Workers nurse seedlings at Nguyen Hanh Plantation Service Company in the central province of Binh Dinh.Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam aims to raise its forest coverage to 41.6percent and to earn 8.5–9 billion USD from exporting wood and forestry productswhile providing jobs to 25 million people in 2018.
This was announced at a meeting of the State Steering Committee on ForestSustainable Development Target Programme for 2016-20.
Addressing a meeting in Hanoi on January 25, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh DinhDung, Head of the State Steering Committee on Forestry Sustainable DevelopmentTarget Programme, said “Forest protection and development must go hand in handwith socio-economic development, environmental protection and improving thepeople’s living conditions.”
“To achieve these targets, the first thing we have to do is to complete ournational institution and policies on forestry production and development,” Dungsaid. “Forestry restructuring should start from good planning – an effectivetool in the state management towards forest protection and development”.
The Deputy PM also asked the Ministry of Planning and Development to workclosely with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment to review all ODA projects on forestry development, particularly inthe Central Highlands, northwestern region and coastal areas.
Dung set a target for the Steering Committee to complete a proposal on forestrestoration, protection and sustainable development in the CentralHighlands from 2016-25 by the end of the first quarter of 2018.
A report presented at the meeting said that by late 2017 the forestry coveragewas 41.45 percent, an increase of 0.26 percent compared to that of 2016.
In 2017, more than 235,000 ha of concentrated forestry were planted – achieving102.4 percent of the target. Meanwhile, the volume of wood products extractedfrom concentrated forest plantation was 18 million cubic metres, 6 percent overthe targeted plan. Meanwhile the value of wood and forestry productexports was nearly 8 billion USD, an increase of 9.2 percent over the previousyear.
The programme for Sustainable Forest Development for 2016-20 and Decision419-TTg, issued on April 5, 2017, established the national programme to reducegreenhouse gas emissions through the mitigation of deforestation and forestdegradation, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks andsustainable management of forest resources through 2030. -VNA
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