HCM CITY – The southernmost province of Cà Mau is speeding up the process of planting 500ha of new forests, and wants to complete the task this year.

It will take the province’s forest cover to 95,000ha, or 25.3 per cent, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The department will instruct households entrusted with caring for and exploiting forests to speed up planting of trees and properly tend them and monitor them.

Besides, the U Minh Hạ Forestry One Member Limited Company and the managements of the Đất Mũi and Nhưng Miên protective forests in Ngọc Hiển District and Sào Lước protective forests in Phú Tân District will also strengthen oversight and protection of their forests.

They will regularly patrol the forests to prevent illegal logging and poaching and advocate forest protection in local communities and solicit their participation in combating forest fires in the dry season.

They protect 1,685ha of forests and have already replaced 54 per cent more dead trees than targeted for the full year.   

Most of the 500ha of new forests are being planted with indigenous trees like cajeput, Australian cajeput and acacia.

The management boards of the Đất Mũi, Nhưng Miên and Sào Lước protective forests have advised the households to choose quality seedlings and favour cajeput when planting.

Cà Mau was the first locality in the country to pay forest environment service fee for households that participate in protecting forests since 2016.

The households get a stipend of VNĐ500,000 (US$21) per hectare per year.

Cà Mau has the largest submerged forest area in the country and bred shrimp in those forests for a long time, according to the province’s People’s Committee.

The model of breeding shrimp in these submerged forests along the coast is sustainable and environment-friendly since it does not use chemicals. Besides, the shrimp eat natural food from the forest. 

More than 4,200 households who farm shrimp in a total of 19,000ha of submerged forests have received international organic certification, according to the People’s Committee. – VNS