Mr. Truong Thanh Ha - Deputy Head of Gia Lai Provincial Forest Protection Department - said that currently, units are investigating and inventorying forest areas in the area to determine carbon credit reserves.
It is expected that by November 2025, the authorities will calculate the carbon credit reserves of forests in Gia Lai . From there, the authorities will establish a business plan to buy and sell carbon credits to generate revenue for the local budget.
Up to now, the total forest area of Gia Lai province is about 650,000 hectares. Of which, natural forest is over 478,000 hectares, planted forest is over 156,000 hectares and planted forest is not yet a forest over 14,000 hectares.
According to Mr. Truong Thanh Ha, through accurate data, Gia Lai province has the largest forest area in the Central Highlands and ranks 4th in the country. This is a great potential for the province to develop the forest carbon credit market.
“Carbon credit is a certificate that can be traded and represents the right to emit 1 ton of CO2 or 1 ton of CO2 equivalent. If participating in the carbon credit trading market, Vietnam in general and Gia Lai province in particular will mobilize a huge financial resource. This financial resource will contribute to protecting and developing sustainable forests, improving the income and life of people and those working in forest protection…”, said Mr. Truong Thanh Ha - Deputy Head of the Gia Lai Provincial Forest Protection Department.
Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is developing, negotiating and implementing an agreement to purchase greenhouse gas emissions reductions from forests in the Central Highlands and South Central regions. It is expected that Vietnam will transfer 5.15 million tons of CO2 to the Forest Finance Enhancement Organization (Emergent) in the period of 2022-2026 at a minimum price of 10 USD/ton of CO2 for natural forests.
In August 2024, at a working session with the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Gia Lai province, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan affirmed that Gia Lai is a province with potential and strengths in forests that need to be protected and developed in depth and in a sustainable direction.
According to the Minister, the Forestry sector needs to coordinate to create livelihoods for indigenous people living near and in the forest by contracting and assigning forest protection. Forests are not only used to grow medicinal herbs, secondary forest products, ecotourism... but the green color of the forest will also collect carbon credits for socio-economic development.
Gia Lai province strives to increase forest coverage to 47.75% by the end of 2025 (including industrial trees and multi-purpose crops). Authorities encourage people to plant large timber forests to prevent forest degradation.
