As of December 31, 2016, Vietnam had a total forest area of nearly 14.378 million hectares, including over 10.242 million hectares of natural forest and more than 4.135 million hectares of planted area, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the total, nearly 13.632 million hectares met the standards for forest coverage calculation which showed a result of 41.19 percent.

The ministry asked the Administration of Forestry to compile a database on the country’s forest resources and make plans to manage and use the database as well as forest land across the nation and in each locality.

Meanwhile, the People’s Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities were asked to use the data to review and adjust their planning and measures to protect and develop forest every year.

For localities with decreased natural forest area in 2016, the ministry asked for clear definition of responsibility of individuals and organization in line with the law.

VNA