Vietnam and ASEAN use peat land sustainably

In order to strengthen sustainable peat land management, thereby maintaining the livelihood of local residents, Vietnam and ASEAN countries joined a project in this area and were highly appreciated by the region after 4 years of real life. show.

In the morning of December 11, the General Department of Environment (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and experts organized a workshop on "Vietnam-area project summation on sustainable management and use of regional peat soil. Southeast Asia ' (Peatland project). The General Department of Environment is the host of this project in Vietnam.

The workshop aimed to summarize and evaluate the results of the project, draw lessons on success and limitations to overcome; At the same time, discuss the report on specific project results and discuss the direction to develop the next part of the project.

Artwork: tnmtdongnai.gov.vn

Deputy General Director Nguyen The Dong said that the two main demonstration sites of the project are U Minh Thuong National Park, Kien Giang Province and U Minh Ha National Park, Ca Mau Province. After nearly 4 years of implementation, the project has achieved many results, especially the success of community livelihood support activities in U Minh Thuong National Park, not only the local community but also highly appreciated by ASEAN and Looking forward to learning this model.

Vietnam is one of 4 countries participating in Peatland. The remaining countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines. This project lasts for 4 years with the goal of strengthening sustainable management of peatlands in Southeast Asia to maintain the livelihood of local people to serve the goal of poverty reduction, reducing the risk of fire and smoke. attached dust, contributing to global environmental management, especially biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

In Vietnam, the area of ​​peat land accounts for only 36,000 ha and is widely distributed throughout the country, but mainly in the Mekong Delta, in U Minh forest, in the provinces of Ca Mau and Kien Giang with an area of about 24,000 ha, of which a large area is chosen to be protected areas in U Minh Thuong and U Minh Ha national parks.

However, the area of ​​peat land is declining significantly, the cause is attributed to forest fires and exhaustion of natural resources, in addition, drainage for agriculture and forestry also affects the area. peat soil.

Peat land with biological values ​​and functions, providing timber and non-timber forest products and river habitats for animals. Peat land plays an important role in reducing flood peaks and maintaining the basic flow of rivers during the dry season. It also has global climate control function.