Turn green forests into 'rich forests'

With most of the area located in the core zone and buffer zone of the Nam Xuan Lac Species and Habitat Conservation Area, Yen Thinh commune (Thai Nguyen) has identified forest protection associated with creating sustainable livelihoods for people as a consistent direction in socio-economic development. Thanks to the participation of the Party Committee, the government and the consensus of the people, the forests here are maintained, the ecological environment is stable, and the lives of ethnic minorities are increasingly improving.

The community forest patrol team of Phja Khao village during a patrol and inspection of the assigned forest area.

Life changes thanks to forests

More than ten years ago, the life of Mrs. Trieu Thi Tien's family in Phja Khao village, Yen Thinh commune, was still full of difficulties. Although she was born and raised in the middle of the vast forests, this was a natural forest in a strictly protected area, people were not allowed to exploit or clear fields for farming. "Living in the middle of the forest but still poor, all year round she only relied on a little corn, a little rice and picking bamboo shoots and mushrooms to sell for money" - Mrs. Tien recalled.

In 2013, when the State implemented the forest protection contract program, Ms. Trieu Thi Tien's family was assigned to take care of more than 30 hectares of protective forest. Since then, each year she has had a stable source of income from forest environmental service fees, helping her life become less difficult. "Since the State assigned the forest for protection, we feel more secure. We have more income and feel our responsibility to the forest," Ms. Tien added.

Not only being contracted for protection, Ms. Tien and many other people in the area also participated in training courses on growing medicinal plants under the forest canopy organized by the commune in coordination with specialized agencies, such as: Growing purple cardamom, angelica, polygonum multiflorum... Now, Ms. Tien is a member of the community forest patrol team, regularly patrolling the forest with households in the village, checking the forest after storms, and preventing and fighting fires in the dry season.

Not only in Phja Khao, in Vay Loan village, an area bordering the core zone of Nam Xuan Lac Nature Reserve, forest protection has also become a common task of the whole community. Ms. Ha Thi Hoa, Head of Vay Loan village, informed: the village currently has more than 200 hectares of forest assigned to 42 households for protection. Almost every household has a member participating in the forest protection team. We divide into groups to patrol periodically, and in the dry season, we strengthen forest fire control. Now deforestation is almost gone, and forest fires do not occur.

Thanks to the good implementation of land and forest allocation policies, hundreds of households in Yen Thinh have a stable source of income. Many public works such as concrete roads, cultural houses, and loudspeaker systems have been built from the forest environmental service fund.

Currently, Yen Thinh commune has 14,910 hectares of forest, of which 13,481 hectares are natural forests, most of which belong to Nam Xuan Lac Conservation Area - home to many rare species of animals and plants. The forest cover rate reaches 87.14%, among the highest in the province.

Forest protection associated with economic development

Nam Xuan Lac special-use forest has many precious woods such as nghien, trai, dinh, and lim.

According to Mr. Ma Chi Hieu, Chairman of Yen Thinh Commune People's Committee, in the period of 2020-2025, the work of forest management and protection has always been closely directed by the Party Committee and the government. Programs and projects on forest protection and development have been implemented synchronously, helping people to have more income and be more attached to the forest.

Typical examples are Sub-project 1 and Project 3, under the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas (2021-2025 period) and the Sustainable Forestry Development Program, according to Decision 809/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister .

“These projects not only create jobs, but also help people access new techniques in planting, caring for forests and growing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, gradually forming sustainable livelihood models,” Mr. Hieu affirmed.

Thanks to that, many effective forestry economic models have been formed. In core villages such as Phja Khao, Vay Loan, people grow purple cardamom, polygonum multiflorum, morinda officinalis, and combine beekeeping for honey under the forest canopy, each hectare brings in an income of 50-70 million VND/year.

Some households also borrow capital from the Social Policy Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to expand acreage, invest in machinery, and improve productivity and production value.

With the goal of maintaining a forest cover rate of over 87%, expanding the area of ​​medicinal plant cultivation and developing forestry economy associated with eco-tourism, Yen Thinh is gradually turning green forests into "rich forests", which is the foundation for sustainable development of the Nam Xuan Lac region.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202510/bien-rung-xanh-thanh-rung-giau-c0e29d2/