Quyết định 204/2006/QD-TTg

DECISION

PROMULGATING THE NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAM TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION IN THE 2006-2010 PERIOD AND ORIENTATIONS TOWARD 2020

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;
In order to implement Vietnam's commitments as a contracting party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification;
Pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision No. 153/2004/QD-TTg of August 17, 2004, promulgating the strategic orientation for sustainable development in Vietnam (Agenda 21 of Vietnam);
At the proposal of the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 period and orientations toward 2020 in order to concretize the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and specify the strategic orientation for sustainable development in Vietnam (Agenda 21 of Vietnam).

Article 2.- Organization of implementation of the program

1. The National Coordinating Body for implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which was established under the Prime Minister's Decision No. 68/2003/QD-TTg of April 28, 2003, shall have to perform the tasks assigned by the Prime Minister in this Decision.

2. The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, the agency in prime charge of the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 period and orientations toward 2020, shall have to:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, branches, provincial/municipal People's Committees, social organizations and international organizations in, organizing the implementation of the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 period and orientations toward 2020 already approved by the Prime Minister;

b/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Planning and Investment Ministry, ministries, branches and provincial People's Committees in, integrating inter-branch and inter-territorial projects under the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 period and orientations toward 2020 already approved by the Prime Minister;

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Finance Ministry and the concerned agencies in, formulating the financial mechanism, ensuring the close and effective management of the program and projects;

d/ Annually report to the Prime Minister, concentrating on assessment of impacts of the program, projects and policies on state management of forest, land and water resources on the life of people in affected areas;

e/ Promptly report to the Prime Minister on newly emerging issues which go beyond its competence; propose the replacement, modification or addition of projects, the change of agencies with prime responsibility therefor when such projects fail to achieve objectives or keep up with set schedules.

3. The Planning and Investment Ministry and the Finance Ministry shall have the following responsibilities:

a/ To coordinate with the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, the agency in prime charge of the program, in integrating the tasks and projects with relevant socio-economic development tasks;

b/ To appraise projects under the program according to the provisions of law;

c/ To balance and allocate capital for implementation of the program.

4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and presidents of provincial/municipal People's Committees shall organize the execution of projects assigned to them on the list of projects enclosed with this Decision.

Article 3.- This Decision shall take effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, and presidents of provincial/municipal People's Committees shall have to implement this Decision.

NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAM TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION IN THE 2006-2010 PERIOD AND ORIENTATIONS TOWARD 2020

PRINCIPAL CONTENTS
(Promulgated together with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 204/2006/QD-TTg of September 2, 2006)

PREAMBLE

Desertification referred to in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification passed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro means the land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.

Land degradation means the reduction or loss of biological or economic productivity of land.

Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas means areas in which the ratio of evapotranspiration falls within the range from 0.05 to 0.60.

For Vietnam, combating desertification means the prevention of the danger of land degradation, mitigation of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas; the rehabilitation and reclamation of degraded and desertified land through enhancing the role and responsibility of state agencies simultaneously with stepping up the socialization so that each household, enterprise or social organization can participate in protection and sustainable development of land and forest resources, fight salination, acidulation and sand movement, development of irrigation in order to better the livelihood of people in geographical areas affected by desertification. 

In the past years, for performance of the anti-desertification task, numerous programs and projects on agricultural, forestry or fishery extension, credit provision, infrastructure construction, ect., have been executed nationwide.

These programs and projects have helped reclaim unused land, raise forest acreage and reserve, introduce models of combined agro-forestry development, thus creating jobs and increasing incomes for poor people in rural areas, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, environmental improvement and social stability, and creating firm prerequisites for performance of the anti-desertification task.

However, the task of combating desertification remains heavy and needs to be further performed in a constant and consistent manner with feasible objectives and a clear and specific schedule so as to redress the situation of uncontrolled forest exploitation which causes the loss of forests, especially primitive and headwater forests; nomadic farming, deforestation for milpa, destruction of coastal submerged forests for aquaculture and forest fires still frequently occur, causing the loss of tens of thousands of hectares of forests every year and severely reducing the forest acreage; poor management, use and protection of water sources have caused the depletion or serious pollution thereof; land of all types is in danger of erosion, washing, skip, slide, low fertility, nutritional imbalance, hardening, salination, acidulation, drought, water logging, fixation of sand dunes, being covered with sand or polluted with chemicals, etc.

Total land area vulnerable to desertification is around 9.3 million hectares, where around 22 million people live. The above-said situation of cultivation land has caused great difficulties to households which make a living on forestry or agriculture, thus seriously affecting the socio-economic development in such a vast territory.

To early put an end to the above-said situation, the promulgation and organization of implementation of the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 and orientations toward 2020 must be regarded as an urgent task.

