Forest coverage to rise to 47.25 percent in 2017
The forestry sector will protect, develop and sustainably use existing forest areas and land fund for forest development with a view to raising the country’s forest coverage to 47.25 percent in 2017. This is one of the focal tasks of the sector during 2017 put forth at a conference held by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on December 19 in Hanoi. Next year, the sector also targets an increase of 6.2-6.5 percent in the forestry production value and a forest product export value of 7.3-7.5 billion USD. It also aims to raise productivity, quality and promote the value of each type of forest while ensuring sufficient raw materials for wood processing, paper production, thus meeting the demand for timber and other forest products at home and abroad. Nguyen Bai Ngai, deputy head of the VNFOREST, said the sector completed four out of six forest protection and development goals in 2016.
