Join hands to keep Dam Rong green

In the remote area of ​​Dam Rong, the forest protection movement has become a voluntary action of the community. Initiatives such as digging boundary lines and allocating forests to households help maintain the “green color” and create sustainable livelihoods for the people here.

The remote communes of Dam Rong have large areas of forested land, but management faces many difficulties due to the large proportion of agricultural land and stable agricultural land mixed with forestry land.

Digging the boundary - Keeping the forest edge

The communes of Dam Rong area (Dam Rong 1, Dam Rong 2, Dam Rong 3 and Dam Rong 4), after receiving additional forest area from Dung K'No commune, now have nearly 73,000 hectares of forest land. The coverage rate reaches about 63% of the total natural area, directly managed and protected by two forest owners, the Serepok Protection Forest Management Board and the Lam Ha Protection Forest Management Board.

With a forest coverage rate of 63%, much higher than the average of 43-45% in many other localities, Dam Rong is considered a bright spot in forest protection work. The forests here are not only "green lungs" that maintain ecological balance, but also a natural wall to prevent natural disasters and an essential source of livelihood for thousands of households in the mountainous areas.

Serepok Forest Protection Board staff discussed forest protection and not encroaching on forest land with a household in village 1, Dam Rong 2 commune.

Despite many positive results, the situation of deforestation and encroachment on forest land in Dam Rong still has potential for complicated developments. Faced with such challenges, linking the patriotic emulation movement with forest management and protection is considered a key solution, arousing the sense of responsibility, patriotism and community awareness in preserving the precious "green lung".

At Serepok Forest Management Board, the unit assigned nearly 61,000 hectares of forest in 3 communes of Dam Rong 2, Dam Rong 3 and Dam Rong 4, the work of managing and preventing encroachment of forest land since the beginning of 2025 has achieved remarkable results thanks to the initiative of digging a boundary line to separate forest land from people's cultivated land. To date, more than 20km of boundary line has been completed, helping to prevent many cases of forest land encroachment early and from afar.

The boundary line dug to separate forestry land and stable agricultural land of the people has shown positive results. There have been no recorded cases of encroachment and encroachment along about 50km of the high-risk boundary line.

From December 10, 2024 to September 20, 2025, in the assigned management area, there were only 3 cases of deforestation with a total damaged area of ​​4,137 m², with no loss of forest products. Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of violations decreased by 62.5% (from 8 to 3 cases), the damaged area decreased by nearly 86% (from 29,515 m² to 4,137 m²) and the volume of forest products decreased by 100%.

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Violations of forest edge gnawing have decreased significantly. In areas with high risk of encroachment, thanks to the boundary lines, people clearly define their family's cultivation area and strictly follow the recommendations and warnings of the forest owner.

Mr. Ngo Van Thanh, Deputy of Technical Department of Serepok Forest Management Board, shared

At Dam Rong 1 Station (under Lam Ha Forest Protection Management Board, managing nearly 12,000 hectares of forest), Mr. Phung Thanh Binh, Station Chief, said that in areas with houses on the edge of the forest or at high risk of encroachment, the unit has proactively implemented stronger management measures such as propaganda, posting warning signs and signing commitments with people.

Contracted households and officers of Dam Rong 1 Forest Protection Management Station under Lam Ha Forest Protection Management Board patrol and inspect the dug boundary area.

The most obvious effect is the digging of the boundary line separating forest land and stable agricultural land. On the nearly 30km boundary line dug from 2023 to now, there has been almost no forest encroachment.

This initiative was proposed by the Phi Lieng Forest Protection Management Board (now Lam Ha Forest Protection Management Board), approved by the People's Committee of the former Dam Rong district and piloted from 2023. Thanks to its obvious effectiveness, by 2024 the locality had expanded its implementation to forest owners and maintained it until now.

Dozens of propaganda signs were placed near residential areas, forest edges... reminding everyone to join hands to preserve and protect the forest.

People - the main subject of the forest development movement

By the end of 2024, the communes in the Dam Rong area had 58,706 people, of which ethnic minorities accounted for about 65%. With a large area of ​​forestry land, small-scale agricultural land interspersed with forests, many households still maintain the habit of building houses close to the edge of the forest. This reality creates a big challenge for the government and forest rangers when human resources are thin, while the area is large and complex.

The cleared forest areas were quickly replanted by the forest owners, bringing green back to the bare hills.

Faced with the above reality, localities determined that they could not rely solely on the authorities but had to mobilize the people to participate. Therefore, the policy of assigning forest management and protection tasks was strongly implemented, linking the responsibilities and interests of communities and households with the forest areas assigned over the past decades.

Households contracted to protect forests are an important force in the work of preserving and developing forests. In 2025, the Serepok Forest Protection Management Board will contract about 29,000 hectares of forest to 737 households for management and protection.

According to statistics, in 4 communes of Dam Rong area, there are currently nearly 40,000 hectares of forest allocated to households, communities and management units. The main source of funding comes from forest environmental services, helping the contracted people have a stable income, with a support level of 350,000 - 400,000 VND/ha/year depending on the area.

In particular, local ethnic minorities are given priority in forest protection contracts. This is not only a practical social security policy, but also a way for people to become more closely connected to the forest and enhance their responsibility in managing and protecting this precious resource.

Not only stopping at signing contracts, the forest rangers, forest owners and commune authorities also focus on propaganda, mobilization and building community conventions for forest protection. Many village elders, prestigious people and religious dignitaries have accompanied the local authorities in explaining and convincing people to understand the meaning of forest protection. Thanks to that, community awareness of the responsibility for forest protection has been increasingly enhanced.

Officers of Dam Rong 1 Station, Lam Ha Forest Protection Management Board cleared trees on forestry land, combined with placing warning signs to propagate against encroachment on forest land.

Village elder Cli ha KRòng, Lieng Hung hamlet, Dam Rong 2 commune shared: “If the forest remains, the water source will be abundant in the dry season and the climate will be cool. This is a long-term benefit for our descendants, so we must work with the local government to promote it. Since the households in the village were assigned to protect the forest, the situation of destruction and encroachment on forest land has almost disappeared.”

Forest rangers use filmcam drones to observe and protect forests.

It can be affirmed that the policy of forest allocation to communities and households in the communes of Dam Rong area has been going in the right direction, bringing about clear results in terms of economy , society and environment. With the consensus of the government, forest rangers and people, this place is writing a success story in forest protection and development, contributing to maintaining sustainable green color so that people can stabilize their lives and gradually escape poverty.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/chung-suc-giu-mau-xanh-dam-rong-393651.html