Developing acacias for afforestation and the timber processing industryhas a key role to play in realising national targets such as povertyalleviation and ecological protection, heard a conference opened in theimperial Thua Thien-Hue city on March 18.

Thefour-day event has drawn the attention of 200 domestic and foreignscientists, managers and businesspeople in silviculture to look at waysto preserve the future of acacia plantation forestry.

Head of the Department of Science, Technology and InternationalCooperation under the Vietnamese Forestry Administration Nguyen Phu Hunghighlighted the Vietnamese Government’s policies in encouragingbusiness players to get involved in afforestation activities.

He said acacia is one of the key forest trees in Southeast Asiancountries, including Vietnam which is home to over 1 million hectares ofacacia , accounting for some 30 percent of the country’s total forestland and serving as the main source of material for paper, wood-pulp,and timber product exports.

The estimated value of processed acacia wood products in Vietnam now exceeds 1.5 billion USD annually, Hung noted.

Rod Friffin, a representative from the International Union of ForestResearch Organisations (IUFRO), said there are over 2 million ha offorest land for growing acacias in Southeast Asia, contributing greatlyto the global wood supply.

Acknowledging thecontributions by Vietnam and other countries to the development ofacacia-based industries, Friffin said the conference is a good chancefor participants to discuss policies and techniques to develop acaciaforests and the timber processing industry in a sustainable manner.

Covering an area of 3.5 million ha in Asia, Africa and South America,acacias are now an important global resource supplying wood forindustry.-VNA