Improve forest fires prevention and fighting at grassroots level

Accordingly, the project will build 2 county houses and 17 forest ranger station houses, the construction scale includes the main building and auxiliary items such as warehouses for forest fire prevention and fighting equipment, and evidence preservation houses...

To date, the investor (Bac Kan Agriculture and Rural Development Construction Investment Project Management Board) has implemented the construction of 16/19 county houses and forest ranger stations, with a volume of over 80%. Of these, 10 items have been completed according to the contract and approved for acceptance. Currently, the investor has handed over and put into use 6 items including Liem Thuy, Lang Ngam, Bang Van, Nghien Loan, Boc Bo and Keo Lang ranger stations.

Nghien Loan ranger station (Pac Nam district) was previously small and narrow, making the activities of officers, securing fire prevention and fighting equipment and evidence of violations face many difficulties. After the new investment, the station has fully functional rooms, and the conditions for forest protection and forest fire prevention have been significantly improved. The officer of Nghien Loan Forest Ranger Station said that the station has the function of protecting and preventing forest fires in a large area, passing by National Highway 258B. Work often requires staying up late, so the newly invested station will help officers feel secure in their work.

In addition, the project to improve forest fire prevention and fighting capacity in Bac Kan province also installed 432 signposts and no-fire signs in communes, wards and towns in the province. Construction of 8km of white fire-resistant runways in Ngan Son district (5km) and Bach Thong district (3km). Invest in means and equipment for forest fire prevention and fighting for counties and forest ranger stations. Up to now, equipment procurement for the category of signage and no-fire signs has reached 100%. The project of building a white fire-resistant runway is being implemented in coordination with local authorities.

Mr. Dinh Huy Hoang, Director of the Management Board of Agriculture and Rural Development Construction Investment Projects in Bac Kan province, said that the completed project will contribute to perfecting facilities for forest fire prevention and fighting in the province. Currently, the project is basically meeting the planned schedule, and some problems related to site clearance have been gradually resolved. The Board is actively coordinating with the industry and local authorities to complete this project shortly.

Bac Kan province has a forestry land area of nearly 418,000 hectares (including nearly 27,600 ha of special-use forests, more than 83,000 hectares of protection forests and more than 306 thousand ha of production forests), accounting for 86% of the total natural area, the forest coverage rate in 2022 is 73.35%, the highest in the country. Forest economic development is also one of the strengths determined by Bac Kan province to help people reduce poverty and become rich.

With a very large forest area, every year the forest fire situation in Bac Kan also becomes quite complicated. From the beginning of the year until now, there have been 8 forest fires in Bac Kan province, causing damage to 13 ha of production forest. Although forest fires mainly occur in production forest areas and the fire scale is small, due to the high mountainous terrain, fire fighting is difficult.

In the context of preparing to enter the dry season, investing in infrastructure and facilities to serve forest fire prevention and fighting is essential, especially in the buffer zone bordering special-use forests far from the centre, if a fire occurs, it is difficult to respond remotely, so improving on-site fire prevention capacity plays an important role.

This is the peak period when forest fires often occur. Therefore, right now, fire prevention and fighting solutions in key localities need to be quickly deployed, especially in raising the awareness of people living near forests and forest edges when using fire, avoiding unfortunate incidents.According to statistics, Ha Long City currently has over 80,000 ha of forested land. Of which, the area of forests and production forest land is over 40,000 ha, protection forest land is nearly 20,000 ha and special-use forest land is more than 20,000 ha. In the first 6 months of the year, Ha Long City had 9 forest fires, causing damage to about 30 ha of forest area. Mainly production forest land allocated to households and individuals that plant forests with their own capital.