Vietnam had more than 14 million hectares of forest as of December 21, 2015, including over 10.1 million hectares of natural forest and nearly 3.9 million hectares of planted forest.

The Can Gio mangrove forest

The national forest coverage reached 40.84 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry has assigned the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to set up national forest resource data and guide localities and organisations to update forest development situation.

People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces were urged to promptly instruct units and forest owners to fulfill their forest management and protection tasks.

Localities should review and make plans on the use of forest and forestry land, focusing on forest areas not included in the planning.

The ministry also requested localities that saw shrinking natural forests in 2015 to identify the root causes of the problem and responsibilities of involved individuals and organisations.

VNA