Pham Van Dau
I. Introduction
The natural forests play a very important role in the living conditions of local people. Besides their functions as natural suppliers of wood, timber, wildlife and many other precious forest products, they are also active in their role of crop protection, soil conservation, water supply regulation, and climatic and environmental stabilization. The Forest Development Department has clearly pointed out that there are some 8.252 million hectares of natural forests in Vietnam, of which 5.184 million are of evergreen broad- leaved type, which are rated to contain 567,500 hectares (or 121%) of rich forests, 1,717,000 hectares (or 33.1%) of medium productivity forests and 2,896,300 hectares (or 55.9%) of poor ones. Most rich forests now occur in remote and inaccessible areas, the terrain conditions of which do not seem to favor productive forest product extraction, on the other hand, poor forests are covered only with regrowths of poor vigour alternating with large but open stretches of shrubs, where parent trees do not seem to have the quality required for an acceptable natural regeneration, because most of them are ordinary timber species of low value.
Natural regeneration has been focussed on for ages. A number of research projects were carried by the Forest Science Institute of Vietnam in more than one province, in particular, in Cau Hai, Phu Tho (1964), Quy Chau, Nghe An (1974), Kon Ha Nung, Gia Lai (1980), Loc Ninh, Binh Phuoc (1983), La Nga, Ma Da, Dong Nai (1984), Phu Quoc, Kien Giang (1984), Tanh Linh, Binh Thuan (1985) with all of them being quite successful at the first attempts, enabling forest practitioners to have some early ideas on how to select suitable forest tree crops for some specific areas. However, due to a shortage of readily available resources, most of the research/study sites have been abandoned – some for good for them to have become gradually inexisting.
In Binh Phuoc, poor secondary regrowths now extend over 50,000 ha, all of them require urgent research to find out rational but easy and effective forest improvement treatments/ operations to enrich the forest vegetation with a new ”set” of valuable fast growing timber species capable of better soil conservation and high timber production in near future. Because of that, since the beginning of 1998, a research project on the restoration of poor secondary forest regrowths has been started with an approach mainly based on enrichment planting following strips on a compact area of 20 hectares in the forest type Ic found at compartment no.9, block no. 382 under the management of Tan Lap Division, in Dong Xoai district, province of Binh Phuoc.
Latest news
- Technological advanced germplasm TB11
- Technological advanced germplasm TB7
- Technological advanced germplasm TB1
- Integral Projection Models for trees: a new parameterization method and a validation of model output
- Integral Projection Models for trees: a new parameterization method and a validation of model output
Oldest news
- Survey and selection of good forest stands for conversion in to seed stands in South Vietnam provinces and the Central Highland
- Research on technique for creating agar-wood in the stem of Agar-wood crassna Pierre
- Results of introduction of Phyllostachys pubescens from Cao Bang prov. in Hoa Binh Prov.
- Research on establishment of Eucalytus microcorys forest plantation model in the Central Highland
- Compilation of lists of tree and plant species in a number of main historical and regious relics areas in North Vietnam and recommendation on their upgradation
