Laws of Vietnam

THE PRIME MINISTER

Considering Note No.485-TT/DA on the 17th of December 1993 of the People's Committee of Gia Lai province requesting approval for its project to build protection forests in Lower Ayun;

At the proposals of the State Planning Committee made in its Note No.3683-UB/TDDA on the 6th of November 1994, and of the Ministry of Forestry in its Note No.1008-KH on the 3rd of April 1994,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the master plan for protection forests in the upstream area of the Lower Ayun Irrigation Project in Gia Lai province with the following contents:

1. Area and location:

- Area: The whole catchment area of the Ayun River from its uppermost streams to the dam of the Lower Ayun Irrigation Project, which spread over the districts of Mang Yang and Chu Se and a part of Ayun Ba distrct of Gia Lai province.

- Location: Located at coordinates:

+ From 13o0' 14'' to 14o0' 14'' latitudes North.

+ From 108o0' 00'' to 108o0' 29'' longitudes East.

Total land area: 164,500 hectares.

2. Goals and tasks:

a) Goals:

- To build a system of protection forests in the upstream area in order to help regulate the water flow, reduce erosion and sedimentation of the lake bed, and increase the durability of the Lower Ayun Irrigation Project.

- To combine protection duty with economic purposes, with the reorganization of production and the building of new rural life, step by step stabilize and improve the life of the ethnic groups in the area, and put an end to the practice of slash-and-burn farming and wanton cutting of wood.

b) Tasks:

- To create an unbroken area of protection forests in the upstream area totally devoted to the irrigation project covering 64,068 hectares (Mang Yang district; 55,508 ha; Chu Xe district: 5,837 ha; and Ayun Ba district; 723 ha).

- To reorganize production, effect sedentary farming in order to stabilize and develop production, along the line of combining forestry with agriculture, or agriculture with forestry, for 16,798 households with 88,670 inhabitants in the region. First of all, to pay attention to helping the households of ethnic minority groups which have the largest populations in the region.

3. The main solutions:

a) To effect sedentary farming among people of ethnic groups who are still living a nomadic life is the first solution to the construction of the protection forest; to quickly effect forestry-agriculture-industry or agriculture-forestry-industry projects, aimed at serving sedentary farming in areas where the population still live a nomadic life, to combine building of the forest with efforts for sedentary farming, on the basis of developing household economy by combining forestry with agriculture or agriculture with forestry in order quickly to stabilize and improve the living standard of the people in the region.

To assign land and allocate forest land on contract to households for management, protection and new afforestation, for culture of industrial and fruit crops, and for growing pasture for cattle breeding in appropriate forest areas.

b) To draw up feasibility plans for building protection forests in key areas around clusters of population (hamlets, villages), and implement them in the spirit of Resolution No.327-CT on the 15th of September, 1992 of the Prime Minister.

c) The biological forest solution: To maximize nature's reproduction capabilities to reafforest the areas marked for protection forests. To effect managerial measures to promote the natural recovery of forests in order to facilitate fast reforestation in denuded areas, and make them quickly meet the protection requirements. New afforestation is carried out only in key areas where forests no longer can recover on their own. The land assignment mechanism and plant structure shall be determined in detail during the feasibility study. In the structure of forest plants, priority shall be given to the indigenous plans which are possessed of high protection and economic values. White sandal and other trees of low protection value are banned.

The technical measures and procedures and biological forest standards of the Ministry of Forestry shall be applied.

d) Investment capital:

The capital for building protection forests (including old, restored and newly afforested) shall draw from the State budget, according to annual plans and on the basis of the feasibility plans already approved by the competent State agency.

The assistance in capital for development of gardening and the culture of industrial and fruit crops and cattle breeding at households in the project area is to be conducted in line with Decision No.327-CT on the 15th of September, 1992 of the Prime Minister, and shall be concretized in feasibility plans, and recorded in the annual plans.

4. The People's Committee of Gia Lai province is responsible for appointing investors and organizing the implementation of the feasibility plans to build protection forests in the upstream area of the Lower Ayun Irrigation Project within 6 years (1995-2000) with high cost efficiency.

Article 2.- The Minister of Forestry, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the State Planning Committee, the Governor of the State Bank, the Heads of the concerned branches and the President of the People's Committee of Gia Lai province are responsible for the implementation of this Decision.

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

TRAN DUC LUONG