In the period 2011-2015, the FSSP will expandthe involvement of the private sector, industry associations andnon-governmental organisations in the country, he said.
At the FSSP meeting in Hanoi on January 25, Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Hua Duc Nhi praised the levelof assistance provided by many international organisations, includingthose from Finland , Germany , Switzerland , the UN Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA). They have helped to develop the Vietnamese forestrysector, improving the lives of rural people, especially forest workers,generate jobs and minimise impacts of climate change.
According to Nhi, during the 2006-2010 period, the MARD launched severalpractical activities to combat desertification and adapt to climatechange. Thanks to this, in 2010, the forestry sector’s production valuesaw an increase of 4 percent, the highest growth in this period andforest coverage increased from 37.7 percent in 2006 to 39.5 percent in2010.
Vietnam is the first country in SoutheastAsia that has paid for environmental services. The country’s forestrysector has shifted from the state-owned model to a social forestdevelopment model with many different economic sectors involved.Individual households play a key role in afforestation and privatebusinesses are mainly responsible for the processing of forest products.
However, Nhi also pointed out several shortcomingsand constraints in the development of the forestry sector in Vietnamsuch as low productivity, the poor quality of natural forests. Inaddition, illegal logging has been happening in a number of provinces.
To reach a forest coverage of 40 percent and a forest product exportturnover of 3.8 billion USD in 2011, the forestry sector has set out anumber of measures, including raising public awareness of the need toprotect forests, implementing policies to encourage afforestation andforest protection, and supporting certification for the owners offorests.
The meeting also discussed the forestrysector’s priorities for 2011, including sustainable forest managementand climate change issues, forestry protection, biodiversityconservation, environmental services payments and wood processing andtrading./.