2020 target of 70 per cent forest cover unlikely to be met: Report
Forest cover is expected to increase to 68 per cent of the country’s land area by 2020, slightly below the target of 70 per cent, the latest report on the matter suggests.
A 2015 survey revealed that forest cover stood at 58 percent. With an annual average increase of 2 percent, forest cover could rise to 68 percent by 2020, according to the report from the Forestry Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Authorities have already allocated the area predicted to be forested when the 68 percent projection is achieved. The expected 16.28 million hectares will comprise three categories of forest — conservation forest (4.816 million hectares), protected forest (7.9 million hectares), and production forest (3.1 million hectares). An additional 480,000 hectares will be planted with industrial trees.
Souksakhone Vaenkeo
