The staff knows well...
(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, in a mountainous district of our province, more than 7,000 hectares of forest were handed over to the people for production. This forest land area was recovered from agricultural and forestry farms.
Actually, this is not new. Over the past few years, the government has had policies to reclaim forestry land and forest land from enterprises and hand them over to local authorities, then hand them back to the people for production. Does this policy make people happy? Yes, it does. Because for many years, people in our village have not benefited from the forest.
 |
| Authorities inspect the handover of forest areas to people for care and production. Photo: Thu Huong |
In the past, people relied entirely on forests to survive and make a living. From trees to build houses, from coffin boards to bamboo shoots and vegetables, they all relied on forests and mountains. Later, because forests and forestry land were destroyed so severely, the State tightened management, protection and exploitation. All activities related to forests and forestry land were regulated by laws. Any individual or organization that violated the law was punished. However, many people in my village believe that the main perpetrators of deforestation were loggers from the lowlands, not many local people.
When the State strictly manages and protects forests, it is very good for the natural ecosystem, protecting the green lungs of the forest and people. However, the people in the mountainous areas like ours who have always lived on secondary forest products have lost an important support. When the State has policies to assign forests to people for protection or pay for forest environmental services, it is not much. No family can live on this source. The villagers hope that the State will allocate forest land for production, thereby having more stable livelihoods, reducing their dependence on relief policies.
And then in many localities, the government and forestry companies have also handed over some forest areas for people to produce. However, the places that the farms and forestry companies return are often barren areas, rocky terrain, "holes and crevices", far from people's living areas. Many forestry companies know that this or that place cannot be managed or does not bring economic efficiency, so they "boldly hand it over" to the locality. Of course, with such areas, few people dare to accept. Accepting is no different than running headlong into a cliff. What the people know, the officials certainly know even better.