KON TUM — The Chư Mom Ray National Park’s use of advanced technology for management has reduced the number of illegal logging cases and forest fires.

Covering an area of 56,000ha, the park is located in the two districts of Ngọc Hồi and Sa Thầy in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.

Forestry management and protection have faced difficulties because local forest rangers must cover a very large forest area.

Besides the 14 forest guard stations in the park, there are now 19 new and smaller forest guard posts at critical points.

The new posts are equipped with modern devices that help staff follow fire safety regulations.

The park uses Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for surveillance and control of its forest resources via a database of satellite images from the GIS.

Võ Sỹ Chung, the park’s director, said forest rangers have been provided with smartphones and apps that help them in their jobs.

During the dry season, from November to May, many fires were detected and extinguished quickly thanks to the forest-fire warning system, he said.

The park’s managers can now directly supervise their forest rangers working at stations and posts or through patrols and inspections.

As a result of the new surveillance, violations of the Law on Forest Protection and Development have decreased in number.

Since the beginning of this year, nine violations have been discovered, down by 12 compared to the same period last year.

The number of illegal logging violations represents a year-on-year decrease of nearly 93 per cent.

Compared with traditional methods, the use of advanced technology in forest resource management has higher accuracy, Chung said.

In the coming time, the park plans to increase the number of devices as well as set up more mobile teams to make sure that forest areas are under control. — VNS