The Cua Dat Hydropower Plant in the northern province of Thanh Hoa. — VNA/VNS Photo Thai Ha

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Businesses that deliberately delayed the replanting of forests would have their operating licences revoked, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said yesterday.

He made the statement yesterday in Ha Noi during an online conference on replanting forests to replace those destroyed for other purposes.

Reviewing afforestation efforts in recent years, Phat said that progress in many localities remained slow.

Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry Nguyen Ba Ngai said that as of December, only 28 out of 55 cities and provinces had managed to replant forests.

The area of afforestation was about 4,650 hectares, accounting for 35 per cent of this year's target, and a number of localities had not planted alternative forests, such as Lai Chau, Thanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Binh Phuoc and Tra Vinh.

Some localities had started afforestation, but the results remained weak such as Nghe An, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Quang Nam, Phu Yen and Lang Son.

At the conference, Phat asked all levels, sectors and localities to continue to strictly implement the replanting of alternative forests, saying this was an important task.

He said that afforestation must be completed in 2015, and businesses that did not replant alternative forests must pay for local forest protection and development. — VNS