Press conference on the conversion of 600 hectares of forest to make Ka Pet reservoir

On September 6, Mr. Le Thanh Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan province, together with representatives of the provincial Forest Protection Department, conducted a field survey in the core forest area where the Ka Pet Lake project will be located in My Thanh commune, Ham Thuan Nam district.

Accordingly, the delegation also inspected the site, measured, and re-determined the location of ancient trees and precious woods (lim, cam xe, etc.) and confirmed that the ancient trees that were widely circulated on social networks were determined to be outside the project area and were not exploited.

Perspective of Ka Pet reservoir project, Ham Thuan Nam district. (Photo: Binh Thuan province information portal)

The Ka Pet Lake water storage project was approved by the National Assembly at the 8th session of the 14th National Assembly in May 2019. In May 2023, at the 5th session of the 15th National Assembly, the Government submitted a report on adjusting the investment policy of this project. Among the adjusted contents, the land use area of the project increased to nearly 698 hectares, an increase of nearly 4.5 hectares compared to the initial approval.

The project investment objective is to provide irrigation water for about 7,762 hectares of agricultural land in Ham Thuan Nam district and supply raw water for Ham Kiem II industrial park 2.63 million m3/year.

At the same time, it creates a source of raw water to supply the daily life of about 120,000 people in Ham Thuan Nam district and Phan Thiet city, along with flood prevention and control, environmental improvement, water regulation for the downstream area of the district, contributing to the development of tourism and services of Binh Thuan province...

According to the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province, the total land use area of the project is 697.73 hectares; of which the forestry land area is 679.72 hectares (forested land is 619.58 hectares, including: special-use forest is 137.95 hectares; protective forest is 0.51 hectares; production forest is 440.4 hectares, land outside the planning of 3 types of forests is 40.72 hectares and land without forests is 60.14 hectares); the agricultural production land area is 18.01 hectares.

Regarding the project progress, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province said that up to now, the investigation, inventory and assessment of the current forest status have been carried out, and the results of the forest status inspection will be updated in April 2022.

The total area to be reforested according to Article 21 of the Forestry Law is more than 1,844 hectares (3 times the area of forest to be replaced). The People's Committee of Binh Thuan province has issued a decision approving the reforestation plan (phase I) with an area of 434.22 hectares, for 144.74 hectares of natural forest.

As for the remaining area of more than 1,410 hectares that needs to be reforested, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan province is reviewing to expand the reforestation locations to supplement and ensure the project's reforestation area.

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