Vietnam, Laos provinces review joint forest protection

Illustrative Image (Source: VNA)

Thanh Hoa (VNA) – Vietnam’s central Thanh Hoa province and Laos’s Houaphan province have reviewed a joint programme to protect forests and prevent and fight fires in shared border areas.

Forest warden forces and authorities of the two provinces exchanged information and together educated local people on forest protection, fire prevention and sustainable forestry development.

The two sides have also conducted more than 100 joint patrols along smuggling-prone border areas, seizing over 95,000 cubic metres of illegally harvested woods and 71 kilogrammes of wild animals.

The provinces will continue their joint operation between 2016 and 2020 with the focus on preventing illegal forest activities, controlling forest fires, developing local forestry industry, ensuring border security and promoting solidarity and cooperation between their residents, said Le The Long, Deputy Director of the Thanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Thanh Hoa and Houaphan share 192 kilometres of border that is surrounded by nearly 150,000 hectares of forests and lands for forest farming.-VNA