Hau Giang doubled its forest area after 20 years

Forest area increases each year

Mr. Doan Ngoc Than, Director of the Forest Protection Department of Hau Giang province, said that when the province was first established (in 2004), Hau Giang had 2,001 ha of forest. Currently, the province's forested area is 3,794 ha, an increase of nearly 1,800 ha compared to nearly 20 years ago. 

To achieve the above results, along with implementing targets and plans for the agricultural sector, Project 661 - Forest Protection and Development Project, the Forest Protection Department, has persistently propagated and mobilised people to develop the forestry economy. The project has a policy to encourage the planting of forestry trees on alluvial land, mixed garden land and inefficient agricultural production areas. Launching a movement to plant scattered forestry trees on canal land, public land, residential land... Since then, the forest area of the whole province has increased each year. 

Results showed the current forest status of Hau Giang province in 2023, the local forest land area is more than 3,244 ha, the area of forest land aside from the 3 types of planned forests is 1,938 ha, of which the forested area is nearly 3,794 ha. The existing special-use forest land is 2,713 ha, concentrated in Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Reserve. Production forests are 2,350 ha, of which the state-managed forest area is nearly 412 ha, the forest area managed by other organizations is 69 ha and the forest area planted by households on agricultural land is 1,870 ha. 

Each person plants 10 scattered trees

Participating in the project of planting 1 billion trees implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development nationwide, Hau Giang province has a plan to plant scattered trees (period 2021 - 2025) with a number of 8.4 million trees of all types. The total cost is more than VND 27 billion. Of which, urban tree planting is 200,000 trees and dispersed forestry tree planting is 8.2 million trees. If compared to the current population of Hau Giang province, on average each person will plant about 10 trees. 

In order to maintain stable forest and scattered tree coverage by 2025, reaching 3%, the forest area will account for 1.61% of the natural area of the entire province. Consequently, it will contribute to minimizing the effects of climate change, improving the natural environment, mitigating natural disasters, limiting soil erosion, and protecting the ecological environment. This will also raise community awareness about the role and value of forests, the meaning of planting scattered trees, afforestation, and the benefits of forest protection.

On the other hand, this will contribute to ensuring the criteria of green - clean - beautiful and the criteria for green land for public use in rural residential areas under the set of standards for building new rural communes and advanced new rural areas for the period 2021 - 2025. Therefore, strengthening and improving the proportion of green fences and shade trees along roads, urban areas, residential areas, offices, schools, roads, and land for planting trees along rural traffic routes,... is very necessary.

In addition, Hau Giang province also has a tree planting project in the area, invested by the Investment Project Management Board, with a scale of about 733,000 trees in the area from 2023 - 2024.

To ensure enough land funds to plant all kinds of trees, the Hau Giang Provincial Forest Protection Department coordinates with the project investor, and the People's Committee of the district, town and city. The Province will have a plan to organize the review and determination of land funds for planting green trees in urban areas, residential areas, offices, roads, and land for planting green trees on rural traffic routes. The province will also develop a specific plan to plant trees in urban areas, urban suburbs, and rural traffic routes annually in the period 2023 - 2024.