The season of fire watching and forest keeping is arduous, but the forest ranger force and local authorities have been joining forces to prevent forest fire risks and violations of forestry laws.

The road from the center of Chiềng Sinh commune to the forest ranger stations and posts gets deeper and more remote the further one goes. On a pickup truck, Nguyễn Thị Hà Thu, Head of Tuần Giáo Forest Ranger Division, recounted: “In the dry season, we struggle the most. The grass burns yellow, forest leaves change color; just a falling spark can cause a fire. In this season, people also go into the forest to earn a livelihood, so patrols must be even tighter.”

Chiềng Sinh commune has a vast area after merging 4 communes (Nà Sáy, Mường Thín, Mường Khong, and Chiềng Sinh), with many bordering points. A patrol trip by forest ranger officials sometimes lasts several days. For each forest patrol trip, the forest ranger force must carry food, medicine, and medical tools. When tired, they stop by a stream, rest for a moment, and then continue patrolling.

For Pú Nhung commune, the area has over 8,900ha of forest. Recently, information dissemination sessions in 21 villages have all received positive responses from the people. Residents are guided to farm in correct planning zones and not to burn fields during times of high temperature and low humidity. Information dissemination attracting a large number of participants is the result of the efforts of the forest ranger force and local authorities.

Pointing towards the lush green hills, Nguyễn Văn Bách, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Pú Nhung commune, said that only since the forest rangers and authorities persistently disseminated and explained to the people that losing the forest means losing water sources and losing livelihoods, did the people understand. Now, deforestation rarely occurs in the commune. People proactively report when they see signs of violation.

Thanks to methodical and easy-to-understand information dissemination, the people of Pú Nhung proactively sign commitments not to violate the law and actively protect the forest. The most gratifying thing is that residents remind each other not to let forest fires happen. The commune maintains community forest patrol teams, inspecting high-fire-risk areas every week. Forest patrol sessions are not only to detect violations but also an occasion for commune officials to exchange and explain legal regulations to the people right in the forest - a method assessed to bring high efficiency.

Entering the 2025 - 2026 dry season, forest protection work in the province faces many challenges, especially before the increasingly clear impacts of climate change. With increasingly extreme weather developments, prolonged dry conditions, and unusual heat, the risk of forest fires in many communes tends to increase. Fire warning levels are forecast to potentially reach dangerous levels (level IV) and extremely dangerous levels (level V), requiring the Forest Fire Prevention and Control (FFPC) system to always be at the highest readiness level. Notably, most fire points recorded via satellite are related to vegetation treatment and agricultural farming activities. The situation of people burning fields poses many challenges in sustainable forest management.

Identifying that difficulty, the provincial Forest Protection Sub-Department has strengthened warnings and technological monitoring. The satellite fire point tracking system is continuously updated, zoning hotspots, and providing early warnings to localities. High-risk areas are prioritized for force arrangement on duty, fully preparing vehicles and logistics. At the grassroots level, the forest ranger force regularly coordinates with commune and village authorities to supervise the area and prevent violations right from the root.

Hà Lương Hồng, Head of the Forest Protection Sub-Department, said: A bright spot in FFPC work is the consolidation of the forest firefighting force at the grassroots level. With the “4 on-the-spot” motto, forces in villages play a key role in extinguishing fires right when they arise. To date, the whole province has established and recognized 1,299 village-level FFPC teams and 45 commune-level FFPC Steering Committees; contributing to ensuring timely response capacity to forest fire situations, especially in key forest areas and complex terrains. In addition, the sector has effectively applied technology in forest fire forecasting and monitoring. Thanks to the satellite fire point tracking system, the forest ranger force detected 873 points with signs of fire. Of which, 400 suspected forest fire points were transferred to Forest Ranger Divisions for verification and timely handling, effectively preventing the risk of spreading.

The persistence in sticking to the grassroots level and the forest by functional forces has created clear changes in many localities regarding forest protection work. People understand the value of the forest better and proactively participate in protection, contributing to building a sustainable “green shield” against climate change.