Coordinate protection and fire prevention in border areas

Thanh Hoa has 213km of border adjacent to 3 districts of Sop Bau, Vieng Xay, Sam To, Hua Phan province (Laos), has 16 communes, 54 villages and hamlets in 5 districts of Muong Lat, Quan Hoa, Quan Son, Lang Chanh, Thuong Xuan, with 115,200ha of forest and forestry land, of which the forest land area is 92,160ha.

Coordinate protection and fire prevention in border areas Muong Lat Forest Ranger Department coordinates with Trung Ly Border Guard Station to patrol and protect forests in border areas.

This area is considered to be rich in forest resources with diverse flora and fauna, including many rare and endemic species. Therefore, the task of forest protection (BVR) and forest fire prevention and control (PCCCR) in this area is always a top priority.

Muong Lat district has 65,359 hectares of forest, of which 10,129 hectares are identified as key fire areas. Forest resources in the area are mostly regenerated forests after slash-and-burn cultivation, bamboo forests, and reed forests. In the dry and hot season, the risk of forest fires is very high. The main cause of forest fires is spreading from Laos, due to people entering the forest to burn bees, treating the ground cover for forest planting, forest care, slash-and-burn production, and exploiting non-timber forest products, using fire arbitrarily without following regulations on forest fire prevention and control.

Muong Lat Forest Protection Department has coordinated with relevant units to promote propaganda on forest protection and development to a large number of people in border areas; completed 88 propaganda teams, with 368 people in villages and hamlets. As a result, from the beginning of 2024 to now, the district has organized 77 integrated propaganda sessions on forestry work, with over 5,442 participants; edited propaganda content in Thai, Mong, and Kinh languages, broadcast on the loudspeaker system of the commune and hamlet 530 times; organized mobile propaganda, village chiefs transferred propaganda files to the zalo group of villages and hamlets; at the same time, combined with signing commitments on PCCCR and complying with not destroying forests for farming, replanting forests after exploiting planted forests in all villages with farming fields near forests (concentrated in Trung Ly, Muong Ly, Tam Chung communes); guided organizations, households, and individuals on how to handle vegetation in farming and afforestation.

During the peak days of hot weather, forest fires are forecasted at level III or higher, strictly prohibiting the use of fire near forests and burning, processing forest vegetation after exploitation, and burning slash-and-burn. Coordinate with border guards, commune People's Committees, and Lao border guards to regularly inspect and grasp the situation of forest security and forest fires in border areas, and prepare plans to prevent fires from spreading from Laos. Mobilize PCCCR forces according to the "4 on-site" motto, ready to mobilize people and vehicles when a forest fire occurs.

In order to protect and prevent forest fires in border areas according to the coordination program between the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa province and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry of Hua Phan province (Laos) on "Coordination of protection and prevention of forest fires in border areas of Hua Phan - Thanh Hoa provinces, period 2021-2025", in 2023 and the first 5 months of 2024, the two sides regularly maintain contact points for providing and exchanging information at established levels. The 5 border districts' forest protection departments have advised the district People's Committees to direct the commune People's Committees to review and supplement 54 forest protection and development conventions in 54 border villages and hamlets; organize 38 village and hamlet meetings in border villages, with 2,157 participants; repair 5 propaganda boards in both Vietnamese and Lao at the border gate areas of the border districts. In addition, the forest rangers coordinated with the border guards and local authorities to support the border villages of Hua Phan province to effectively implement the conventions on forest protection and fire prevention.

Along with that, local authorities from the province to the district and commune levels have proactively developed plans and documents to direct forest fire prevention and control work according to the "4 on-site" motto from the district to the commune, key villages and state forest owners; mobilized forces, means and tools to be ready to participate in forest fire fighting and support Hua Phan province in forest fire fighting when requested.

The provincial Forest Protection Department directed the border forest rangers to support key villages and hamlet clusters in the border area of Hua Phan province to develop a forest fire fighting plan according to the "4 on-site" principle and a map of key border areas; strictly control households engaged in slash-and-burn farming and the use of fire in agricultural and forestry production, forest product exploitation and other activities in and around the forest to prevent fires from spreading into the forest; regularly exchange information on forest fires in border and inland areas, promptly preventing forest fires from spreading from Laos to Vietnam.

The communes, hamlets and border districts of the two countries have coordinated to build 1.5km of new firebreaks and repair 3.5km of firebreaks along the border of the two provinces. They have consolidated and maintained the activities of 54 mass teams of forest protection and fire prevention with nearly 720 participants; 16 militia platoons with 348 participants. In addition, the two sides have organized forest protection and prevented acts of encroachment on forest resources in border areas. The functional forces, local authorities of border districts and the forest protection forces of Laos have coordinated to organize bilateral forest patrols in border areas 129 times. As a result, 9 cases of illegal transportation of forest products and regulations on forest protection and fire prevention have been detected and handled, and 48.2 million VND have been administratively fined and paid to the State budget.

These activities have helped detect, prevent and promptly handle violations of regulations on forest protection and forest fire prevention and control; forest security associated with border security has been maintained.

Article and photos: Khac Cong

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