Lao Cai struggles to restore forests due to rugged terrain

In Bat Xat district (Lao Cai), landslides have left many forested areas barren, exposing bare soil and rock. In many communes, landslides have wiped out large areas of natural and planted forests. Years of effort by local people in nurturing these forests have been “washed away” Some areas cannot be replanted, especially in the communes of Muong Hum, Trinh Tuong, A Lu, and Nam Chac.

According to Mr. Tran Van Hung, Deputy Head of the Bat Xat District Forest Protection Department, preliminary measurements show that Storm No.3 damaged 269 hectares of forest, mostly natural forests (over 260 hectares). The damage occurred in high-altitude regions with steep slopes, making reforestation difficult.

"When it comes to afforestation, we will review land area, focusing on land zoned for forestry and barren land. We will advise local authorities to encourage people to replant in these areas. However, many of the landslide sites are on steep hillsides near streams, where the soil has been washed away, leaving only rocks, making reforestation impossible", shared Mr. Hung.

According to the Lao Cai Forest Protection Department, Storm No.3 caused significant damage to the forestry sector. Of the 1,154 hectares of damaged forest, 650 hectares were planted forests, 310 hectares were natural forests, and several areas of non-timber forest crops were also affected.

"These areas have been almost entirely lost due to landslides. We have instructed all forest protection units to use drones to survey the damage and plan recovery efforts. For high-altitude natural forests, replanting and regeneration will be very difficult, so we are proposing to leave these areas as they are, as natural forests can regenerate quickly. We are also exploring the possibility of using drones to scatter native tree seeds over the landslide areas," said Mr. Vu Hong Diep, Deputy Head of the Lao Cai Forest Protection Department.

Additionally, 12 nurseries of local households were damaged, with around 1.6 million seedlings lost. After the floods receded, forest authorities advised people to restore the nurseries, disinfect the area, and control fungi to prepare for reforestation in 2025.

According to Mr. Vu Hong Diep, Lao Cai still has the capacity to supply around 30 million seedlings for 2024 and 2025, including for neighboring provinces. However, it is important to ensure that seedlings leaving the nurseries meet quality standards, are disease-free, and especially free from fungi caused by waterlogging.

Currently, nurseries and seedling production facilities are being repaired, cleaned, disinfected, and restored. Measures such as removing dead plants, washing surviving plants, clearing weeds and mud, and spraying for fungi are being implemented. New seedlings are being prepared for the upcoming planting season to meet the reforestation needs and new planting efforts in 2025.

Regarding financial support, under Decree No. 02/2017/ND-CP dated January 9, 2017, on mechanisms and policies to support agricultural production recovery in disaster-affected areas, a total of 809.662 hectares of production forests affected by the disaster require nearly VND 3 billion in support.

For salvage operations, forest owners are responsible for deciding on the exploitation and recovery of timber. After exploitation, they must replant forests in the next planting season when weather conditions are favorable.

For production forests that are state-owned, or for planted protection forests, an assessment of the damage and an estimate of the salvaged timber value will be conducted. Once timber is recovered, replanting must take place in the next suitable season.

For natural forests, cleaning up will be carried out, including collecting and removing flammable materials, and repairing firebreaks to reduce the risk of wildfire.