At the workshop (Source:VNA)Quang Ninh (VNA) - A consultativeworkshop on the draft Decree detailing the implementation of a number ofarticles of the Law on Forestry took place in the northern province of QuangNinh on May 31.
The event was jointly organsied by the Vietnam Administrationof Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
According to Nguyen Van Bong, the provincial Department of Forest Protection, thecriteria for forest identification in Article 4 of the draft Decree should bere-examined.
Participates said if trees on the hill and those in themangrove forests are required to 5metres high and 1m above, respectively, manyareas in the country will basically no longer be forest.
As stipulated in the draft, there will be very few forest trees with a heightof over 1m. Thus, many forest areas and special-use forests (SUF) such as mangroveand coastal forests will not be identified as forest anymore, they stressed,adding that it is necessary to re-consider this technical criteria.
Nguyen Quang Vinh, director of the Department of Forest Protection of Lao Caiprovince stressed the need to clarify the role of the management boards of special-useforests for buffer zones, especially those near the core forest zones.
It should be stipulated that investment projects must be approved by the SUFmanagement board because there are projects that affect the core forest area,he said.
Consultant Pham Xuan Phuong said that Article 36 of the draftDecree related to forest allocation and lease is unclear.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development need to be responsible for allocatingforest and land, while the Department of Natural Resources and Environmentshall assess and supervise the work, Phuong added.
Participants also suggested clarifying the concept of "first forest allocation"and reviewing the allocation of natural forests to households and individualsas they are forest destroyers.
Pham Van Dien, Deputy General Director of the VietnamAdministration of Forestry, said comments given at the event are very exact.
The drafting board will collect opinions to serve the drafting of not only theDecree but also another decrees and circulars for the Law on Forestry, Dienstressed.-VNA
VNA
