Da Nang (VNS/VNA) - The Governmentof Vietnam has been implementing drastic measures to increase forest coveragein the Central Highlands region, while improving output of coffee and highvalue crops in easing deforestation.

Tran Dai Nghia, an official from the environmentaleconomics studies and policy institute, under the ministry of agriculture andrural development, made the comments at the Good Growth Partnership-side eventat the 6th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly held in Da Nang.

Nghia said the government has asked localadministrations, ministries and relevant agencies to rearrange current coffeeplantations to stop encroachment on forest areas.

“The government firmly reallocated forestarea that had been cleared for coffee plantations, and restored the forestarea. It has planned to replant 120,000ha of coffee between 2014-20,” Nghiasaid.

“Vietnam wants to improve the quality andproductivity of coffee by limiting land clearance in forest areas, whileincreasing the application of technology to maximise harvests,” he said.

Nghia also said profitable crops have beenchosen to alternate in poor quality coffee areas, while focusing on brandbuilding as well as joining global value chains for worldwide export.

Coffee farms were encouraged to make use ofthe landscape with large green coverage (the shadow of coffee plants could actas forestation in areas that lack trees) for sustainable development.

According to the latest report from theministry, the current coffee farm area (583,000ha) exceeds the 2020 plan(530,000ha), while forested areas account for just 2.5 million hectares (45.8 percentof coverage) in the Central Highlands region.

The region loses 34,000ha of forest eachyear due to illegal logging and land clearance for short-term profitable crops(coffee, rubber or acacia).

The ministry also said the forested areahad dropped by 180,000ha, of which 112,000ha had been destroyed or occupied byexpansion of other crops, and 37,000ha for hydro-power plants and roads,between 2010-15.

[Infographics: V▨ietnam strives to raise fores♕t coverage to 42 percent]

Vietnam, which is the world’s secondlargest coffee exporter, has offered favourable conditions for ‘green’ growthcoffee enterprises, as well as involvement private and public partners, globalcoffee growers and producers in discussions for more effective policy making.

A series of side events related to greengrowth, mangrove forests, nature based resilience solutions to climate change,wildlife and environmental protection, recycling and waste treatment willcontinue through June 28.

Also represented at the GEF, a community ofthe ethnic Co Tu group living in suburban Hoa Bac commune of Da Nang, hasbenefited from a community-based eco-tourism and culture preservation projectin 2017-18 with 88,000 USD of funding from GEF’s Small Grant Programme.

The project aimed to improve thelivelihoods of the community, while protecting biodiversity in the buffer zoneof the Ba Na-Nui Chua nature reserve.

Vietnam, which joined the GEF in 1994, hasreceived sponsorships for 107 projects, worth 457 million USD in dealing withenvironment problems at the local level.

The country has been allocated a fund of 26million USD in fields of climate change, biodiversity and soil degradation fromGEF.

Since 1991, the GEF has provided over 17.9billion USD in grants and mobilised an additional 93.2 billion USD inco-financing for more than 4500 projects in 170 countries.

Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP),the GEF has invested 450 million USD and leveraged similar levels of cofinancing to support over 14,500 community based projects in over 125countries.

Da Nang has been chosen to implement anAsia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) low-carbon model town project to boostthe use of battery-powered bikes; technology to curb greenhouse gas emissionsand use renewable energy sources.

The city, which had already cut 12,000tonnes of carbon emissions through a pilot project between 2008-11, plans tocut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in 2030 in comparison to 2016.-VNA