Project News

The Project news on 12 May 2022 reported that the meeting to discuss the activities for the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) planning in Son La Province was held. The discussion continued, and the activities that the Project would support were finally determined in mid-June.

One of the activities is capacity-building training for the staff of the company that manages the protection and production of forests. Because the company is located in a remote area and their worksites were dispersed, the staff rarely had an opportunity to learn new laws, regulations, and advanced silvicultural techniques on forestry. The capacity building of the staff is critical to implementing the SFM plan, which is under development, and thus the Project organized a series of training courses from 2 to 5 July.

The training covered four topics: (1) Dissemination of the laws and regulations on forest protection and development, (2) Forest protection, (3) Forest fire prevention and firefighting , and (4) Afforestation techniques and non-timber forest products. Each topic was covered in one day, and they had lectures in the morning and field training in the afternoon.

As for the training on the laws and regulations on forest protection and development, the participants learned how to apply the legal documents when encountering situations of violating the forest protection laws. Dissemination and education of the related forest protection laws and regulations are among the most important solutions.

The training on fire prevention and firefighting was very practical. During the training, the participants were updated with the new legal documents in forest fire prevention and fighting, and they tested the equipment and tools for fire prevention and firefighting, and learned how to handle forest fires and minimize the damage while ensuring safety of the people. The lecture also covered the methods of patrols and inspections, especially in the dry season, when the risk of forest fires is high.

Training on afforestation and non-timber forest products mainly covered its technical sides, such as site conditions, planting season, and prevention of forest pests and diseases. With the combination of lectures and practice in the field, the participants have grasped the basics of afforestation techniques and solutions to restore natural forests, etc.

It is expected that the participants will utilize the knowledge which they learned from the training in their daily work, such as forest patrolling, to promote SFM in company-owned forests after they return to their workplaces.

Discussion on the dissemination of the laws and regulations on forest protection and development

Discussion on the methodologies to handle illegal situations in forest protection

Creating buffer areas for forest fire prevention and firefighting

Lecture on the afforestation techniques in the field