Authorities in Binh Thuan Province, south-central Vietnam have a plan to build an irrigation reservoir on some 620 hectares of forest land, entailing the felling of trees there.

The plan to chop down hundreds of hectares of forest trees, including special-use and protection forests with many rare century-old plants, to make room for the Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project in Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province has sparked public concerns.

In response, the province said that the lawmaking National Assembly green-lighted the project at its sitting in May 2019.

The Ka Pet irrigation reservoir was initially planned to cover nearly 694 hectares of land, including over 680 hectares of forested land.

The total forested land needed for the project includes 162.55 hectares of special-use forests, 0.91 hectares of protection forests, 471.09 hectares of production forests, and 45.85 hectares of other forests. The remaining 12.9 hectares is agricultural land.

In May this year, the government proposed some adjustments to the project, including an increase in the needed land area by nearly 4.5 hectares to almost 698 hectares.

Meanwhile, the needed forested land area fell 60.83 hectares to some 620 hectares, including 137.95 hectares of special-use forests, 0.51 hectares of protection forests, 440.4 hectares of production forests, and 40.72 hectares of other forests.

The area of non-forest and agricultural land increased to 60.14 hectares and 18.01 hectares, respectively.

The National Assembly approved adjustments to the project on June 24, 2023.

The prime minister assigned the People’s Committee of Binh Thuan Province as the investor.

The reservoir was planned to have a capacity of 51.21 million cubic meters, as well as a canal system and auxiliary items.

The project requires an investment of nearly VND874.1 billion (US$36.1 million), including over VND519.9 billion ($21.5 million) from the national coffers and the remainder from Binh Thuan’s budget.

The project is aimed at providing water for some 7,800 hectares of agricultural land in Ham Thuan Nam District in the dry season, and 2.63 million cubic meters of untreated water per year for the Ham Kien II Industrial Park to get clean water to around 120,000 residents in the district and Phan Thiet City.

The future irrigation reservoir will also help prevent and control floods, as well as improve the ecological environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the implementation for two years.

Moreover, the needed forest area is large so the survey and assessment of the status quo of the forests took time, resulting in the slow progress of the project, according to the Binh Thuan authorities.

The province informed that it will plant some 1,844.5 hectares of forests to replace the trees felled for the reservoir construction.

Nui Ong and Ta Kou Nature Reserves were planned to accommodate the replaced special-use forests. 

The provincial authorities later suggested planting the new trees on land for production forests, totaling over 2,000 hectares, besides areas for special-use and protection forests.

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