National plan tackles desertification 
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=05ECO020707

Ha Noi – Viet Nam is determined to combat desertification, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said in Ha Noi on Thursday.

Speaking at a national workshop on desertification, Phat said the total land area in Viet Nam at risk of desertification was about 9.3 million hectares, including 5.06 million hectares of fallow farmland, two million in use but seriously degraded, and two million facing a risk of becoming degraded or unproductive.

The areas at risk were found in different regions, but especially in the northern mountainous regions and the central coast area, Phat said.

According to the FAO and UNESCO, Viet Nam has around 462,000ha of sandy coastal land (about 1.4 per cent of total natural land area), of which some 88,000ha was covered by shifting sand dunes and emerging sand hills.

Measures were being taken to rehabilitate degraded land and prevent salination and acidification; stave off shifting of sands along the central coast; strengthen sustainable water resources management; and set up early warning systems to mitigate drought impacts, Phat said.

Deterioration of forest resources was also of great concern, he added.
"Deforestation is a major cause of desertification, environment degradation and higher intensity floods and droughts," said Phat.

In response, Phat said, the Government has directed efforts to preventing deforestation and encouraging sustainable forestry and forest management practices.

Phat said these efforts needed to be incorporated into a comprehensive national action programme that includes rural proverty reduction.

Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and chairman of a national board set up to combat desertification, said the country was resolved to address the urgent needs of people affected by desertification.

The National Action Programme on Combating Desertification during 2002-10 had already focused on reforestation of five million hectares and poverty reduction programmes in reforested areas, said Nhi.

The reforestation programme had already brought about encouraging results, he noted. The reforestation rate was at 200,000ha per year. Forest coverage was increased from 28.3 per cent in 1995 to 37.6 per cent in 2006. The increase in the forest areas had significantly strengthened watershed protection and biodiversity conservation.

Nhi said the Government had allocated US$192 million to combating desertification along with $8.2 million committed by international donors to three projects on sustainable forest management and a pilot project on rehabilitation of desertified land.

In addition, the Ministry of Planning and Investment had submitted to the Government a plan to develop forest production during 2007-2015 with a total estimated budget of VND 40 trillion ($2.5 billion), plus more than VND 14.6 trillion ($912.5 million) for the reforestation programme.

Pham Minh Thoa, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Forestry, noted the rapid rate of desertification could be traced in such areas as the Truong Son range and forests in the southwest to devastation and destruction caused by bombing and toxic chemicals sprayed by US forces during the war in Viet Nam. — VNS.