YBO - The mountainous province of Yen Bai has a total natural land area of 689,268 ha, including 464,008 ha of forest land. With a forest coverage of 63%, the province is one of the six provinces with the largest forest coverage in the country.
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A forest fire fighting drill in Phuc Son commune, Nghia Lo township.
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The dry season in the province usually lasts from the end of October to May in the following year. Dry weather, prolonged hot spells, and the impact of dry southwest wind always pose high risks of forest fire to the province.
Districts and township in the province’s western region are exposed to the highest risk because of harsh weather and slashing-and-burning habits for farming land of local peopple.
To minimise damages caused by forest fires, the province established an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect and urge forest owners to well implement forest fire prevention and control measures, prepare equipment for forest fire fighting; conduct communication campaigns on the law on forest protection, strengthen forest protection personnel in grassroots areas, open training courses on forest fire prevention and control for local forest rangers and leaders of forest protection teams in localities.
At this time, forest fire prevention and control solutions have been activated in forest fire hotspots. The province also strengthened the forest fire forecasting and warning network and asked local people to sign commitments on forest protection and fire prevention.
Vu Trong Huan, head of Tram Tau - Nghia Lo Forest Protection Sub-department, said Tram Tau district's authorities assigned staff to timely deliver directions in case a forest fire occurs.
Villages developed plans for forest fire prevention and control and established 54 forest protection groups with 536 participants. Up to now, 6,243 households in the district signed commitments on forest protection and prevention.
At the same time, local forest rangers have coordinated with communes' police, militia, and self-defense forces to keep a close eye on potential forest encroachers. They have also organised inspections and collected statistics on cultivation land and implement controlled burning measures.
Tran Xuan Duong, head of the Mu Cang Chai District Forest Protection Sub-department, said the district has over 98,600 ha of forest and forestry land. During the peak time of forest fire, the sub-department set up 70 watchtowers to timely detect and control forest fires.
Van Thong
Branded products of Yen Bai province have received warm welcome from the market. In recent years, many enterprises have paid due attention to developing their brands and secure a foothold in the market.
Defining public investment disbursement, including foreign capital, is the most important task, Yen Bai province has proactively devised plans on how to use the funding and repay loans in line with local resources as well as arrange resources to pay debt and fulfill repayment obligations, ensuring that outstanding debt is closely controlled.
Instead of just making a living from and taking advantage of forests, the Mong ethnic minority people in Yen Bai province now considers forests invaluable assets and know how to create livelihoods and get rid of poverty.
After five years of implementation, the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme in Yen Bai province has developed strongly.