The joy of members of Thuy Dong Agricultural Service Cooperative, Cam Thuy Commune, Cam Lo District when the large timber forest is ready for harvest - Photo: HT

After nearly 10 years of cultivation and care, the large FSC-certified timber forests of Thuy Dong Agricultural Service Cooperative, in Cam Thuy Commune, Cam Lo District, are now ready to "reap sweet fruits". The joy and excitement are evident on the faces of farmers when nearly 8 hectares of lush green forest, with a diameter of 20 cm or more, thanks to being planted in a sustainable production direction and applying strict care processes, are being harvested, bringing significant income to forest growers. Deputy Head of Thuy Dong Agricultural Service Cooperative Tran Quoc Thien said that the Cooperative currently has 53 hectares of acacia forests, of which 26 hectares have been converted to large timber forests, forests with FSC certification. In

In this exploitation period, the Cooperative will harvest an area of ​​nearly 8 hectares of forest planted since 2016 according to FSC standards. The expected output per hectare is about 200 tons of wood. With the current market price ranging from 1.1 million VND to 1.2 million VND/ton, the Cooperative will earn over 1.7 billion VND.

This is a very encouraging figure, creating great motivation for members to continue to stick with planting large timber forests. “If the state policy of “greening barren hills and mountains” has created livelihoods for thousands of households to escape poverty, the policy of encouraging planting large timber forests with FSC certification is helping households to enrich themselves legitimately and sustainably.

Through the process of implementing the large timber forest planting model, the members of the cooperative realized that planting and converting from small timber forests to large timber forests brings many benefits, not only saving on seedlings, planting and care costs, but also limiting forest land degradation and protecting the ecological environment. In the coming time, the cooperative will continue to encourage members to expand the area of ​​large timber forests to increase income, develop the economy and protect the environment.

With the area of ​​forest and forestry land planned for forest development in the whole province of nearly 276,242 hectares, since 2014, with the support from the General Department of Forestry (now the Department of Forestry), the National Agricultural Extension Center, Quang Tri province has successfully implemented many models of large timber plantation and converting small timber plantations into large timber.

Through this, people have access to reality and clearly see the economic efficiency from planting large timber forests (2-3 times higher than short cycles); at the same time, the models are demonstration places to share experiences, train, and organize field workshops for forest owners and people inside and outside the province to visit and learn from experiences.

In addition, the agricultural sector also regularly coordinates closely with mass organizations and local authorities to propagate and mobilize people to convert short-cycle forest areas to large timber through training and propaganda sessions at commune level, forestry production cooperatives... Up to now, the area of ​​large-scale timber production forests and conversion from small timber to large timber trading in Quang Tri province has reached nearly 18,050 hectares.

In addition, the province has established a chain of FSC-certified plantation wood consumption links between forest owners and CoC-certified enterprises such as Thu Hang Wood Processing Company, Nguyen Phong Company, Quang Tri Trading Company, Scansia Pacific Company. Enterprises have signed a commitment to purchase all certified wood output of the Quang Tri FSC Association in general and cooperatives in particular at prices 10-12% higher than the price of uncertified wood.

The large timber plantation model of Thuy Dong Agricultural Service Cooperative, Cam Thuy Commune, Cam Lo District, Quang Tri Province is a demonstration site to share experiences, provide training, and organize field workshops for forest owners - Photo: HT

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Phan Van Phuoc said that with the goal of forming large-scale timber plantation business areas with high productivity and quality to take advantage of land potential, increase the value of production and business of plantation forests, and link the chain from forest planting, processing and product consumption, the agricultural sector has advised the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial People's Council to issue many mechanisms, policies, and cooperation to develop high-quality large-scale timber plantation forests.

On the other hand, every year, the department organizes training courses on techniques for planting and caring for large timber forests, using high-yield varieties suitable for the soil such as hybrid acacia, Acacia mangium, and localizing high-quality large timber varieties. The whole province currently has more than 26,000 hectares of forest certified by FSC, most of which are planted forests, opening up great opportunities for developing large timber forests in a sustainable direction. In addition, Quang Tri province has 44 wood processing factories with a total capacity of over 1.59 million tons of wood/year, capable of consuming large timber products in the province.

Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is continuing to encourage the development of value chain linkages of forest planting-processing-consumption with enterprises as the “driver”, ensuring stable output and prices for farmers. Linking the expansion of large timber forests with new rural development programs, sustainable poverty reduction, payment for forest environmental services (PES), and ODA and NGO projects being implemented in the area.

“We believe that, with the support from the State, the participation of businesses and the determination of the people, in the coming years, the large timber forest area of ​​Quang Tri province will continue to grow strongly, contributing significantly to the goal of developing modern, effective and sustainable forestry,” Mr. Phuoc affirmed.

The entire Quang Tri province now has more than 26,000 hectares of forest certified by FSC - Photo: HT

It can be affirmed that planting large timber forests with FSC certification is a major policy and also an important solution to restructure the forestry industry, improve economic efficiency, and provide raw materials for the export wood processing industry.

Large timber forests with sustainable forest management certificates also contribute to protecting the environment, ecology, combating global climate change; protecting people from natural disasters... As a pioneer province in implementing sustainable forest management, Quang Tri is promoting the implementation of solutions, focusing resources on the goal of becoming a center for supplying raw materials and processing wood in the Central region in the coming time.

Ha Trang

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/loi-ich-kep-tu-trong-rung-fsc-193376.htm