By harnessing the power of the community, forest protection efforts in Mường Nhé district have seen positive progress in recent times. Local authorities and functional forces have proactively mobilized the collective support and cooperation of all social groups to participate in forest protection and development, contributing to the preservation of natural resources and promoting sustainable development.
The forest ranger forces, along with the local authorities and people of Sin Thau commune, are verifying the forest boundary in the commune.
Mr. P Ly Hoa, from Sin Thau commune (Muong Nhe district), shared: "Although most people in the area rely on farming on sloped land and face many hardships, the need for firewood and timber for daily use is still present, we understand that the forest is a long-term source of life. Therefore, the people have actively cooperated with the forest rangers in patrolling and participating in forest protection and fire prevention efforts."
Muong Nhe district has a natural area of 156,908.13 hectares, of which the forestry planning area accounts for 125,797.3 hectares, equivalent to 80.17% of the total area of the district. The current forested land area reaches 87,814.04 hectares, including 86,812.83 hectares of natural forest and 1,001.21 hectares of planted forest, with a forest cover rate of 55.97%. As a highland district, a border commune, and with a large forest area, forest management and fire prevention are always key tasks that receive special attention from all levels of government. In recent years, forest management and protection work in Muong Nhe district has made positive progress thanks to the mobilization of the entire political system and the proactive involvement of the people.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Head of the Muong Nhe Forest Ranger Unit, emphasized: "Effective forest protection cannot be achieved with only forest rangers. We recognize that we must rely on the power of the community. Authorities at all levels have actively propagated, mobilized, and established teams to protect forests in local villages. The people are not just the target of awareness campaigns; they are also the main force directly participating in patrols, detecting violations, and taking action. Thanks to this, the awareness of forest protection has spread widely within the community, gradually forming a strong forest protection network from the grassroots level." With a comprehensive approach that centers on the people, Muong Nhe district is steadily building a solid foundation for forest management and fire prevention.
The community of Nam Sin village, Chung Chai commune, along with forest rangers, conducted a forest area inspection in the locality.
In the first six months of 2025, the district conducted 395 forest patrols with a total of 2,436 participants (excluding patrols organized by forest owners themselves) and held 29 awareness campaigns with 1,468 participants, of which 1,145 people signed commitments to protect the forest. As a result, the awareness and responsibility of agencies, units, party committees, local governments, and all social classes in forest management and protection, as well as nature conservation, have gradually improved, leading to positive changes in forest protection and development, and fire prevention efforts. By implementing synchronized solutions, the number of violations in the forestry sector in the district has been detected early, prevented, and handled promptly, avoiding hotspots or complications in forest management and fire prevention. The Forest Ranger Unit has closely coordinated with other forces such as the police, the People's Procuracy, border guards, inspectors, the tax department, and the market management team in the district to receive, manage, resolve complaints, reports on crimes, and propose prosecution in forest protection management. Since the beginning of the year, the Forest Ranger Unit has detected and handled 14 administrative violations in the forestry sector. Among these, there were 3 violations of wildlife protection regulations; 10 illegal logging cases, with more than 1.2 hectares of forest damaged; and 1 case of violation of regulations on land-use change, resulting in 0.268 hectares of forest loss. The fines for these violations totaled nearly 138 million VND, with over 130 million VND already remitted to the state budget.
The people of Leng Su Sin commune actively cooperate with the forest rangers in patrolling and controlling the forest.
In fire prevention and control (PCCCR), the Mường Nhé Forest Ranger Unit regularly collaborates with the local authorities and party committees to direct various departments and organizations to work closely with the forest rangers. Notably, the effective implementation of plans and coordination regulations between forces such as forest rangers, local police, the commune military command, militia forces, and border guards has contributed to improving forest protection and fire prevention at the grassroots level. In the first half of 2025, the forest rangers inspected and verified 236 suspected fire points, and no forest fires were detected in the area. This confirms that the fire prevention and control efforts have been carried out thoroughly and effectively.
These figures clearly demonstrate the efforts of the authorities, party committees, local governments, and the community in forest protection. The positive results achieved show that the awareness and responsibility of society as a whole in forest management, nature conservation, and fire prevention have continuously improved, contributing to noticeable changes in fire prevention and control work and sustainable forest development.