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The Provincial Forest Protection Department awarded the first certificate of forest material growing area code in Yen Bai province to households in Yen Binh district.

Yen Bai province has been actively promoting the issuance of planting area codes (MSVT) for raw material forests. Digitalizing forest planting areas associated with database development is an important step forward, helping Yen Bai's wood industry adapt to increasingly high international standards, contributing to digital transformation in forestry, promoting cooperative economy and MSVT will be a very important input for granting sustainable forest management certificates.

Recently, the Provincial Forest Protection Department has granted MSVT certificates for raw material forests to 3 households in Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province. The granted codes cover an area of ​​1.45 hectares, planted with pure Acacia mangium, Acacia hybrid and cinnamon since 2018, in the raw material forest growing areas of Phu Thinh, Tan Huong and Dai Dong communes. Information on the planting area coordinates is accurately determined by the iTwood System and certified by the Yen Bai Provincial Forest Protection Department.

This is the first forest MSVT issued to forest owners in Yen Bai, within the framework of the program piloted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 5 provinces: Bac Giang, Lang Son, Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai.

According to the Provincial Forest Protection Department, to implement the issuance of MSVT for raw material forests, the Department has coordinated with the Forestry Economic Research Center to organize meetings to reach consensus with localities and forest owners to select communes in Yen Binh and Luc Yen districts (due to complicated weather conditions, the implementation has only been carried out in 4 communes of Yen Binh district: Dai Dong, Phu Thinh, Thinh Hung and Tan Huong).

In addition, the Department has also coordinated to organize 3 training courses on the application of the iTwood system for Department staff, forest rangers, local forest rangers and pilot communes. Instructing forest owners who are households to register to open accounts on the iTwood system.

After 2 months of implementation, the results of the survey, collection and provision of information of 465 household forest owners have been digitized on the iTwood system, including information on: forest owner's full name; land use rights and basic information about the raw wood forest plot (forest plot address, forest plot area, code area, main tree species, planting year, number of trees planted, business cycle, planting method, forest certificate...).

To date, a total of 362 land use rights and 673 forest plots have been registered by households on the iTwood system and have had their information verified by the Commune People's Committee and District Forest Protection Department with a total area of ​​602.42 hectares.

According to Mr. Kieu Tu Giang - Provincial Forest Protection Department, the foundation for granting forest MSVT is the iTwood system, a tool to support real-time management of the timber supply chain. Each stage in the profile creation process will be given a QR code, ensuring a continuous flow of information on the legality of raw timber from the forest planting - exploitation - trade stages.

The issuance of MSVT for raw material forests not only helps us better manage forest plantation areas, but also facilitates the traceability of products, increasing the economic value of planted forests. This is especially important in the context of the market's increasingly high demands on product quality and origin.

"We identify MSVT issuance as an important requirement to make transparent information about the origin of products and the technology used to create those products. This is one of the mandatory requirements in the context of international integration and participation in the global supply chain," said Mr. Giang.

Analyzing this issue further, Professor, Dr. Vo Dai Hai - Director of the Vietnam Forestry Science Institute said that when MSVT follows the wood batch into the supply chain, the organization and development of the legal wood supply chain and traceability will be more convenient, cost less, create a digital platform for the production and business database of planted forests, digital transformation, strong connection with the market and improve production and business efficiency.

Mr. Hai emphasized: "Digitalizing forest plantation areas associated with building a database for forest owners nationwide is an important step forward for the forestry sector, not only meeting international requirements but also focusing on building long-term management tools such as digital identification for all forest plantations nationwide, including full information on forest owners, land use rights, geographic coordinates and current status of forest plantation areas".

In addition to granting forest MSVT, Yen Bai is also implementing the iTwood Pilot Research Project to build a Carbon Business Model from Planted Forests in Yen Binh District (FCBMO Project) funded by the Forest and Farm Support Program (FFF) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for Vietnam. This is a very important project following the research results achieved in 2022 and 2023 in Yen Binh District.

In recent years, Yen Bai province has always paid attention to and arranged financial support to implement forestry production restructuring projects and policies to support agricultural and forestry production. This is the lever to stimulate economic sectors to participate in protecting and developing forests in the locality.

In addition, the work of forest management, protection and development has always received the attention of the Government and central ministries and branches, the drastic and effective direction of the Party Committee and authorities from the province to the localities, and the active participation of the people, so the forestry production activities of the province have developed remarkably, contributing to solving a large number of jobs for local people, increasing income, reducing poverty, protecting the ecological environment, preventing natural disasters and floods in the province.

The province's forestry potential is still very large, especially when we participate in the market of exporting wood materials to the world market.

Currently, Vietnam has signed the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade between Vietnam and the EU (VPA/FLEGT Agreement).

Therefore, promoting the granting and management of forest MSVT and launching the FCBMO Project will help Yen Bai maximize this advantage, increase the economic value of forestry, help all levels better manage the forestry sector, provide the best support for forest owners, help Yen Bai's planted forest wood products affirm their reputation and competitive advantages, and at the same time be associated with the implementation of the Project to build Yen Bai into a high-tech forestry zone, becoming a forestry development pole in the North.

By the end of 2023, the total forest area of ​​the province will be 462,536 hectares, with a stable forest coverage rate of 63%. According to the planning of Yen Bai province until 2030, the land area planned for forestry will be 483,684 hectares, of which special-use forests will be 31,226 hectares, protection forests will be 136,000 hectares, and production forests will be 316,458 hectares.

According to Van Thong (Yen Bai Newspaper)