Vietnam achieves ‘dual’ results from combating desertification

In the fight against desertification, Vietnam has gradually achieved “dual” results: both combating land degradation and bringing economic benefits to producers

Land degradation accelerates climate change and reduces biodiversity, and contributes to droughts, wildfires, involuntary migration and the emergence of zoonotic diseases.

According to Mr. Pham Van Dien, Deputy Director of the General Department of Forestry (MARD), desertification is the final stage of land degradation. However, there are lands that are naturally desertified because they have not undergone adequate soil formation. In Vietnam, the natural desert area is about 400,000 ha. For arable land, land degradation in Vietnam is divided into four levels: Group of land at risk of degradation, about 6.7 million hectares; group of land areas showing signs of degradation, about 2.4 million ha; group of degraded land, about 1.3 million ha; Finally, the land is degraded into an artificial desert, occupying only a small area, a few thousand hectares.

According to Mr. Pham Van Dien, the desert area of ​​Vietnam today is not significant. It is the result of basic and strategic solutions to protect the land such as forest development, agricultural cultivation and rational and sustainable land use in association with the settlement of rights and obligations of land users.

“Dual” results from anti-desertification

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said that Vietnam has made great achievements in combating desertification. From the “bottom” of the forest cover rate in 1993 (27.8%), up to now, we have had a forest cover rate of up to 42%, while the world average is 31%.

According to Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh, the forestry sector continues to have strategies, programs and plans to improve the quality of forest cover and create a green biomass system on the ground through the protection of natural forests. (10.3 million ha) and large timber afforestation (currently 300,000 ha, should reach about 1 million ha by 2030). Doing this not only promotes the function of nature conservation, maintenance and enhancement of soil fertility, but also provides raw materials for processing and trading forest products, exporting to foreign markets

Land degradation prevention is not limited to the forestry sector, but also to the entire agricultural sector. Accordingly, the development of ecological agriculture and organic agriculture is the right approach, demonstrating environmentally friendly economic thinking.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh emphasized: “This can be seen in many visionary programs of the Government, such as Resolution No. 120/NQ – CP of the Government on sustainable development of the Mekong Delta. Adaptation to climate change was issued on November 17, 2017. This Resolution is not only a response to the negative impacts of the climate, but it is also a premise to adjust production and farming behavior in the direction of favoritism, and to preserve and improve nature in the direction of climate change. positive”

According to Deputy General Director of the General Department of Forestry Pham Van Dien: “We can clearly see that, after a process of searching and persistent efforts, farming on dry lands with signs of degradation, the products are Animals such as dragon fruit, grapes, garlic, macadamia or even trees such as drought-resistant pine have brought economic income to people. Not only that, many sandy areas in the central coast such as Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan have gradually revived, changing from the state of “sand” to “land” with immense green color of casuarina forests, coastal acacia leaves”.

According to the plan, in the next quarter, the World Bank will disburse the first amount of USD 51.5 million in Vietnam to sell forest carbon credits – the proceeds from efforts to protect and develop forests and prevent degradation. land in the North Central region of Vietnam. Thus, on the way to prevent desertification, Vietnam has gradually achieved the “dual” goal of combating land degradation and bringing economic benefits to producers.

Globally, one-fifth of land – more than 2 billion hectares – is degraded, including more than half of agricultural land. If people don’t change the way people manage their land, more than 90% could be degraded by 2050. Land degradation negatively impacts one-fifth of the planet’s land area and the livelihoods of 3.2 billion people, equivalent to 40% of the global population.

However, there are also positive signs when the United Nations Convention against Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat pointed out, about 1 billion hectares of land can still be restored within the next 10 years to reverse the process. this recession.

The International Day Against Desertification and Drought (June 17) is focused on by the UNCCD Secretariat on the reclamation and restoration of degraded land. Restoring poor quality land provides economic resilience, job creation, income growth and food security. At the same time, this is also a driving force for the restoration of biodiversity, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are warming the earth, reducing the rate of climate change.

Preventing, slowing down and reversing the loss of productive land and natural ecosystems is essential and important at this time for a rapid recovery from the pandemic, as well as a ticket. ensure the long-term survival of humanity and the planet.

Source from Chinh Phu. VN