On June 3, the Dak Nong Provincial Agricultural and Environment Fund informed that the unit had reported the results of reviewing the funds under management to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment.
From the beginning of 2025 to now, the provincial Agricultural and Environment Fund has worked with units using forest environmental services and collected money to entrust them to pay according to the plan.
Accordingly, the revenue from the central fund from the beginning of the year until now has been divided into 2 phases with a total of 23 billion dong. Particularly for the second phase (May 525), the unit earned 14 billion dong but this amount has not been divided by the Central Government. Therefore, the fund has no basis to allocate money to pay for forest owners.
In addition, the provincial revenue of the provincial Agricultural and Environment Fund is nearly 6 billion VND, reaching 15% of the annual plan.
Thus, from the beginning of 2025 to now, the provincial Agricultural and Environmental Fund has collected nearly 24 billion VND. Of which, the cost to forest owners is more than 21 billion VND, reaching 85%.
Mr. Ho Minh Tam - Director of the Dak Nong Provincial Agricultural and Environmental Fund - said that the unit's forest environmental service revenue is mainly from hydropower production facilities.
Quarter IV/2024 and Quarter I/2025 are the peak period of the dry season, so the commercial electricity output is very low. There are some units that cannot work. Since then, the fund's revenue is affected. The first 5 -month revenue of 2025 was only 60% compared to the same period in 2024.
According to Mr. Tam, the fund proposed that the Department of Agriculture and Environment allow the use of forest environmental service funds from units that do not have an advance payment need to pay to the forest management board for protection, special use, and forestry companies to implement financial autonomy.
At the same time, immediately after the Central Government issued a document to declare the amount of 14 billion VND, the department needs to urgently issue a notice of a second advance payment to forest owners.
"This is to create conditions for forest owners, especially forest management boards for protection and special use, and forestry companies in the province to solve financial difficulties," Mr. Tam added.
As Lao Dong reported, in the past few months, many workers working in forest management and protection at forestry companies and protection forest management boards in Dak Nong province have been owed wages for 1 to 2 months.
Financial difficulties not only occur at Nam Cat Tien Protective Forest Management Board but also in many other forestry companies in Dak Nong province. These are all units that mainly operate forest protection management thanks to forest environmental service payment sources.
Forestry companies and forest management boards in Dak Nong believe that every year, the provincial Agricultural and Environmental Fund often advances periodic funds quarterly so that units have a source of operation. However, by the end of May 2025, the units had only received the advance payment of the first quarter.
