commune), Mr. Dinh Van Duong (second from right) said that the allocation of forestry land to the people in the hamlet was not reasonable because part of the allocated land was natural forest, with high slopes, making it difficult to cultivate. Photo: Nhat Lan

Speed ​​up land allocation and issuance of land use right certificates

From 2011 to 2014, the Provincial People's Committee decided to reclaim 14,143.7 hectares of land from State Farms and Forestry Farms to return to localities for management and use. In the first 6 months of 2017, the Provincial People's Committee continued to decide to reclaim 1,901.85 hectares of land from 5 agricultural and forestry companies subject to rearrangement and renovation according to Resolution No. 30-NQ/TW of the Politburo and Decree No. 118/2014/ND-CP of the Government.

According to the report of the People's Committees of the districts, they have allocated land and forests to households with an area of ​​10,430.03 ha/14,143.7 ha of land recovered from agricultural and forestry farms, and the Protective Forest Management Board. The remaining unallocated area of ​​more than 3,700 ha is mainly remote, poor land with difficult production conditions, irrigation land, streams, traffic land, etc.

Particularly, 1,901.85 hectares were recovered from agricultural and forestry companies in the first 6 months of 2017. Localities are preparing land allocation plans to submit to competent authorities for approval.

In recent times, the Provincial People's Committee has organized many meetings and worked with the People's Committees of districts and departments and branches to deploy and discuss measures to put the recovered land funds of the State Forestry Farms into use. In addition, it has issued many documents directing and assigning responsibilities to the People's Committees of districts to strengthen management and speed up the progress of forestry land allocation associated with forest allocation, and granting land use right certificates to production households.

At the same time, the sectors have urged the People's Committees of districts to implement the policy of the Provincial People's Committee on strictly managing and effectively using the land fund that the Provincial People's Committee has recovered from State-owned farms and forestry farms and returned to the localities, clearly defining the responsibilities of the People's Committees at the district level in managing and using this recovered land fund to avoid the situation of "losing land, losing forests" or using land for the wrong purpose.

That said, the allocation of forestry land to each household has a great purpose of promoting the effective value of land use and improving the lives of people in mountainous districts.

However, looking at the current situation, it can be seen that there are still many things that need to be re-evaluated, in order to propose better solutions for implementation in the coming time. Recently, Nghe An Newspaper has repeatedly reported on the situation where people, after receiving land, illegally transfer and cut down forests, causing depletion and waste of resources, causing instability in the security and order situation in the locality. In addition, the newspaper has reported on the current state of the quality of forestry land that farms, forestry farms, and forestry companies "accept" to return.

Nhat Lan - Pham Bang