Gia Lai: Promoting combined strength to manage and protect forests

Regarding solutions for forest management, protection, prevention and fire fighting, Gia Lai Newspaper and Radio and Television reporters had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

▪ Sir, after a period of provincial consolidation, what are the advantages and difficulties in forest fire management, protection, prevention and fighting (PCCCR) in the area?

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Van Hoan. **Photo: NN**

- After the merger, the management, protection and development of forests in Gia Lai has many advantages. The management apparatus has been consolidated, unified, with clear decentralization of responsibilities, centralized, helping to effectively direct and operate from the province to the grassroots. Each level and each sector has specific responsibilities according to the provisions of law.

Currently, the total area of forests and forestry land in the province reaches over 987,828 hectares, including over 692,722 hectares of natural forests and over 295,105 hectares of planted forests. With its large scale and high biodiversity, Gia Lai has many conditions to attract investment from the central, international and local budgets. Thanks to that, human resources, means, and equipment serving management, protection and fire prevention and fighting have been strengthened.

The advantage of “golden forests and silver seas”, combining agriculture, forestry and seaport services also creates a solid financial foundation for sustainable development. At the same time, the merger helps strengthen coordination between localities, armed forces and socio- political organizations in forest protection work.

However, the large area, complex terrain, and limited traffic make it difficult to patrol and inspect the forest areas in remote areas. In addition, resources are limited while the forest area is large, and equipment does not meet the actual needs.

The risk of violating the Forestry Law is still latent due to the need for land for production and socio-economic development. The capacity to organize, manage and implement forest protection and fire prevention tasks at some forest owners is still limited.

In addition, the area of forest that has not been assigned or leased is still large and is currently managed by the People's Committee at the commune level, while the commune level does not have a specialized force to protect the forest, leading to many difficulties in managing and protecting this forest area. Some communes are still confused in assigning and directing the coordination force at the grassroots level.

Vinh Thanh commune coordinates patrolling, sweeping, checking and protecting forests. **Photo: VT**

▪ Given the above difficulties, what key solutions will the Department of Agriculture and Environment focus on, sir?

- The Department continues to advise on the synchronous implementation of forestry laws and regulations, and directions from the Central and Provincial Governments in forest management, protection, and fire prevention and control; focusing on preventing deforestation and illegal exploitation.

Accordingly, the industry will promote the application of information technology, using a system to warn of deforestation and forest fires through satellite images and drones to promptly detect and handle violations. At the same time, it will build a database and an early warning system to serve patrolling and monitoring forest changes.

Propaganda work, raising awareness of the community and forest owners will be focused on through coordination with local authorities and related sectors. The Forest Rangers will closely coordinate with local authorities, functional units and forest owners to ensure consistency, unity and promote the responsibility of each unit.

Along with that, the Department has deployed land allocation, forest allocation, land and forest leasing to households, communities and organizations for better protection. At the same time, it has reviewed and adjusted the areas under the responsibility of forest rangers, arranged human resources reasonably, covered the area, especially key areas of deforestation, illegal exploitation, and forest fire risks, to improve management efficiency.

Propaganda work will be stepped up to raise people's awareness of forest protection. **Photo: NN**

▪ To effectively protect forests, what recommendations does the Department have regarding coordination, sir?

- In the coming time, the Department requests relevant agencies to enhance their responsibilities. People's Committees of communes and wards need to strengthen inspection and thoroughly handle the situation of encroachment on forest land, especially in areas planned for forest development; at the same time, step up propaganda of forestry laws to each household and residential area in appropriate forms, coordinate in managing spontaneous migration, prevent deforestation and land encroachment.

The police force needs to proactively grasp the situation from the grassroots, support the Forest Ranger force in detecting, investigating, and handling violations; ensure security and order when performing tasks in complex areas. The provincial Border Guard needs to promptly provide information and coordinate in handling cases related to foreign people and vehicles violating forestry laws.

Forest owners must consider forest protection as a key task, enhance the responsibility of leaders, proactively patrol, detect and report promptly, and absolutely not resolve internally. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province and press agencies must strengthen communication, organize forums and discussions to raise social awareness, and listen to opinions from people and experts.

With the strong direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, together with the close coordination of all sectors and levels, the Department of Agriculture and Environment believes that the work of forest management, protection and development will achieve many positive results, contributing to the sustainable development of the province.

▪ Thank you!

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/gia-lai-phat-huy-suc-manh-tong-hop-de-quan-ly-bao-ve-rung-post567397.html