Viet Nam had set up its fully integrated forestry information database, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Forest rangers on patrol in Tuyen Quang Province.

Data from forests across the country and more than 1.4 million forest owners will be integrated in the Management Information System (MIS) for sustainable management of forest resources. Forest owners are organisations, households, individuals and communities that are assigned or leased forests by the State. They allocate land, lease land for afforestation, rehabilitate and develop forests.

The system is part of the second phase of the Development of Management Information System for Forestry Sector (FORMIS) project funded by the Finnish Government.

The project started in 2013.

Updated information about forest developments from 2016-18, forest research data between 1990 and 2010, potential data on REDD+ (reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation) and forestation area, data on forest plants, and data on payment for forest environmental services are also integrated in MIS.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said that the FORMIS database would be useful for wood processing enterprises.

The system could also help enterprises follow changes to forests and forest land, determine locations, road conditions and distance to create detailed plans to buy wood, as well as contact local forest management agencies for necessary information.

To operate the system, more than 2,000 people from forestry and related agencies have received training.

The second phase of the FORMIS project aims at building a comprehensive integrated management system to serve the management of forestry resources and reduce poverty. The project received fund of 9.7 million euros (US$11.1 million) from the Finnish Government, along with 437,000 euros ($502,400) from domestic sources. 

FORMIS has succeeded in establishing a process, procedure and exchange mechanism among forestry agencies, strengthening capacity of information collection and management, upgrading and setting up new information technology infrastructure, and improving the capacity of MARD in supervising the implementation of the Viet Nam Forestry Development Strategy. — VNS