THE PRIME MINISTER
Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;
Pursuant to the Law on Forest Protection and Development of August 19, 1991;
Pursuant to Decision No. 245/1998/QD-TTg of December 21, 1998;
At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Official Dispatches No. 3638/BNN-KH of October 26, 2000 and No. 4300/BNN-TCTK of December 11, 2000) and the General Department of Statistics� opinion in Official Dispatch No. 739/TCTK-NN of November 1, 2000,
DECIDES:
Article 1.- To approve the results of general inventory of forests throughout the country by the end of December 31, 1999: There had been throughout the country 10,915,592 ha of forests of all types with the corresponding coverage rate of 33.2% (excluding timber trees planted scatteredly and perennial industrial trees with large canopies), of which:
- Area of natural forests: 9,444,198 ha, accounting for 86.5% of the total forest area in the whole country.
- Area of planted forests: 1,471,394 ha, making up 13.5% of the total forest area in the whole country.
Article 2.- To assign the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities the forest area already inventoried by December 31, 1999 (the list is enclosed with this Decision).
The presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to organize the forest management, protection and development in strict accordance with the provisions of the Prime Minister�s Decision No. 245/1998/QD-TTg of December 21, 1998 on the exercise of State management responsibilities of all levels over forests and forestry land.
Article 3.- To assign the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to inspect and supervise the implementation of forest protection; coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in providing professional guidance to localities in the work of forest management, protection and development; coordinate with the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities in regularly surveying and evaluating forest resource developments to serve as basis for planning national socio-economic development policies.
Article 4.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.
For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
NGUYEN CONG TAN