Response to the International Day Against Desertification and Drought

The theme of the International Day Against Desertification and Drought 2023 is "Land and Women's Rights". It can be seen that women play an important role in the management and protection of land resources. In the coming time, women around the world need to have more access to land issues in order to promote their land use rights. This aims towards achieving the globally linked goals of gender equality as well as other sustainable development goals.

According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40% of the world's land area has been degraded and 3.2 billion people are affected by land degradation, especially rural communities, smallholder farmers and the very poor.

Vietnam is not a key country in terms of desertification, but land degradation has been happening quietly but strongly. According to statistics for 2021 from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam has a total degraded land area of nearly 12 million ha, accounting for about 35.74% of the total natural area of the country. Of which 1.2 million ha are heavily degraded; nearly 3.8 million ha are moderately degraded and more than 6.8 million ha are slightly degraded.

Speaking at the program, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri said that the above situation forces us to be more aware of the importance of management. This includes the sustainable use of land resources, ensuring a harmonious relationship between people and nature.

Accordingly, it is necessary to have timely and synchronous solutions, the participation of the whole political system, interdisciplinary coordination, the participation of scientists and the support of the people and the international community.

With high determination, strong commitment and practical actions, Vietnam is trying to adopt many solutions to effectively use and conserve land resources, associated with sustainability in terms of environment, climate, protection of the living environment and people's health," Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri affirmed.

According to the Deputy Minister of MARD, forestry plays an important role in economic development, maintaining and ensuring social security and safety, biodiversity conservation, responding to climate change and protecting the environment. Forestry also acts as a green strategic solution, contributing to the protection, maintenance and restoration of the productive capacity of the land.

The forestry industry in recent years has had effective and sustainable development in terms of economy, environment and society. On behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri highly appreciated and praised the efforts and results of the whole sector, especially the efforts of many localities.

However, the Deputy Minister also noted that it is necessary to seriously be aware and have solutions for some shortcomings that need to be overcome to prevent forest loss and degradation still occurring in some localities.

Quoting the sentence "A piece of land is a piece of gold", Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri emphasized, to continue building on the achievements, transform the challenges and respond to the International Day Against Desertification and Drought, officials, civil servants, public employees and workers of the whole industry need to be aware of the value of the role of land. They should take immediate action with practical efforts to protect, manage, use sustainably and revive and restore degraded lands. Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the Anti-Desert Convention, which are: "By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded soils and soils, including those affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a balanced world of land degradation".

At the ceremony, the delegates and officials, students, and students of Bac Giang Agriculture and Forestry University planted 200 trees of all kinds such as green sage, parashorea chinensis, and incense in the school's garden.

Also on this occasion, the Department of Forestry (MARD) mobilized VND 50 million to donate to students of Bac Giang Agriculture and Forestry University who overcame difficulties and achieved high academic achievements.

Assoc. Dr Nguyen Quang Ha expressed honour and pride when Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry was selected as the venue for the meeting to respond to the International Day Against Desertification and Drought in 2023. The university's rector said that over the years, besides educational work, the school has always paid attention to environmental protection, building a bright, green, clean and beautiful landscape. 

Currently, Bac Giang Agriculture and Forestry University has an agricultural eco-tourism site; The waterfowl forest is the habitat and breeding ground for nearly 15,000 individuals of all kinds. 

Many staff, lecturers and students of the unit have scientific research topics on environmental pollution reduction. They have been effectively applied in practice.

Some pictures at the event: