Central Highlands halt licensing forest conversion projects
Central Highlands provinces have halted licensing projects involving the use of natural forests for other land needs, and those likely to overexploit forest products in converted forest areas.
Deforestation in the Central Highlands. (Photo: VNA)
DakLak (VNA) – The Central Highlands provinces have halted licensing projectsinvolving the use of natural forests for other land needs, particularly for industrialtree plantations, and those likely to overexploit forest products in convertedforest areas.
Themoves were part of efforts to abide by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’sdecision at a conference in 2016 to seek solutions to sustainable forestrecovery in the region in response to climate change from 2016-2020.
Accordingto the Central Highlands Steering Committee, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, DakNong and Lam Dong provinces have reviewed 565 projects covering the totalforest area of more than 214,000 hectares and assessed their results with thefocus on those converting forest use into planting rubber and other industrialtrees.
Theprovinces have revoked the entire or part of dozens of delayed projects and thoseenabling forest encroachments, as well as illegal logging and occupation offorest while individuals and organisations responsible for poor governance offorest and forestland have been strictly punished.
Itwas estimated that there were 220 projects involving conversion of forest intorubber plantations, spreading across an area of about 115,000 hectares,including over 93,500 hectares of poor natural forest. Of these areas, about73,130 hectares of rubber have been planted; nearly 9,700 hectares, or 13.2percent, of which have poorly developed or died.
Thesteering committee has pointed out many shortcomings in forest management ofthe Central Highlands provinces in the past that led to large forest loss orineffective forest conversion projects.
Thecommittee has asked the government and competent state bodies to study a planto provide ethnic minority households who had been misusing forest andforestlands for years with new lands for farming, and to properly handleineffective projects in a bid to avoid economic loss for both enterprises andthe provinces.
Ithas also ordered the five provinces to replant forests in areas ofpoorly-developed rubber.-VNA
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Deforestation in the Central Highlands. (Photo: VNA) 
