People in Điện Biên Province plant trees at a protective forest. — Photo baotainguyenmoitruong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang has given the green light to new plans to protect and enhance Việt Nam's forests.

He recently approved the Scheme of Enhancing Forest Quality to Preserve Forest Ecosystems and Improve Disaster Prevention until 2030.

Its objective is to enhance the quality of special-use, protective and production forests to fully utilise their functions, preserve their ecosystems and biodiversity, and improve their carbon-stocking capacity.

The scheme also aims to mitigate the impact of natural hazards and climate change and contribute to socio-economic development and national security.

It sets the targets to enhance the quality of 240,000ha of forests in centrally-run and natural-disasters-prone cities and provinces, of which 36,000ha go to special-use forests, 138,000ha to protective forests and 66,000ha to production forests.

Its methods involve picking certain areas of forests and planting various tree species in a multi-layer structure in the areas. Preference will be given to the tree species that are native, multipurpose, resilient to a variety of terrain conditions, and valuable and rare.

Results will be monitored and evaluated, and successful samples will be replicated in areas, with priority being given to those with low or depleted tree stock, declining biodiversity, and high risks of landslides. — VNS