Minister Le Minh Hoan: We need to look at the forestry profession more optimistically

Bài liên quan

Pu Mat National Park: in need of improvements

On July 28, within the framework of the program of Nature conservation and development of livelihoods in the buffer zone, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and the delegation had a field survey in western Nghe An about the potential capabilities, advantages, and shortcomings and problems surrounding the forestry sector, to work towards building more fundamental and sustainable solutions.

The trip's destination is Pu Mat National Park, the heart of the Western Biosphere Reserve of Nghe An. This is a place rich in forest reserves, with a diverse and rich ecosystem, which allows people to create a livelihood under a huge forest canopy.

Minister Le Minh Hoan said that before the destruction of nature and forests, we need to have a different approach to forests, including a multi-use ecosystem approach, from which to repay the debt of nature.

Regarding the income of forest keepers, Minister Le Minh Hoan shared that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently studying and amending a Decree in the direction of increasing. "The most important thing is still the way of seeing, the approach, besides the task of forest protection, there must be a plan to create many jobs and long-term livelihoods under the forest canopy to improve people's income to Sustainable Development gradually".

However, due to many obstacles, people's lives are still challenging. In general, they cannot wholly rely on the forest. On the other hand, the income of forestry staff dedicated to forest maintenance is still low, basically not enough to cover daily life. The pressure is so heavy that many cases have quit their jobs.

Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Department of Forestry, said that in the past, when it came to the forest economy, many people only thought of logging. Still, the forest economy has many other values, such as exploiting forest services. With a price of US$5/ton, Vietnam can earn 4,000 billion per year. That is not to mention the price of carbon under the market mechanism can also increase very high.

Minister Le Minh Hoan directly talked and confided with community-based tourism workers in Thac Kem and with the forest protection force at the local ranger station to grasp the common thoughts and aspirations.

When reporters mentioned the bottlenecks of the forestry industry, especially the inadequate regimes, and policies of forest keepers, Minister Le Minh Hoan shared openly and frankly and emphasized the need for a more optimistic view of the forestry sector instead of just thinking about problems and problems.

"People should learn about the 'butterfly effect', a flapping butterfly in Mexico that can create a hurricane in Canada, which means that the small has a significant impact. We should not over-resonate difficult things. If the media is not appropriately affected, it will cause significant emotional damage.

Forest rangers and forest defenders cannot live on air, and income is also substantial, but that is the only necessary condition. I have been in contact with many forest workers. They know the difficulties and pressures, but they are still attached and love the forest", said Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and the delegation visited and experienced tourism activities at Khe Kem waterfall in Pu Mat National Park; visited the booths and sold OCOP products of Con Cuong district, directly discussed with the Community Tourism Cooperative in Nua village, Yen Khe commune about the implementation of community-based tourism activities based on forest and forest products.

In addition to organizing an experience tour at Pu Mat National Park, Minister Le Minh Hoan suggested that there should be solutions for the students in the area to understand the information and participate in the conservation of nature.

Vietnam has 14.79 million hectares of forests (10.13 million hectares of natural forests, 4.66 million hectares of planted forests), including 2.20 million hectares of special-use forests, 4.71 million hectares of protection forests, and 7.88 million hectares of production forest.

Currently, Vietnam is promoting multi-use forest development, benefiting from forests. Vietnam is participating in some agreements related to emission reduction. Still, only at the feasibility study stage, only the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA), including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue provinces were signed.