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Over 600ha of forest in Binh Thuan will be felled for the national reservoir project |
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan Province yesterday said that in order to complete the procedures for the implementation of the Ka Pet reservoir project, the department and specialized agencies have completed the appraisal and re-evaluation of the local forests which was submitted to the provincial People's Committee for consideration.
The important national Ka Pet Water Reservoir project in My Thanh Commune of Binh Thuan Province’s Ham Thuan Nam District was decided by the National Assembly to invest in 2019.
The nearly 700-hectare project has a total investment of more than VND874 billion (US$36,506,815) with a design capacity of more than 51 million cubic meters. The reservoir construction is expected to start in 2024 and complete in 2025.
More than 619 hectares of natural forests including special-use forests, protected forests and production forests will be cut down for the project construction.
Instead, the locality will have to replant more than 1,800ha of forests in other places in the province according to the Law on Forestry provisions which regulates that the investor must restock the destroyed forests by planting new trees to replace 3 times the area of natural forest that has been converted to other uses.
According to the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total cost of reforestation is nearly VND177 billion. Currently, it is directing specialized agencies to survey the area of land that can be afforested instead as well as synthesize the list of forest owners' registration for afforestation to submit to the provincial People's Committee for an implementation plan.
