Binh Thuan to issue REED + action plan period 2016-2020

Binh Thuan now has over 350,000 hecrares offorest land, making up 50 percent of the province’s natural area, with a forest coverage level at 41.6 percent. The large area has proved that the local forest resources provide high biodiversity and reservation as protective barriers and climate regulators for the locality and the central coastal area, as well as important resources for the province’s socioeconomic development.

With a total fund of VND 466 billion, the plan has been implemented in 41 communes having forest across 7 districts/towns in Binh Thuan with the purpose of raising forest coverage level from 41.6 to 43% in 2020, therefore, increasing forest reserves and growth, limiting deforestation, encroachment of forest land, forest fire, protecting biodiversity, decreasing, dealing with bad effects of climate change and ensuring livelihood and income of people who depend on forest.

As scheduled, the plan includes 3 major contents:

-Managing and protecting 153,000 hectares of existing natural and  planted forest;

-Planting an addition of 6,000 hectares of forest;

-Zoning and reviving over 8,000 hectares of natural forest;

-Transferring over 1,600 hectares of planted forest for the exploitation of timber and wood products.

Additionally, the plan is expected to be carried out in areas in need of priorities for the implementation of REDD+, as follows: protecting forest ecosystems in nature reserves of Nui Ong and Ta Cu; developing community-based agriculture in the province’s northern mountainous areas and borderland nearby Lam Dong province; improving the quality and values of ecosystems in poor natural forests; giving assistance to forest owners to deploy sustainable forest management, enhancing the co-ordination abilities between departments and agencies to well perform the REDD+ action plan.

According to director of Department of Natural Resources Mai Kieu and Environment cum head of REDD+ steering Committee of Binh Thuan province, authorities would intensify propaganda and education to raise people’s awareness of the benefit of forest plantation while boosting investment attraction in favour of the development of sustainable subsistences for the people, limiting the impact of people and the community on forest. Besides, the provincial bodies will also take measures to develop forests providing raw materials in association with wood processing plants investment, protecting and developing newly-planted forest to restore all forest areas, conserve biodiversity and strengthen forest protection forces.

Phuong Lan (Source: binhthuan.gov.vn)