Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s area of new concentrated forests hit 131,000ha inthe first eight months of 2017, a rise of two percent year-on-year, accordingto the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Ofthe figure, new productive forest covered 126,500ha, up 5.1 percent.
Sofar this year, northern provinces have planted 116,779ha of forest, increasing0.4 percent year-on-year. The northern midland and mountainous region had thefastest afforestation rate with coverage of 80,641ha, up 21 percent.
Meanwhile,13,833ha was planted in the south, rising 10.8 percent in the period. Newforests were mainly planted in the south central coastal region, with a totalof 8,650ha, while there was a decrease in forest coverage in other parts of theregion.
[PM asked for strong measures to cope with deforestation]
InAugust, forest fires damaged only 9.3ha of forest, down 93.5 percent compared tolast year’s period as rains hit many localities. Since the start of the year, some455ha of forest has been damaged by forest fires.
Vietnamlost 770ha of forest in the first eight months due to deforestation, a declineof 78.7 percent compared to the same period last year.-VNA