To support organizations and households with more resources to protect forests, the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund strives to implement solutions to collect forest environmental service fees (FES) and make timely payments to units, organizations and individuals so that forest owners in the province can rest assured to protect forests.
According to the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund, in 2024, the unit disbursed 22,782,219 thousand VND to forest owners and People's Committees of communes, of which the budget in 2024 was 2,218,242/27,295,773 thousand VND, reaching 8% of the plan; in 2023 it was 21,563,977/22,790,950,237 thousand VND, reaching 95%; disbursed to households, household groups, and village communities 16,234,412 thousand VND; disbursed to forest owners who are organizations 5,329,565 thousand VND (Special-use forest management board, conservation area 528,003 thousand VND; other organizations 63,403 thousand VND; spent on People's Committees of communes 4,738,159 thousand VND). The total forest area paid for forest environmental services in 2024 is 217,495.27 hectares, of which protection forests are 93,952.94 hectares, special-use forests are 10,739.46 hectares, production forests are 108,980.06 hectares, and forests outside the planning are 3,822.81 hectares.
According to Ms. Hoang Thi Duyen, Director of the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund, in order to pay for forest environmental services in a timely manner, to the right subjects and areas, in 2024, the unit will strive to implement many solutions, such as: building a map of forest environmental service payments; organizing conferences to disseminate the law on forest environmental service payments to 21 units (10 hydropower plants, 7 clean water production facilities and 4 industrial production facilities). The Fund coordinates with Cao Bang Newspaper to write news and articles to propagate the policy on forest environmental service payments. Organize learning and exchange experiences on implementing forest environmental service payments in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Dien Bien, Lai Chau. Inspect compliance with legal regulations in the collection and payment of forest environmental service payments, and reforestation. Through monitoring of forest environmental service payments combined with direct dissemination to households, household groups and hamlet communities about forest environmental service payments. To ensure transparency, safety of funding sources, timely payment, and correct beneficiaries, the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund has implemented payment of forest environmental services to forest owners in the province through banks for forest owners (including forest owners who are organizations, commune People's Committees, households, and communities). The number of forest owners receiving non-cash forest environmental services is 33,289 forest owners, including 33,151 households; 119 commune People's Committees; 19 special-use forest management boards and other organizations, reaching 100% of the total number of forest owners receiving forest environmental services.
Along with the payment of forest environmental services, the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund has made efforts to implement solutions to collect forest environmental services to pay them promptly to units. To ensure that the collection of forest environmental services meets the plan, from the beginning of the year, the unit proactively issued documents guiding units using forest environmental services to register the plan to pay forest environmental services in 2024; at the same time, organized work with units to urge them to pay forest environmental services according to the plan. As of December 31, 2024, the collection of forest environmental services was 35,959,644/27,295,773 thousand VND, reaching 131.7% of the plan assigned by the Provincial People's Committee. Of which, the Central Fund coordinated 21,218,126 thousand VND, collected from intra-provincial hydropower 14,180,956 thousand VND, collected from clean water 497,828 thousand VND, collected from industrial production establishments 29,661 thousand VND, and bank interest 33,073 thousand VND.
In addition to the task of collecting and disbursing DVMTR money, in recent years the Fund has also been assigned to collect and disburse money for replacement forest planting. The total amount of money for replacement forest planting that project investors who have converted forest use purposes to other purposes and do not plant forests themselves must pay to the Forest Protection and Development Fund from 2013 to present is 66,976,325 thousand VND, the converted forest area is 493.323 hectares (the area of paid replacement forest planting has been converted to 901.8 hectares). Regarding the disbursement of money for replacement forest planting, the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund has paid a total of 15,500,005 thousand VND for forest planting and forest care. With this source of capital, in recent years, forest owners have planted 795.24 hectares of replacement forest.
The policy of paying for forest environmental services has had an impact on forest protection and development. The entire forested area within the hydropower basin is paid for forest environmental services, forest protection is given attention, and good protection of existing forest areas contributes to increasing forest value, increasing biodiversity, enhancing protective functions, limiting soil erosion, and protecting the environment. At the same time, it also contributes to improving the livelihoods of forest workers. The forest environmental services money helps households buy more seedlings to plant forests and improve their lives, purchase household items, equipment, and tools for forest management and protection, and this is considered the "key" to supporting forest management and protection in the province.
Minh Hoa
Source: https://baocaobang.vn/chia-khoa-ho-tro-cong-tac-quan-ly-bao-ve-rung-3175583.html
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