Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang chaired a meeting of the Council tasked with reviewing the National Forestry Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, in Hanoi on June 14.
It is one of the four national sectoral plans formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The planning came as Vietnam’s forests face complex challenges. While the total forest area is increasing, the quality of forests is a major concern. Currently, only a small portion (8.7%) of natural forests are considered high-quality, with the majority (66.5%) classified as poor. Additionally, forest plantations are not producing enough wood to meet growing domestic and export demands. Climate change and frequent natural disasters further threaten Vietnam’s forestry resources.
Under the draft plan, Vietnam aims to have over 15.8 million ha of forests and forestry land by 2030. This includes 15.5% allocated for special use forests, 33% for protective forests, and 51.5% for production forests. The goal is to maintain national forest coverage between 42-43% while significantly enhancing the quality of existing natural forests.
Specific targets include an annual forestry production growth rate of 5-5.5%, planting an average of 238,000 ha of production forests each year, and restoring 22,500 ha of natural forests annually. By 2030, the plan expects over 1 million ha of forests to be certified for sustainable management.
The export value of wood and forestry products is projected to reach 20 billion USD by 2025 and 25 billion USD by 2030. Domestic consumption is also expected to rise to 5 billion USD by 2025 and 6 billion USD by 2030. Revenue from forest environmental services is anticipated to grow by 5% annually, with total earnings estimated at 3.5 trillion VND (145.8 million USD) annually from 2021-2025, and 4 trillion VND from 2026-2030.
The ministry estimated that achieving these goals will require over 217.3 trillion VND in capital, with about 107 trillion VND needed for 2021-2025 phase.
Deputy Prime Minister Quang underlined the importance of accurate data on forest land, careful review and feedback from relevant ministries, agencies and localities to ensure the plan’s effectiveness./.
(VNA)
