Hanoi (VNA) - Forested areas in Vietnam’s central region increased by 373,887 ha in the 2015-2019 period, according to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Provinces seeing the highest forest area increases were Quang Nam, with about 30,070 ha, Binh Dinh 51,095 ha, Phu Yen 42,305 ha, and Quang Binh 21,739 ha.

The central region is currently home to more than 5.55 million ha of forests, or 38.01 percent of Vietnam’s total, data from the forestry administration shows.

Of the figure, natural forests cover more than 3.79 million ha while planted forests span over 1.76 million ha.

The region’s forest coverage reached 55 percent, following only the northeast, with 56.28 percent.

MARD and the World Bank (WB) - the trustee agency of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) - signed an Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) in October.

Under the terms, the FCPF will pay Vietnam 51.5 million USD if it fully implements its commitments, under which the north-central and central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue are to reduce CO2 emissions by 10.3 million tonnes in the 2018-2024 period.

The region, however, has lost over 3,100 ha of forests in recent times to deforestation and fire.

Forest coverage nationwide rose to 41.89 percent last year from 40.84 percent in 2015 and is projected to hit the targeted 42 percent this year.

As of the end of 2019, Vietnam had close to 14.61 million ha of forests, of which 10.29 million ha were natural forests./.