The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on June 28 announced that a national action plan would be formulated to turn back the tide of desertification that is spreading throughout the country.

The strategy is to run from 2010 to 2020 and will include the mapping of drought prone areas and a new roadmap for the use of land, forests and river basins. From there, government departments and agencies will be charged with specific roles to complete the needed mechanisms and policies that have been handed down.

Provincial and municipal authorities will also be required to work out their own development schemes for the forestry and agricultural sectors, irrigation systems, natural resource management and environmental protection initiatives.

The localities are also encouraged to agricultural methods that use land and water resources in sustainable ways.

Viet Nam is now home to more than 9 million ha of uncultivable land that accounts for 28 percent of the country’s total land mass, according to the ministry’s Forestry Department.

Uncontrolled forest exploitation and prolonged droughts in many places, especially the central, central highlands and Northwestern regions, are said to be the main factors that are increasing the pace of desertification, environmental experts said.

Source: VNA