Part I

GUIDING VIEWPOINTS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION PROGRAM

I. GUIDING VIEWPOINTS

1. Combating desertification constitutes an extremely important task, and contributes to sustainably managing forest resources, water sources and land, step by step increasing incomes of people, eradicating hunger, alleviating poverty and definitely completing the task of sedentarization.

2. Desertification combat must be conducted in a scientific and efficient manner, based on the system of uniform and consistent policies and laws of the State and achievements of the preceding period, subject to the concentrated and unified direction by the Government, concretized into projects to be executed by ministries, branches, socio-political organizations and People’s Committees of localities having desertified areas and the capability to draw attention and mobilize contributions of the entire society.

3. Expanding, diversifying and multilateralizing international relations while selecting key domains in which investment should be concentrated and attracted from all economic sectors at home and abroad, fostering personnel, absorbing modern technologies and inheriting appropriate traditional experience, thus contributing to well implementing the national action program to combat desertification and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

4. Closely combining the economic and social development and environmental protection with the maintenance of defense, security and social order and safety; attaching the national action program to combat desertification with the comprehensive strategy on growth and poverty alleviation, and the national strategy on environmental protection as well as other national strategies and programs with the fulfillment of the United Nations millenium development goals (MDGs).

II. OBJECTIVES

1. Objectives toward 2010

a/ To formulate national policies, set forth specific tasks, define responsibilities of ministries, branches and provincial People’s Committees in performing these tasks, forge international ties, identify capital sources and capital management mechanisms so as to ensure a firm foundation for performing the tasks of preventing, combating and mitigating the desertification in areas in the territory of Vietnam as specified in this action program.

b/ To fulfill the urgent anti-desertification tasks, especially in four priority regions, including the northeastern region, the coastal Central Vietnam, the Central Highlands and Long Xuyen quadrilateral region.

2. Objectives toward 2020

To substantially eradicate desertification causal factors attributable to human activities, shape up solutions to preventing or mitigating the desertification caused by natural factors, rehabilitate to the utmost desertified areas, and definitely complete the task of sedentarization in reclaimed land areas through renewing land use methods, increasing inhabitants’ incomes, eradicating hunger and alleviating poverty, thus ensuring that by 2020 the socio-economic development in areas affected by desertification basically harmonize with that of other regions throughout the country.

Part II

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE ACTION PROGRAM

I. SCOPE OF THE ACTION PROGRAM

The scope of the action program covers the desertified areas throughout the country, with priority given to desertified areas in the northewestern region, the coastal Central Vietnam, the Central Highlands and Long Xuyen quadrilateral region.

II. TASKS OF THE ACTION PROGRAM

1. Tasks of the national action program are divided into the following groups:

a/ Perfecting the legal framework for protecting land, forest and water resources in order to prevent and combat desertification and promptly satisfy new requirements.

b/ Raising public awareness, training human resources and consolidating material-technical foundations and research institutions in service of desertification prevention and combat.

c/ Investigating into and assessing the actual state of desertification, and researching and identifying major causes of desertification, proposing solutions to preventing and combating desertification in Vietnam.

d/ Organizing economic and technology transfer activities for the purposes of protecting, managing and developing land, forest and water resources, thus contributing to the socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation in desertified areas.

e/ Entering into international cooperation for implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification.

2. Projects, managing agencies and coordinating agencies, implementation duration, priority order in the 2006-2020 period are specified in the list of projects under the national action program to combat desertification in the 2006-2010 period and orientations toward 2020, promulgated together with this action program.

Part III

MAJOR SOLUTIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE ACTION PROGRAM

1. Raising public awareness about anti-desertification; mobilizing experts in ministries, branches, research institutes and professional associations to work out specific plans for scheduled implementation of this national action program. 

2. Reviewing the division of tasks among ministries, branches and localities to combat desertification; strengthening the organization of the state management apparatus in charge of desertification combat from the central to local levels; perfecting legal documents on desertification combat, and raising the role and position of local administrations, especially grassroots administrations, in implementing this national action program.

3. Diversifying forms of cooperation with foreign countries on desertification combat in order to study and receive transferred technologies, receive models of combining agricultural and forestry production with market; organizing personnel training and re-training to form a contingent of experts, especially leading scientists and high-level state management officials in this domain.

4. Ensuring financial sources from the state budget for implementation of this national action program, and concurrently mobilizing ODA capital sources, capital from international cooperation programs and capital from other sources of organizations and individuals of all economic sectors at home and abroad.

5. Conducting the inspection, examination, supervision and periodical assessment of fulfillment of objectives and tasks of this national action program.

LIST

OF PROJECTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAM TO PREVENT AND COMBAT DESERTIFICATION IN THE 2006 – 2010 PERIOD AND ORIENTATIONS TOWARD 2020
(Promulgated together with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 204/2006/QD-TTg of September 2, 2006)