Vietnam/ Cà Mau province ensures sustainable forest management

The southern province of Cà Mau currently boasts around 140,000 ha of forest. The province is committed to sustainable forest management models to enhance the economic value of these forests, while guaranteeing their vitality, regeneration capacity and sustainability for the future.

Mangroves and mangroves stretch along both sides of the 1A national highway, towards the town of Cà Mau, in the south of the country. These forests are part of the development of local community tourism. The model initiated by the Hoàng Hôn community tourism site in Dât Mui commune, in collaboration with local residents, is a good example.

This site invites tourists to plant plants typical of the mangrove ecosystem themselves, and to sign their names on a plaque accompanying each plant. Every month, the site's employees take photos of the plants and send them to the associated tourists so that they can follow the gradual growth of their plantation.

This new model of community tourism is well received, as Nguyên Trung Kiên, in charge of managing this initiative at the Hoàng Hôn site, points out. "The local people of Dât Mui own land capable of promoting attractive new tourism products. What they need is an effective guide. So we're helping them get into tourism and build quality community tourism sites, helping to improve their incomes and quality of life, while promoting the reputation of local tourism," he said.

Nguyên Minh Dua is one of the residents advocating community tourism. "We're excited because tourists appreciate this model of community and ecological tourism. Trees are now becoming a tourist attraction and bring great economic value," he shared.

In addition to this model, ecological shrimp farming is another effective initiative, also helping to increase local incomes and raise awareness of the importance of forest protection.

Ngoc Hiên district has 21,000 hectares out of 57,000 hectares of shrimp farming under forest cover certified clean and ecological by international organizations.

Trân Hoàng Lac, Chairman of the Ngoc Hiên District People's Committee, is very proud of this model. "To raise ecological shrimp under forest cover, our district has led the development of a manual enabling local people to follow an optimized farming process. This enables them to harvest hundreds of kilos of black tiger prawns overnight in optimal conditions. We have also organized training courses for most of the shrimp-breeding households in the region".

While the people of Dât Mui benefit from the mangrove forests and local specialties such as Cà Mau crab and dried shrimp from Rach Gôc, the people of Dât Mui also benefit from the mangrove forests.es de Rach Gôc to develop tourism, the inhabitants of U Minh Ha rely on the melaleuca forest, beekeeping for honey and fish farming.

Pham Duy Khanh, owner of the Muoi Ngot community tourism site in Khanh Binh Tây Bac commune, explains: "The Muoi Ngot community ecological site is known to visitors for its beekeeping activity. Visitors have the opportunity to explore traditional crafts through beekeeping activities, including honey collection. They are all satisfied with these exceptional experiences".

The U Minh Ha forest is also marked by acacias. The value of this tree is estimated to be 3 times greater than that of the melaleucas. For this reason, acacia cultivation has multiplied rapidly, and U Minh Ha currently boasts 30,000 hectares of acacia.

Nguyên Van Ten, a resident of Trân Hoi commune, commented: "Acacia offers a very high yield. It's a fast-growing plant and very easy to sell, whereas melaleuca grows slowly and offers a modest yield".

Cà Mau province is also taking the first steps towards forest carbon markets, to help local farmers boost their incomes, noted Trân Van Thuc, deputy director of the provincial department of agriculture and rural development.

"The carbon absorption of mangrove forests is 3 to 4 times higher than that of terrestrial forests. As a result, revenues from local forest carbon credits will be high. Many national and foreign organizations and companies are interested in the local forest carbon market. The province of Cà Mau has given them access to research and calculations, so that when the government has a legal framework, these units will have the opportunity to implement it quickly".

Cà Mau province can preserve and enhance its forests thanks to synchronous solutions deployed by local authorities. Sustainable logging has made a major contribution to increasing local incomes and developing a stable forestry economy.

Source: lecourrier.vn/