The central province of Thua Thien Hue has planted 17,300ha of trees to
cover the barren hills and help lift local farmers out of poverty.
Acacia
forests that can be harvested for industrial wood after just three or
four years have been planted in the districts of Phong Dien, Huong Tra,
Huong Thuy and Phu Loc.
The World Bank has provided loans to
farmers while the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has
given them technical support for the Forest Section Development Project.
The project grants forest land to farmers to help them escape from poverty.
“The
project has helped facilitate the process of granting forest land to
households and increased forest coverage on the areas more barren
areas,” said Tran Hung Long, Deputy Director of forestry and agriculture
development unit in Huong Tra district.
Ho Da The, a farmer from
Phu Loc District, said he earned around 200 million VND (9,300 USD) per
hectare over the past eight years after planting trees.
“It is a sizable amount of money and has helped improve my family’s living conditions,” he said.
Farmer
Ho Dac Ngu said favourable loans from the project had allowed him to
delay the harvest, which meant better quality wood and higher prices.
The
project has also been carried out in the central provinces of Thanh
Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. Since March 2005, 76,500ha of
Acacia trees have been planted by 43,000 households.
The project
has cost 100.19 million USD with more than two thirds coming from World
Bank loans, supported by ODA from the Global Environmental Facility, the
Finnish Trust Fund for Forestry, the European Commission and the
Vietnamese Government.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development regarded the project a successful one to reduce
deforestation area in the central region and foster the forest land
granting to farmers.
Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Country
Director, said she expects the experience from the project to benefit
other regions and countries and improve environmental protection.
Farmers have also asked for more funding to develop their forests and plant other species of trees.-VNA