VietNamNet Bridge – “You can see green from a helicopter but the natural forest is not much. Timber quality is also poor,” said deputy Do Ngoc Nien from Binh Thuan province.
Land use and sustainable forest cultivation were key topics discussed by National Assembly deputies at the meeting on the plan to grow 5 million hectares of forest on November 1.

According to attendees, wasteful land use has remained a problem, necessitating a review of current regulations.

Deputy Nien said that the area of natural forest is very modest and forest protection task is problematic. “Almost all forest along National Highway 14 has disappeared. The remaining is poor forest,” he said.

Deputy Ngo Ngoc Binh from HCM City said he worked in Binh Phuoc province in a long time. This province was known for the largest jungle in Vietnam. But now, there is only a small area of forest in Bu Gia Map.

“There is no forest along the border with Cambodia. If there, it is a rubber forest,” Binh said.

Binh said that forest is not protected well because wage for forest rangers is too low, only $50 per month. In addition, many firms are chopping down natural forest to grow rubber. Therma-power projects contribute to deforestation.

This deputy did not agree with the government’s reason that not much forest area is grown because of weather and natural calamity. According to Binh, the major reason is the rampant deforestation.

Deputy Nguyen Van Hung from HCM City said that in some places, forest is “on paper”. Local governments do not know that the real forest area is very limited.

Deputies Dang Vuong Tan from Ben Tre province said that deforestation is serious, not reducing as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s report. Statistics on forest coverage in Vietnam are inaccurate.

Deputy Tran Du Lich from HCM City said that all deputies doubt the accuracy of reports on forest growing achievements. Many firms are allocated with forest land to grow forest but they only plant rubber trees.

“The National Assembly must have a supervisory program to define how much forest area Vietnam has in reality,” Lich said.

Many deputies said that farmers must be assisted to preserve forest and this policy has to be implemented in a long run. Some deputies suggested placing responsibility on local governments for deforestation.

Deputy Nguyen Van Tuyet from Ba Ria-Vung Tau province said that the government needs to make review of hiring forest land to foreign investors. While locals still need land for production, many provinces hire forest land at sensitive positions to foreign firms, at dirty prices. Though the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported the situation to the NA at the last session but voters want to know the current situation.

Deputy Nguyen Van Hung, from HCM City, confirmed that afforestation had not increased by much, particularly in the south, having dropped in the Central Highlands due to land being illegally cleared for rubber and pepper cultivation purposes amidst ineffective management.

Hung suggested allocating forests to the army, saying that this may be a good way to protect the forest. At present, the army manages around 200,000 hectares only. This idea was supported by many other deputies.

Deputy Do Van Duong, from HCM City, suggested setting aside 3.8 million hectares of land for rice cultivation to ensure sustainable food supply amidst increasing population. It was also suggested that industrial land be increased to 200,000ha over the next 10 years despite industrial zones utilising only 46 per cent of currently allocated land.

Dao Van Binh, a deputy from Ha Noi, said that it was essential to calculate the proportion of national industrial development in order to draw up appropriate land use targets. It was also necessary to review land plans related to education, healthcare and traffic, he added.

The plan to grow 5 million hectares of forest in 13 years (1998-2010) is completed, but how to preserve the forest and if Vietnam should continue the plan is being discussed. The NA will vote on a resolution on another plan to plant 5 million hectares of forest at the end of the session.

Le Nhung-Thuy Chung