Forestry production growth reaches new high

The production value of the forestry sector continues to grow strongly, reaching an average rate of 6.57% a year, the highest to date, compared to 5.03% during the 2010-2012 period.

Forestry production is expected to reach a record high growth rate of 9-10% by the year-end.

The information was announced by Deputy Director of Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) Nguyen Ba Ngai at a preliminary conference held in Hanoi on July 3 for the two year implementation of a forestry sector restructuring project initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The figure exceeded the project’s set target, Ngai said, adding that this year’s growth was estimated to reach 9-10%.

According to Ngai, the export value of wood and forestry products has grown more than two times within five years, increasing from US$3.035 billion a year in the 2010-2012 period to US$6.267 billion a year between 2013 and 2015.

Re-forestation has been actively implemented nationwide at an annual average of 200,000 hectares, of which 90% are production forests.

Payment for environmental services has become an important source of sustainable financing for the forestry sector, contributing to improving the effectiveness of forest protection and development as well as increasing incomes for people working in the forestry sector. Each year, the payment is estimated to earn annual average of VND1.2 trillion (US$ 55.2 million) for every 2.8-3.4 million ha of forest.

According to VNFOREST, 22 out of 60 forested provinces have developed a total of 57 forest production models with incomes of over VND100 million (US$4,600) per ha per year. MARD has also developed several effective transformation models including intensive afforestation in some localities.

However, Ngai pointed out that implementation of forestry sector restructuring still faces difficulties and slow deployment as restructuring in practice was just at the beginning.

Deputy Minister of MARD Ha Cong Tuan urged active implementation of the restructuring scheme, saying that all localities should finalise the implementation scheme for the project prior to the fourth quarter of 2015. In addition to continuing to replicate efficient models of forestry production, localities should develop mechanism and incentives to encourage enterprises to associate with people in forestry chain production, especially credit policies to support farmers in intensive afforestation and extending planting cycles, Tuan added.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)