Forest fire concerns
According to information from the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee, by the end of 2024, the province had planted 1,076.76 hectares of forest, an increase of 903.77 hectares over the same period in 2023. However, forest fires, deforestation and forest encroachment still occurred. The forest area decreased by 15,967 hectares, mainly due to forest fires and illegal activities. The authorities handled 121 cases of violations of the Forestry Law, an increase of 23 cases over the same period last year. Notably, on January 14, 2025, the Forest Protection Department warned of forest fires in many areas in Cao Bang province, with a level of danger of level IV (dangerous) in Cao Bang city and extremely dangerous in other areas.
In recent days, several forest fires have occurred in Hoa An, Ha Quang, Quang Hoa, Trung Khanh, Thach An and Ha Lang districts, causing great damage to the environment and forest resources, directly affecting people's lives.
In January 2025, large fires broke out in many districts in the area. In addition, some of the people's crop fields were also burned down. Up to now, although the Lunar New Year holiday has just passed, many forests in Cao Bang province are still at risk of forest fires.
"At first, the fire only started from the house next door clearing the field to burn dry leaves. Then, with the strong wind, the fire spread to several adjacent fields. We have been waiting for the sugarcane crop at the end of the year, but this fire has caused hundreds of millions of dong in damage to everyone" - Mr. Nong Van Tuan (Hoa Thuan town) shared about the fire in many adjacent sugarcane fields that occurred on January 16, 2025.
On February 3, speaking with reporters, Mr. Nong Van Trai - Head of the Cao Bang City Forest Protection Department - shared: "The entire city has over 4,000 hectares, which are currently at a dangerous level. We are conducting propaganda to remind people to prohibit using fire in the forest and forest edges, and at the same time make it a news for the Cao Bang City Culture and Communication Center to widely inform the people."
Need to raise public awareness
To effectively prevent forest fires, the Chairman of the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee issued Directive No. 02/CT-UBND requesting departments, branches, and People's Committees of districts and cities to immediately deploy urgent measures to protect forests and prevent and fight forest fires (PCCCR).
Accordingly, localities need to drastically implement forest fire prevention and control work, considering it a key task. In particular, forest owners, villages, communes and districts need to strengthen inspection, supervision and organize forces to be on duty 24/24 hours in areas with high risk of fire. Plans to mobilize forces, means and equipment need to be prepared to promptly handle forest fire situations.
In addition, functional forces, including Forest Rangers, Police, Army and relevant agencies, must coordinate closely to implement fire prevention and control measures, especially in propagating and educating people about the use of fire in forests and forest fringe areas, especially during peak forest fire periods.
Forest fire prevention and fighting not only depends on the initiative of the authorities but also requires close coordination of the community. People need to raise awareness of forest protection, especially during dry and hot periods, to help prevent forest fires, protect existing forest areas and increase forest cover.
In the context of complicated weather conditions, forest fire prevention and control in Cao Bang is becoming an extremely important task. All levels, sectors and localities need to make more efforts to protect forest resources and the ecological environment, while ensuring the safety of people's lives, contributing to building a sustainable development model in Cao Bang province.
