Hi-tech forestry park awakens the value of Nghe An forest

Nghe An forest resources also possess rich characteristics and biodiversity, especially the World Biosphere Reserve in the western area of the province which UNESCO recognised as the largest biosphere reserve in the Southeast Asia region.

Nghe An is a place with many valuable biodiversity resources and many historical relics, customs, practices, traditional crafts, culinary culture.

The province is also considered as a forestry hub in the North Central region with forest coverage reaching over 58 per cent, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the region's forested area.

Moreover, its transportation system is extremely convenient with one airport, three seaports and hundreds of kilometres of railways and national highways connecting the northern provinces and Southern ones.

According to leading experts, Nghe An has the advantage to become a centre for processing wood and non-timber forest products shortly. The Prime Minister's decision to build a high-tech forestry park in the North Central region will help the province to make use of its potential and strengths.

The forestry park consists of three main projects. The first one is the North Central High-tech Application Forest Seed Center Project approved by the Provincial People's Committee via the Decision 1877/QD-UBND dated 11/6/2020. The second project is the one on the model of intensive afforestation with certification of sustainability, planting of medicinal plants and non-timber forest products. The other project is about a trading floor combined with an exhibition to introduce raw wood and products processed from wood and forest products.

The whole forestry park is 618 ha, divided into three functional zones. In the first zone, a 48-ha centre for the production of forestry plant varieties is built in Nghi Lam commune, Nghi Loc district.

The second zone includes a wood processing and non-timber forest products production area with CNC application on a scale of 530 ha in Nghi Van and Nghi Kieu communes (Nghia Loc) and Dai Son commune (Do Luong).

The third zone is a trading floor combined with exhibitions to introduce raw wood and wood products. The ​​​​40-ha zone is located in the communes of Nghi Xa, Khanh Hop (Nghi Loc District).

The forestry park was developed in the context that the whole world is showing special interest in the application of CNC in the production and processing of wood and non-timber forest products. Consumers are favouring wood products with transparent origin. Moreover, the wood industry is on the rise, with high added value, affirming the role and position of Vietnam in the world arena.

Nghe An also has another advantage that is the abundant labour force, especially the skilled labour force in the wood processing field who returned from the southern region due to the impact of COVID-19. Domestic and foreign investors are interested in the forest park as it is the first of its kind in the country, which promises to be a separate playground for the timber and non-timber product industry.

With such advantages, Nghe An wood industry and the North Central region have great opportunities to thrive.