Photo for illustration. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Forested areas in central Việt Nam increased by 373,887ha in the 2015-2019 period, according to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The provinces that saw the highest forest area increases were Quảng Nam, with about 30,070ha, Bình Định 51,095ha, Phú Yên 42,305ha, and Quảng Bình 21,739ha.

The central region is home to more than 5.55 million hectares of forests, or 38.01 per cent of Việt Nam’s total, data from the forestry administration shows.

Of the figure, natural forests cover more than 3.79 million ha while planted forests span over 1.76 million ha.

The region’s forest coverage reached 55 per cent, following only the northeast, with 56.28 per cent.

MARD and the World Bank (WB) - the trustee agency of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) - signed an Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) in October.

Under the terms, the FCPF will pay Việt Nam US$51.5 million if it fully implements its commitments, under which the north-central and central provinces of Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên-Huế are to reduce CO2 emissions by 10.3 million tonnes in 2018-2024.

The region, however, has lost more than 3,100ha of forests in recent times to deforestation and fires.

Forest coverage nationwide rose to 41.89 per cent last year from 40.84 per cent in 2015 and is projected to hit the targeted 42 per cent this year.

As of the end of 2019, Việt Nam had close to 14.61 million ha of forests, of which 10.29 million ha were natural forests. — VNS