Forest management, protection, development and forest fire prevention and fighting: Sustainable forestry development

Forest fire prevention and fighting is a focus of the forest rangers and related units. IN PHOTO: Practicing forest fire prevention and fighting plans in Lien Chieu district. Photo: VAN HOANG

Proactive and determined in forest protection

Da Nang City has a total forest area and planted forest area of ​​nearly 62,546 hectares, of which the forest area is more than 57,731 hectares. With the efforts of the whole industry, by 2024, the forest coverage rate in the city will be 44.67% (higher than the national average of 42.02%). According to the Forest Protection Department, compared to other localities, Da Nang has a small area of ​​natural forest. However, the city's forest resources have high forest reserves and many precious wood species, so the pressure on forest protection is very large. The city is an important gateway to the Central region with favorable traffic conditions, most locations adjacent to the forest have roads.

This is also a condition for subjects to take advantage of invading the forest to exploit forest products, trap animals, encroach on forests and forest land, and illegally transport forest products and wild animals. Therefore, forest protection work is always closely coordinated by the forestry sector and other units and localities.

In the field of forest fire prevention and control, in 2024, the forest rangers will issue 21 forest fire forecast bulletins from level III to IV. Local forest rangers have advised the People's Committees of wards and communes to establish 19 shock teams with members being civil servants and public employees working at the People's Committees of wards and communes and standing militia; 79 mass forest protection teams in villages and residential areas near forests and forest edges with nearly 1,400 participants.

The Department established a rapid response team for forest fire fighting with 30 members, mainly people living near the forest area, to promptly prevent fires from occurring in the city during the 6-month dry season, from April to September every year. During the year, the city had 9 fires, but they did not cause damage to forest resources.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung, Deputy Head of the Mobile Forest Ranger and Fire Prevention Team, said that the unit always strictly maintains the inspection and periodic maintenance of specialized equipment. This is one of the important conditions that helps the forest rangers to be proactive and ready to respond quickly to forest fire situations if they occur.

At the same time, the Mobile Forest Ranger Team and PCCCR also closely coordinate with localities with forests to conduct field inspections, review the current status of forests, identify key areas with high risk of fire, thereby developing prevention plans close to the actual situation of the area to be able to prevent and promptly handle potential risks, contributing to minimizing damage caused by forest fires or acts of encroachment on forest resources.

Currently, the Mobile Forest Ranger Team and PCCCR are coordinating to support and provide professional guidance to localities with forests interspersed with residential areas such as Hoa An and Hoa Phat wards (Cam Le district) to enhance the capacity to respond to and handle forest fire situations on the spot. Thereby, contributing to improving the effectiveness of PCCCR, spreading awareness of forest protection in the community.

In addition to PCCCR work, the work of receiving and rescuing wild animals in the city also has many bright spots. In 2024, 255 individuals were voluntarily handed over to the forest rangers by organizations and individuals. Of these, 125 individuals were established as public ownership and approved for handling according to regulations; 100 individuals were confiscated administrative violation evidence and were also handled in accordance with current legal procedures.

In Hoa Vang district, Mr. Le Dinh Tham, Head of Hoa Vang Forest Protection Department, said that propaganda and mobilization work plays a key role in raising people's awareness of wildlife protection. In recent years, Hoa Vang Forest Protection Department has advised the District People's Committee to direct communes to strengthen propaganda activities in the community. Thanks to that, people's awareness of wildlife protection has been significantly raised. From this result, the Department has received many cases of people voluntarily handing over wildlife, notably 100 turtles handed over by a local pagoda, along with some rare species such as monkeys, reticulated pythons, etc. that were rescued and released back into the natural environment.

“In the coming time, we will continue to promote propaganda among the people to further raise public awareness. When discovering wild animals, people need to quickly notify the authorities for timely rescue and safe release,” Mr. Tham shared.

Strive to complete key tasks

According to the Forest Protection Department, forest protection and biodiversity conservation in special-use and protective forests is one of the four key tasks of the unit. In 2025, the entire sector will continue to focus on protecting and sustainably developing the entire existing forest area and newly created forest area in the 2021-2025 period; maintaining a stable forest cover rate of about 45-47%; continuing to improve forest productivity and quality, meeting the requirements for supplying raw materials for production and consumption, protecting and protecting the environment, conserving biodiversity, minimizing negative impacts caused by natural disasters, and enhancing the ability to adapt to climate change.

In addition, implementing forest protection contracts for 100% of the forest area under the planning of special-use and protective forests and effectively promoting the protective functions, protecting the ecological environment and biodiversity of the forest. Synchronizing the management database of 3 types of forests in Da Nang city to the Forestry Management Information System (FORMIS)...

Regarding the development and improvement of forest productivity and quality, the whole industry will coordinate with localities to continue to promote the planting of large timber forests and the conversion of small timber forests into large timber forests in the spirit of Resolution 254/2019/NQ-HDND of the City People's Council and develop a Resolution amending and supplementing Resolution 254/2019/NQ-HDND. In addition, the wood processing industry will be developed through supporting the construction of wood processing factories, high-tech forestry zones, and supporting industries in key economic regions; implementing forestry programs and projects to enrich and improve the quality of natural forests.

In particular, efforts are being made to implement the City People's Committee's plan to implement the project "Planting one billion trees in the 2021-2025 period" with the goal of planting more than 5 million concentrated and dispersed trees of all kinds in the city by the end of 2025. In addition, solutions for sustainable forest management and forest certification for production forests are planted forests.

Mr. Quach Huu Son, Deputy Head of the City Forest Protection Department, said that the department will direct local forest protection units and related localities to focus on propaganda work to raise people's awareness of forest protection, change perceptions and forestry production practices. At the same time, complete the demarcation of forest boundaries according to the results of the city's planning of 3 types of forests in the period of 2018-2020, with a vision to 2030, clearly identify stable forest areas as a basis for the arrangement of forest management and restructuring of the agricultural sector of Da Nang city in the period of 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030.

In addition, strictly control the conversion of forest land use to other purposes and resolutely handle land violations and illegal trading of forest land, including land that has been allocated; review fire prevention and control plans at all levels, especially fire fighting command, mobilization of forces to participate in fire fighting, and coordination between fire fighting forces when forest fires occur with the motto "4 on-site".

VAN HOANG

Source: https://baodanang.vn/xa-hoi/202504/quan-ly-bao-ve-phat-trien-rung-va-phong-chay-chua-chay-rung-phat-trien-lam-nghiep-ben-vung-4004663/