Forests in Ca Mau province (Photo: VNA) Earlier, atthe beginning of the ongoing dry season, provinces took various measures toprotect forests like dredging canals to store more water and mobilising humanresources and facilities to monitor fires.
Theyundertook advocacy activities to raise public awareness of forest protectionand prevention of fires.
In Ca Mau province,the provincial People’s Committee is ordering relevant departments andagencies to have in place sufficient personnel and facilities to promptlydiscover fires and extinguish them.
The provincehas 110,000ha of forests, including 66,539ha of saltwater mangrove forests,43,195ha of brackish - water mangrove forests (U Minh Ha forests) and 716ha onislands.
The U MinhHa forests and those on islands usually face a high fire risk in the dryseason, according to the province’s Forest Protection Sub-department.
Rangers arethus tightening checks to prevent the illegal entry of people to harvest honeyand poach since their activities can cause forest fires.
Some 8,500haof forests in the U Minh Ha National Park face fire risk level 1.
Huynh MinhNguyen, director of the park, said a part of the forests would face risk level2 in the next two weeks.
After Tet (the Lunar New Year), which fell onFebruary 12 this year, canals in the park have been dredged to store water forfirefighting, he said.
“Thenational park has sufficient human resources to monitor forests to promptlycope with fires.”
In the8,535ha U Minh Thuong National Park in Kien Giang province’s U Minh Thuong district,1,115ha face a severe threat of fire.
Tran Van Thang,its deputy director, said the park has built a digital map showing waterresources, transport and access to areas that face fire risk.
Some 1.4million cubic metres of water have been pumped into key areas and high groundfor firefighting.
The park hascleared obstacles from 72km of canals and 25 roads in high-risk forests toimprove access.
It has setup four groups with 6 – 10 people each to monitor high-risk areas around theclock.
It hasstrengthened advocacy activities to raise awareness among people living closeto forests about protection and fire prevention.
In Hau Giangprovince’s Phung Hiep district, Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Reserve has upgradedsluices and dams, dredged canals and mobilised personnel to fight possiblefires in 2,805ha of forests.
Lu Xuan Hoi,director of the reserve, said cameras have been installed in three watch towersfor monitoring fires.
The reserveis working closely with other relevant agencies at the provincial and districtlevels to monitor forests. It has had no fires in the last 18 years.
In An Giang province,mountainous districts like Tri Ton and Thoai Son have taken measures tomitigate the risk of fires.
Tri Ton hasmore than 8,400ha of forests of which, 4,406ha, including 2,550ha inmountainous areas, face a severe threat of fire, according to relevantauthorities.
The districthas stepped up propaganda about forest protection regulations and the monitoringof forests and the task of preventing fires.
Peoplemanaging forest have created fire breaks in forests, set up watch towers andstored water for firefighting.
The deltahas 347,000ha of forests, mostly mangrove and cajuput./.
VNA
