Management and protection of upstream protective forests associated with the development of medicinal plants of high economic value

Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Management Board (BQLRPH) is the unit assigned by the State to manage, protect and use 13,214.14 hectares of forest, mainly protective forest land. The assigned management area is large, separated into 2 areas in the West and the South belonging to 9 communes of Thuong Xuan district.

People of Luan Khe commune (Thuong Xuan) take care of yam plants.

To sustainably manage upstream protection forests, the Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Management Board has regularly coordinated with the Thuong Xuan District Forest Protection Department and local authorities to organize forest patrols, promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle violations of forestry laws. During the peak days of the hot and dry season, the board has proactively coordinated with authorities at all levels and relevant units in the area to propagate policies and laws on forest protection (BVR) and forest fire prevention and fighting (PCCCR) to the people; inspected key forests, and controlled fire sources brought into the forest. Implementing the "4 on-site" motto, the Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Management Board has purchased additional tools and equipment for PCCCR work; assigned 24/24 hours on duty during the peak of the fire season; cleared the undergrowth and burned flammable materials under the forest canopy to better serve PCCCR work. Strengthened inspection, supervision, and strictly handled violators of the Forestry Law.

Proactively overcoming difficulties, due to the characteristics of the management area being a critical protective forest in a mountainous area, with strongly fragmented terrain, an average altitude of over 500m, and difficult transportation; the income of local people is still low, the Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Management Board has assigned staff to villages and hamlets to survey issues related to protective forest management. Villages and hamlets with forests have coordinated well with forest owners.

The outstanding result is that the Thuong Xuan Forest Management Board has developed medicinal plants with high economic value under the forest canopy. The Board has built and implemented the Project: "Application of science and technology to build a model for planting, processing and consuming some medicinal plants of Cat Sam and Hoai Son in the mountainous areas of Thanh Hoa province", the implementation period is from September 2020 to 2025. The goal of the project is to expand the medicinal plant growing area to areas in Thuong Xuan district and districts in Thanh Hoa province. Change the structure of low-value crops to high-value crops, increase income for people. As a result, by November 2024, households participating in the project have planted 13 hectares of Hoai Son and 35 hectares of Cat Sam. In 2023, Hoai Son was harvested and the profit after deducting costs reached 60 million VND/ha/year. The value of the product of Cat Sam after 6 years of planting is estimated to be 10 times higher than that of other crops per cycle and per unit of planting area. Households have invested their own capital to continue to expand the cultivation of medicinal plants. The unit has cooperated with the people of communes in the region such as Xuan Chinh, Van Xuan, Xuan Loc, Luan Thanh, Luan Khe who have land for growing Chinese yam and Cat Sam to sign contracts to buy seedlings, transfer science and technology and consume post-harvest products for the people. It is expected that in 2025, it will continue to cooperate to expand the area of ​​newly planted medicinal plants of Chinese yam, Bai Bo and Cat Sam by 20 hectares or more. Improve the economic efficiency of growing medicinal plants, create more jobs, improve people's lives, and contribute to the sustainable protection of upstream protective forests. In 2025, Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Management Board will coordinate with the authorities to develop an OCOP product of Cat Sam herbal tea.

Thanks to active planting and forest protection, people in the area managed by Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Board have more jobs on the spot, income from labor and forest products, contributing to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, improving living standards, and promoting the New Rural Development program. Newly planted forests are cared for according to technical procedures, growing and developing well. Existing protective and production forests are safely protected, without forest fires. Forest security in the area is maintained. The forest cover managed by Thuong Xuan Forest Protection Board is over 90%. The area of ​​depleted natural forests has been restored and developed stably. Multi-layered, multi-canopy forests have not only promoted the function of protection, protecting biodiversity and the environment, but also created a source of water for irrigation works; a place for animals to live and preserve the gene source of forest plants.

Article and photos: Thu Hoa

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/quan-ly-bao-ve-rung-phong-ho-dau-nguon-gan-phat-trien-cay-duoc-lieu-co-gia-tri-kinh-te-cao-231170.htm