Nearly two months after super typhoon Yagi made landfall in Quang Ninh province, thousands of hectares of forest in the area have yet to recover. The story of “reviving” the “dead” forests is an urgent issue for Quang Ninh province.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest damaged
Ba Che is one of the localities with the most severely damaged forest area in storm No. 3, with over 18,600 hectares, more than 3,400 households, units, and forestry companies affected, mainly acacia trees aged 2 to 6 years old were broken; estimated damage of about 550 billion VND. Many households with large damaged areas are currently having difficulty hiring workers, unable to collect fallen trees, leading to the risk of total loss when the weather is increasingly dry.
While working with his family to collect the acacia trees that were broken after the storm, Mr. Trieu A Sang, a resident of Khe Muoi village, Don Dac commune, Ba Che district, said that for more than a month now, his family has had to rely on neighbors, brothers, and relatives to help them go into the forest to collect the broken trees. It is very difficult for the family to both clean up and collect the broken trees.
People in Ba Che district collect acacia trees that fell after the storm.
Previously, it was only about 200,000 VND/day, but now it is 300,000-350,000 VND, but there are still no workers, because clearing fallen forests is both difficult to move and more tiring than normal wood collection. On the other hand, the current price of purchasing harvested forest wood is low, some purchasing units even force people to pay more because there are too many fallen trees. If we calculate the costs, forest growers will suffer double losses, with no source of income.
"It's very hard to clean up fallen trees because the hill is steep and the small trees are broken and scattered everywhere. We still encourage each other to try harder, hoping that next year there won't be another big storm like the last one. If we abandon the forest, it will be even more difficult because we won't have a living. For now, I will plant potatoes, corn, and cassava to have a source of income to meet immediate needs. But in the long term, we still have to continue planting and taking care of the assigned forest area," said Mr. Sang.
Mr. Sang proposed that the province should give opinions so that purchasing units do not force prices when buying wood from people's forests and find sources of seedlings with stable prices, and at the same time have support policies for forest growers to restore production.
Collecting fallen trees is very difficult due to steep hills, messy fallen trees, and lack of workers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Gai, Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Don Dac Commune, Ba Che District, said that Don Dac Commune alone had suffered damage to over 3,000 hectares of acacia, cinnamon, and eucalyptus forests. The collapsed forests after the storm greatly affected the lives of the people in the commune because the people mainly lived on forestry.
"We will continue to mobilize people to collect fallen trees after the storm and quickly restore the damaged forest area so that after 5 years it can be exploited, providing capital for people. We also have a plan to mobilize people to work in industrial parks after cleaning and replanting the forest to earn income and stabilize their lives," said Ms. Gai.
According to statistics from the Quang Ninh Forest Protection Department, by the end of September 2024, the total damaged forest area in Quang Ninh province was over 119,000 hectares (damage level from 30-100%, most of the area is unable to recover), of which the planted forest area was over 112,400 hectares, the natural forest area was over 6,600 hectares.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Khuong, Deputy Head of the Quang Ninh Provincial Forest Protection Department, said that in the long term, water security, landslides, dam safety, impacts on the ecosystem, climate change, shortage of supply from acacia, eucalyptus, pine, etc., will greatly affect the quality of life of the community and people; the growth target and per capita income of this locality, along with many other tangible and intangible consequences that cannot yet be measured or counted.
On the other hand, there are currently about 6 million tons of flammable materials from fallen trees still present, the risk of forest fires in the dry season is very high. From September 28 to October 15 alone, there were 15 fires in the province. The burned areas are mainly eucalyptus and acacia trees, which were devastated by storm No. 3.
Many solutions to support forest growers
In order to promptly overcome the consequences of storm No. 3 and minimize difficulties for those who directly live and do business in the forest, on October 1, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province issued Document No. 2832/UBND-KTTC launching a 30-day and night peak period to support forest clearing, sanitation, and collection and utilization of forest products in the forest area damaged by storm No. 3. With the motto "4 on-site", mobilizing forces from armed units, forest rangers, and youth volunteers to strengthen measures to protect and prevent forest fires after the storm, ensuring completion before October 31, 2024.
Quang Ninh province has launched a 30-day and night peak period to support forest cleaning, sanitation, and the collection and utilization of forest products in forest areas damaged by storm No. 3.
To implement this peak period, localities with forests are currently focusing on supporting forest clearance, sanitation, and harvesting forest products after the storm. Typically, Dam Ha district has increased information to people, units, and forestry companies in the area; directed specialized departments, offices, and localities to arrange forces to provide maximum support to forest planting households; the Protective Forest Management Board and forestry companies carry out clearance, harvesting forest products, clearing vegetation, and making firebreaks to minimize the risk of fire.
Immediately after the storm, Quang Ninh province had many solutions to direct the forestry sector to overcome the damage such as conducting statistics, reporting to the Government for support instructions; directing the development of a project to re-plan 3 types of forests; connecting technology and forest development units to study, research, and discuss solutions to restructure crops in forestry development, working with banks to freeze, postpone, and extend debt, preferential policies for reinvestment, production restoration, and ensuring reforestation in time for the crop season.
The total damaged forest area in Quang Ninh province is over 119,000 hectares.
In addition, the province supports entrusted loans through the Social Policy Bank for members of cooperatives, households and individuals: Loan levels according to approved plans for planting large timber forests and production under forest canopy but not exceeding 30 million VND/ha.
The loan interest rate is equal to the loan interest rate for poor households as prescribed by the Prime Minister from time to time; the maximum loan term is not more than 25 years. In the first 5 years, customers do not have to pay the principal.
Source: https://danviet.vn/huc-hoi-hang-tram-nghin-hec-ta-rung-sau-bao-o-quang-ninh-bang-cach-nao-khong-de-tra-loi-20241025062357995.htm
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