Application of technology in forest management and protection

Forest rangers of Dien Bien Dong district use GIS remote sensing technology to interpret satellite image sources to detect locations with fluctuations in forest area increase and decrease.

Since 2017, the Forest Protection Department has used GIS remote sensing technology to interpret satellite image sources to detect locations with possible forest changes to provide local forest rangers with field inspection and verification. After 6 years of implementation, the accuracy rate of interpreting image sources has reached over 80%. The application of information technology, remote sensing and GIS helps to quickly, promptly and accurately detect locations with forest changes, supporting the implementation of forest monitoring work with high efficiency. In addition, the Forest Protection Department has applied supporting mobile software such as: FRMS Mobile, Vtools Suvey, iGeoTrans X... combined with the use of drones and handheld radios in forest patrols and inspections. Currently, the Forest Protection Department has installed mobile software for 100% of forest rangers; equipped 10/10 Forest Protection Departments and specialized departments with flycams and handheld radios. In forest fire prevention and fighting, the Forest Protection Department uses the Forest Fire Early Warning System to monitor daily fire warning locations (at https://watch.pcccr.vn/DiemChay), thereby promptly detecting and directing inspections of locations at risk of forest fires. At the same time, it has invested in installing 3 automatic forest fire warning signs at the Forest Protection Departments: Nam Po, Muong Nhe and Dien Bien. In addition, the Forest Protection Department has created and used 12 reporting systems on Google Drive to synthesize reports from units, helping to reduce the time and effort for staff to synthesize; reported data is timely, accurate and can be looked up anywhere. 12 phone numbers have been put into use and 1,000 hotline phone number information boards have been printed to help people promptly provide information on forest fire warnings and violations of forestry laws.

Mr. Ha Luong Hong, Head of the Forest Protection Department, said: Dien Bien province has a forestry planning area of 694,753 hectares (accounting for 72.8% of the natural land area). The forest area in 2022 is 415,361.35 hectares. The forest area is large while the forest ranger force is thin, on average each local forest ranger is responsible for nearly 3,500 hectares of forest, with some officials responsible for over 10,000 hectares. Applying information technology helps management and direction to be unified and convenient from the leaders of the Department to the Forest Protection Departments and local forest rangers. Technological solutions help reduce time, effort, and costs in performing tasks, and efficiency is improved. For example, in the past, when conducting field inspections, inspectors had to bring paper maps, compasses, and GPS, but now they only need to bring a phone with mobile software installed. Or, for example, accessing and inspecting a location that used to take 2 hours now takes only 30 minutes using a drone at a convenient location. The data is accurate, error-free, and can be checked and re-checked at any time.

In 2021, Dien Bien Dong District Forest Protection Department was equipped with a flycam (a flying device with a camera) to serve the work of forest management and protection. The flycam can fly 500m high, fly 6km away, observing the forest from above with a wide angle, helping forest rangers easily detect changes in forest increase and decrease, especially in forest areas with rugged mountainous terrain.

Mr. Ly A Ta, a forest ranger of Dien Bien Dong district, said: Previously, we had to walk to the points where there were changes in forest increase and decrease, which took a lot of time. There were many points and areas that were very difficult to access because the terrain was too rugged. After being equipped with flycams, with a map of 100% of the locations, we can monitor promptly and accurately, especially cases of deforestation and illegal logging.

Muong Nhe District has a total forest area of over 84,000 hectares, with a coverage of over 50%. In 2021, Muong Nhe District Forest Protection Department was equipped with and installed automatic forest fire warning signs. The device's operating process is fully automatic based on temperature and humidity sensors... to automatically determine the appropriate forest fire warning level displayed on the sign, and at the same time send information to the preset phone numbers of the Department's leaders and local forest rangers to know and advise on implementing appropriate forest fire prevention and fighting measures.

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