Ninh Thuan (VNS/VNA)𝐆 – The south-central province of NinhThuan plans to grow 1,121ha of new forests to replace forest areas which arecut down in 2023-25.

The replacement forestsinclude 500ha of special-use and 621ha of protective forests which are managedby the management boards of special use forests and the management boards ofprotective forests. The province grows forests invacant lands and bare hills, protects existing forests and develops newforests, according to Le Huyen, deputy chairman of the province People’sCommittee. It promotes the environmentalprotection of forests, secures water resources, copes with climate changeproactively and effectively, prevents erosion and desertification, and protectsnatural resources and biodiversity, he said. It also provides diversifiedforest environment services, creates jobs and incomes for local people, andaims to increase the forest coverage rate to 49% in 2025. To reach the targets, theprovince People’s Committee has asked its Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, Forest Protection Sub-department, forest owners and localities tocheck land funds and identify areas for growing replacement forests on vacantland and areas that cannot grow into forests naturally. Of the 1,121ha of replacementforests, 400ha will be planted this year, 401ha next year and 320ha in 2025. The province will mobilisehuman resources from forest protection forces and hire people from communitiesand households in areas which will plant the replacement forests betweenSeptember and November every year. The province has had policiesto encourage organisations and individuals to invest in the forestry sector toprotect and develop forests. It aims to exploit the maximumvalue of forests through combining agriculture and forestry development,growing medicinal plants, and developing forest environment services. The province has more than196,800ha of forests and forestry land for growing special-use, protective, andcommercial forests. It planted nearly 1,000ha of new protective and special-useforests last year. Ninh Thuan has a forest coverof 47.1%./.