HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam aims to raise its forest coverage to 41.6 per cent and to earn US$8.5–9 billion from exporting wood and forestry products while providing jobs to 25 million people in 2018.

This was announced at a meeting of the State Steering Committee on Forest Sustainable Development Target Programme for 2016-20.

Addressing a meeting in Hà Nội on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and the Head of the State Steering Committee on Forestry Sustainable Development Target Programme said “forest protection and development must go hand in hand with socio-economic development, environmental protection and improving the people’s living conditions.”

“To achieve these targets, the first thing we have to do is to complete our national institution and policies on forestry production and development,” Dũng said. “Forestry restructuring should start from good planning – an effective tool in the state management towards forest protection and development”.

The Deputy PM also asked the Ministry of Planning and Development to work closely with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to review all ODA projects on forestry development, particularly in the Central Highlands, northwestern region and coastal areas.

Dũng set a target for the Steering Committee to complete a proposal on forest restoration, protection and sustainable development in the Central Highlands from 2016-25 by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

A report presented at the meeting said that by late 2017 the forestry coverage was 41.45 per cent, an increase of 0.26 per cent compared to that of 2016.

In 2017, more than 235,000 ha of concentrated forestry were planted – achieving 102.4 per cent of the target. Meanwhile, the volume of wood products extracted from concentrated forest plantation was 18 million cubic metres, 6 percent over the targeted plan.  Meanwhile the value of wood and forestry product exports was nearly US$8 billion, an increase of 9.2 per cent over the previous year.

The programme for Sustainable Forest Development for 2016-20 and Decision 419-TTg, issued on April 5, 2017, established the national programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the mitigation of deforestation and forest degradation, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forest resources through 2030. — VNS