With clean village roads, tidy home gardens, and livestock pens cleaned on a regular basis, Nậm Nèn is aiming toward the construction of a green, clean, and sustainable new-style rural area. For generations, raising livestock was closely associated with the custom of free-ranging or keeping animals under the floors of stilt houses, which was a common way of life in many highland villages. However, in Nậm Nèn, these outdated habits that posed potential environmental pollution risks are gradually changing through improved public awareness and the drastic, persistent involvement of the local government.

In early October 2025, the Nậm Nèn commune People’s Committee established an inspection team to monitor compliance with environmental protection laws for 35 livestock and poultry households. This activity is carried out regularly as part of a series of solutions to implement the “Environment and Food Safety” criteria of the national target program for building new-style rural areas. Rather than stopping at verbal advocacy, the commune’s new approach requires livestock households to sign a formal commitment to strictly implement environmental protection measures as prescribed by law. These specific and clear commitments are tied to the responsibility of each household.

Khoàng Văn Vin from Nậm Nèn 2 village noted that households commit to treating livestock waste according to proper processes without discharging it directly into the environment, ensuring a safe distance between farming areas and residential zones, maintaining hygiene in pens, and not littering or disposing of animal carcasses indiscriminately. Furthermore, residents must promptly report disease outbreaks to local authorities for appropriate handling.

Vice Chairman of the Nậm Nèn commune People’s Committee Lò Văn Quỳnh further informed that the effectiveness of these efforts was clearly demonstrated during the African Swine Fever outbreak that occurred in the commune from July to November 2025. According to statistics, the commune recorded over 360 infected pigs with a total weight of approximately 17,400kg. However, thanks to the proactive early reporting by residents, all dead pigs were destroyed according to regulations. Pen areas were disinfected with chemicals to prevent animal carcasses from being disposed of in the environment, which avoided further pollution and the spread of the disease.

Following administrative mergers, Nậm Nèn commune now consists of 18 villages with more than 1,400 households. The vast area and scattered population pose significant challenges for maintaining environmental sanitation. Facing this reality, Nậm Nèn determined that mobilizing the power of the entire community is a key factor, with every resident and family playing the role of a “nucleus” in preserving the living environment. The pioneering and exemplary spirit of officials, party members, village heads, and prestigious community members has created a strong ripple effect. From July to the end of December 2025, the commune mobilized more than 630 participants for environmental sanitation campaigns. The commune directed villages to encourage residents to dig trash pits and avoid littering while providing plastic bins to collect domestic waste and pesticide packaging. To date, approximately 65% of households in the area have implemented domestic waste collection according to regulations.

Many effective environmental protection models have been built and replicated, such as the “Green House” model implemented by the commune Youth Union at three school sites and two government offices. At each point, a mesh house is designed simply and conveniently for collecting plastic bottles and cans. Hạng Thị Chua, the Secretary of the Nậm Nèn Youth Union, stated that through the collection and sale of scrap from the “Green House” model in 2025, a fund of more than VND 5 million was created to support students and community activities.

In this first quarter, the union expects to deploy three more scrap collection points to help maintain the habit of waste sorting, recycling, and environmental protection in the daily lives of residents. Environmental protection remains a central task tied to the completion of environmental criteria in building new-style rural areas, and Nậm Nèn continues to step up dissemination, inspection, and supervision to gradually realize the goal of a green, clean, safe, and sustainable new-style rural area.