More than 61,000 people benefited from the VFBC project

On the morning of March 21, the Management Board for Forestry Projects (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) coordinated with Lang Chanh district (Thanh Hoa) to organize the Forum "Forests and Innovation" in Yen Thang commune on the occasion of International Forest Day.

The “Forests and Innovation” Forum aims to honour and raise community awareness of the importance of all types of forests; promote the participation of stakeholders at all levels in sustainable forest management; share innovative solutions in forest management - results and lessons learned; build sample models "Community-based ecotourism" with locally available rattan and bamboo materials for the Thai ethnic community in Peo village, Yen Thang commune, Lang Chanh district.

At the forum, Mr. Vu Van Hung, Deputy Director of the Forestry Project Management Board and director of the Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation Project (VFBC) said: After 3 years of implementing the VPBC project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through the sustainable forest management component, the project has supported the development of 61 policies and plans to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Vietnam in managing and protecting forest resources. As a consequence, the emission of nearly 15 million tons of CO2 has been limited through the issuance of these policies.

Support the effective management, protection and use of more than 101 thousand ha of forests; support sustainable forest management certification for more than 10 thousand ha of planted forests. Training more than 34 thousand people on sustainable cultivation and harvesting techniques of non-timber forest products, silviculture techniques for afforestation, enforce legal policies. Mobilizing and recording investment of more than $ 33 million from conservation-friendly businesses, helping more than 61 thousand people benefit from the project's support.

The project actively supports the digital transformation process in the forestry industry, specifically: Violation monitoring system in the forestry industry, monitoring system, assessment of payments for forest environmental services, measurement, reporting, and appraisal systems for emissions in the forestry industry...

According to United Nations statistics, an estimated 1.6 billion people, equivalent to 25% of the world's population, depend on forests. In Vietnam, there are currently about 25 million people whose income is related to forests. Although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades, globally more than 420 million ha of forest have been lost since 1990.

With 10 million ha of forest lost each year and about 70 million ha affected by fires. Therefore, state management agencies and social communities need to join hands and act more strongly to reduce deforestation and protect biodiversity for the benefit of future generations.

In that context, the project will continue to support and improve forest protection capacity for members through training courses on financial management, forest patrolling, forest inventory and building a sustainable community forest management plan. Supporting the development of community-based ecotourism with the participation of women is considered an innovation in community forest management.