Minister Le Minh Hoan: Vietnam develops responsible forestry

The conference is held to implement Decree No. 27/2021/ND-CP of the Government about the management of forest plant varieties, Decision No. 523/QD-TTg dated April 1, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving "Vietnam's forestry development strategy for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050" and Decision No. 524/QD-TTg dated April 1, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving the project "Planting 1 billion trees in the 2021 - 2025 period".

After 15 years of deploying the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy in the 2006-2020 period, the forestry sector has attained many important achievements and the forest resources are being protected and developed increasingly well. By 2020, the total forest area will reach over 14.6 million ha, the forest coverage rate has reached 42%, the structure of 3 forest types has basically met the requirements of forestry development, biodiversity conservation and environmental security.

The export turnover of forestry products in 2020 reached over US$ 13.2 billion. Vietnam has become the 5th largest exporter of wood and forest products in the world and 2nd in Asia. Forest environmental service has truly become an important, sustainable source of finance - one of the 10 outstanding achievements of the agriculture and rural development sector.

Permanent Deputy Minister Ha Cong Tuan clearly stated the goals: "By the end of 2025, the whole country would plant 1 billion green trees, of which 690 million trees are scatteredly planted in urban and rural areas; 310 million trees are concentratedly planted in protection forests, special-use forests and new production forests, in order to partly protect the ecological environment, improve the landscape and respond to climate change".

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An province, it is extremely essential that the Government issue a separate Decree on forestry varieties, because in order to develop forestry economy, it is necessary to have Specialized policies for forestry varieties.

Developing responsible forestry

Speaking at the conference, Minister Le Minh Hoan stated that the most important issue for the current forestry is conservation and development. To be specific, it is about how to develop without affecting conservation and how conservation does not close but can still develop. (?)

Considering the Scheme "Planting 1 billion trees in the period of 2021 - 2025", the Minister emphasized: "The task of leaders is how to utilize resources. It can be said that we could create resources from good ideas. If there is a good policy, social resources can contribute a lot to this 1 billion green tree scheme, not only in the financial aspect but also in mindset and initiatives".

According to Minister Le Minh Hoan, despite the limited State's resources to support forest development, there should be a new mindset, not evenly dividing the budget cake, but expand it to serve the purpose of developing and protecting the forests.

Furthermore, for the forestry sector in general, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that in order to perform effectively, it is necessary to find solutions to solve the human resource problem as the current input of agricultural training units, especially the forestry sector is in trouble. Therefore, we need to inspire and build a brighter, more potential image for agriculture to attract young people for the future.

"We need to prove to the world that Vietnam is ready to develop responsible forestry, pursuing not only economic goals but also social and environmental factors and integrating into the common development mindset of the world ", the head of the agriculture and rural development sector affirmed.