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Addressing the event, Pham Van Dien, Vice Director of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry said the administration has been assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate national efforts to implement the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
This year, the WDCD is themed “Land has true value – Invest in it”, with the focus on sustainable land management as a way to regenerate economies, create jobs and revitalize communities. It will call on all involved parties – producers, consumers and policy makers – to make a difference by investing in the future of land.
Dien noted that the Convention to Combat Desertification, with the engagement of 186 countries, has set a target of combating desertification and restoring degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.
Land degradation threatens the livelihood and security of the community, especially ethnic minority groups. The forest plays a significant role in restoring land affected by drought and preventing land degradation.
The implementation of the anti-desertification goal is expected to contribute to completing other Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to climate change mitigation, poverty reduction and natural disaster prevention, the restoration of ecosystem, and food and water security.
Statistics showed that in 2017, Vietnam planted 235,028 hectares of forest, equivalent to 102.4% of the yearly target, and nearly 61 million scattered trees.
As many as 6.12 million hectares of forest were put under the management of the community.
However, the protection and development of forest have seen many shortcomings, including the degradation of forest quality and natural forest ecosystem in many areas, forest fire, and low contribution of forestry to poverty reduction.
Experts held that Vietnam should continue planting trees and boost the sustainable development of forest, contributing to preventing land degradation and meeting the demands of socio-economic development and defence-security.
Following the meeting, participants planted many trees in the locality.
