Vietnam's forest data 2017 announced

ABO/NDO - Vietnam had over 14.4 million ha of forest by the end of 2017, including over 10.2 million ha of natural forest and 4.1 million ha of planted forest, as announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Illustrative image: HUU CHI

The area of forest eligible for national coverage is over 13.7 million ha, covering 41.45% of the national territory.

After the announcement of the forest status, the MARD requested that the Vietnam Administration of Forestry establishes a database on national forest resources in accordance with the MARD's Decision No.1439 on the management and use of the Forestry Management Information System.

The Vietnam Administration of Forestry will take charge of managing and using the database on forest and forestry land on the national and grassroots scale.

Meanwhile, centrally-run provinces and cities will assign their People's Committees at district and commune levels to perform state management over forest protection and development aligned with the current regulations.

Provinces and cities use MARD's recently announced data on forest status to review and adjust their annual plans on forest protection and development, which also serves as a basis for updating forest developments in the following years.

Regarding localities that have witnessed a decrease in the area of natural forest in 2017, they must uncover the reasons to clarify the responsibilities of the organisations and individuals concerned.

(Source: NDO)