Despite New Forest Planting, Vietnam’s Forest Coverage Yet to Pass 42% of Land

State-run Vietnam Plus news outlet on January 5 posted an infographic on the size of Vietnam’s natural forests over the past three decades, from 14.3 million hectares in 1945 to 9.89 million ha in 1985, and 12.7 million ha in 2005, to 14.06 million ha in 2015. Data show that although the total forest areas have been expanding since 1999, Vietnam was yet to have its forests cover 42%-43% of total land areas as of 2015. The natural forest coverage rate hovered below 40% in the past 10 years. The main cause of this is the excessive forest exploitation and conversion of forest land for other purposes without planning. The infographic also notes that forests in Vietnam’s Central Highlands saw the worst damage, shrinking from 10,134 hectares in 1995 to only 714.8 ha in 2009. Forest downsizing is also seen in the Red River Delta (517.5 ha in 1998 to 8.5 ha in 2009), the northern mountainous region (2,116 ha in 1998 to 309.3 ha in 2009), the central coastal region (713.4 ha in 1998 to 84.4 ha in 2009), and the southeastern region (751 ha in 1998 to 428 ha in 2009). (Vietnam Plus Jan 5)