Mr. Tri Tac Xinh (51 years old, Co Muoi - Khe Lieng village, Ha Lau commune) said: "My family has 10 hectares of forest that were destroyed by Typhoon Yagi last year. Earlier this year, I bought 1.70,000 seedlings for 1,200 VND/plant, but due to drought, half of them died. Today I have to buy 7,000 more trees to replant. The price of seeds doubled compared to last year, and the family suffered almost total losses, causing many difficulties for the family to develop the forest.
According to information from the People's Committee of Ha Lau commune, after storm No. 3 in 2024 (storm Yagi), the whole commune had more than 2,500 hectares of damaged forest. However, only about 800 hectares of forest are eligible for support under Decree 02/2017/ND-CP of the Government and Decision 1568/2017/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee. Specifically, planted forests of households and individuals with over 70% damage are supported with 4 million VND/ha; damage from 3070% is supported with 2 million VND/ha.
Ha Bac village is one of the most severely damaged areas with about 800 hectares of forest broken after the storm. The whole village has 621 people, whose lives mainly depend on forestry production.
Mr. Tang Con Sang (58 years old, Head of Ha Bac village) shared: "The biggest difficulty at present is the high price of acacia seedlings. Seed acacia costs 1,200 VND/plant, hom acacia ( branch) costs up to 2,200 VND/plant, double or even nearly tripling compared to last year. Workers are also difficult to find, having to be hired from provinces such as Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, while the cost of working days increases. Many households still dare not grow because they do not have enough money to buy sugarcane seeds".
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. San Van Tien - who has been growing acacia seedling gardens in Ha Bac village for more than 10 years - said: "Current plant prices are determined by the market because of the lack of supply. Many types have to be imported from other places. My garden specializes in growing sugarcane seeds, but the sprouting rate is only about 60% due to prolonged drought. Fertilizer prices and laborers have all increased, many times they have to replant up to 3 times".
Mr. La Van Vy - Vice Chairman of Ha Lau Commune People's Committee - said: "Up to now, the commune has newly planted about 60% of the forest area damaged by the storm. Although the forest planting cycle still lasts until the end of July, high price of seeds is a major barrier for households regenerating forests. People have made recommendations, but the commune-level authorities cannot resolve them. We hope that the provincial agencies will have a direction to support people to soon stabilize their lives, especially households that suffered heavy damage after Typhoon Yagi".
"The commune has also promoted the shift to planting large types of trees to break the monopoly of acacia trees to develop sustainable forests and protect aquatic resources," said Mr. Vy.
