According to the provincialDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province’s forestcoverage reached 41.2 percent in 2008, and increased to 44.7 percent in2013, higher than the national average rate of 39.9 percent.
The increase was attributed to the joint efforts of local authoritiesand people to protect the existing forests, and implement a number ofreforestation projects.
Son La is striving forforest coverage of 55 percent by 2020. To achieve this goal the localitywill carry out strong measures to stop deforestation and illegal forestproduct exploitation.-VNA