The Hanoi Forest Protection Department has focused on improving the capacity of forest officers to use remote sensing technology to update forest management records, according to Deputy Director of the department Nguyen Tien Lam.

"In 2023, the department coordinated with Song Da Kinh Bac Joint Stock Company to organize a training course to improve the capacity of its rangers in forest management and protection, as well as forest fire prevention and suppression," Lam told The Hanoi Times.

Officers of the Hanoi Forest Protection Department observe and monitor the forest via a camera system. Photo: Anh Ngoc/The Hanoi Times

He added that the training course is one of the important parts of the project "Improving State Management Capacity on Forest Management and Protection, Fire Prevention and Fighting in Hanoi", which was approved by the Hanoi People's Committee in Decision No. 5443/QD-UBND dated December 4, 2020.

The training was attended by 40 forestry officers from the five districts of Ba Vi, Soc Son, Chuong My, Son Tay and My Duc. "The trainees are trained on regulations and techniques to monitor forest development. The training course aims to help Hanoi's forest officers improve their knowledge and skills in using FRMS System 4.0 to monitor and update forest developments and changes," Lam said.

He noted that the course is very necessary to help them acquire new knowledge, improve their skills, and meet the overall mission requirements of Hanoi's forestry sector.

At the training session, Deputy Chief of Forest Ranger District No. 7 (Son Tay City) Dinh Duc Hoang said that his unit's information technology infrastructure is still poor. "To meet work requirements, each ranger unit needs to be equipped with a highly configured computer with a fast connection to professionally install and use software," Hoang stressed.

Vu Duc Duong, head of Forest Ranger District No. 8 (Chuong My District), said that the lack of computers and technological equipment is a major challenge for forest officers. "Therefore, the Forest Protection Department would request the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Hanoi's rural districts to approve machines and information technology equipment to improve forest management performance," Duong said.