Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the creation of a Forest Police Force to patrol and manage forests, as well as handle related violations.

The Ministry of Public Security has been assigned to work with the relevant agencies to prepare the groundwork for establishing the forest police force. Their joint recommendations will be sent to the Prime Minister.

The organisational structure of the forest police force is expected to be similar to the structure of the envinronmental police.

In a related development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been directed to start work on a project to raise the effectiveness of forest management between 2014 and 2020.

According to the ministry, the project was initiated after several shortcomings were discovered in the current system of using forest rangers to protect and develop the forests.

A lack of human resources is among the biggest problems of the ranger system. Under the original plan, about 15,000 forest rangers are required to be posted nationwide; however, only 11,800 forest rangers have been recruited so far.

A lack of adequate facilities, including advanced equipment, is also to blame for the limited effectiveness of the rangers in protecting and developing the forests, the ministry added.

Source: VNS