(HBO) – Regardless of how big the forest areas they are in charge of are, all families share an equal responsibility for protecting forests, and any who commit violations will be punished. This is what all residents in Bua Cau village of Hung Son commune, Kim Boi district, agreed on to include in their village convention so as to protect and develop forest.
Residents in Bua Cau village in Hung Son commune, Kim Boi district, have actively and voluntarily engaged in the protection of the natural forest their village takes charge of.
Forest protection a common responsibility
According to local people, Tram Spring is fresh and flows all year round thanks to the consensus among the more than 130 households in Bua Cau village in forest conservation for decades.
Bui Van Thi, deputy head of Bua Cau village, said that though all the forest area assigned to his village is far from their residential areas and adjacent to other villages, thanks to locals' determination to keep the forest evergreen, forest protection groups were set up to guard key areas.
This is a common task of the village, so all families must have their representatives in forest protection groups, and they take turns to stand guard at designated sites. It received support from 100% of local residents and was included in the village convention to be carried out in a voluntary spirit, said Bui Ba Giai, head of the forest protection group for the Tram Spring vicinity.
Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of the Hung Son communal People’s Committee, said forest protection groups of Bua Cau village have been maintained since their establishment in 1996. Thanks to solidarity brought into play during the performance of common tasks, the community’s bonds in forest protection has been increasingly reinforced.
Basing on Bua Cau village’s experience, Hung Son commune authorities have ordered other villages to set up forest protection groups. As a result, all the natural and commercial forests here have been protected from illegal deforestation and theft of forestry resources. Besides, village conventions and forest protection groups also prohibit animal poaching in forest.
Forest protection connected with improvement of people’s life quality
Not only Hung Son commune but others in Kim Boi district have also shown good performance in forest management and protection, and considered this as one of their focal tasks.
Tran Tuan Son, Vice Chairman of the Kim Boi district People’s Committee, said that the administration has ordered local communes to properly carry out forest management, protection, and development in tandem with the policies on sustainable poverty reduction. Thanks to that, the forest coverage in Kim Boi has expanded. At present, forest protection and development is part of the national target programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, so the efforts have helped gradually improve the life quality of the people who depends on forest to earn their living.
He noted people have received guidance in forest planting, care, and protection techniques, and been provided with new plant varieties. The connection of people’s interests with forest has also created more momentum for them to effectively manage and protect forests.
The fruitful implementation of the policy on supporting forest protection and development has concurrently helped improve people’s livelihoods, boost forest-based economic activities, raise income for local communities, reduce deforestation, and expand forest coverage in Kim Boi, the official added./.
