Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered localities to save forests by planting 150,500 hectares of trees nationwide and preventing illegal deforestation.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered localities to save forests by planting 150,500 hectares of trees nationwide and preventing illegal deforestation.

The move came after a conference reviewed forest protection activities so far this year. It was told that several localities had failed to expand adjacent forests.

In the first six months, only 51,000ha of trees were planted nationwide, about 23 per cent of the total target.

Many localities were accused of using investment capital for trees to build infrastructure, Hai said.

Statistics show that more than 397ha of forests were illegally destroyed across the country in the period.

"Localities in the central, central highland and northern regions must take proper actions to stop trees being illegally cut down," Hai said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will direct forest-management teams to co-operate with local authorities to remove all wood processing workshops inside and outside the forests.

The national steering committee on forest protection and development until 2020 was asked to show localities how to overcome difficulties in protecting and developing forests.