A Thanh Nien report said Tuesday that the northern province's agricultural department has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to obtain the prime minister’s approval to convert over 32 ha of protected forest in Hai Ha District for expanding the Hai Ha Seaport Industrial Zone.

Chinese textile corporation Texhong is the project investor for the industrial zone.

Of the 32 ha of protected forest, about 30 ha is natural mangrove forest and the rest is planted, according to the agricultural department.

"The project investor already has a replacement plan for the loss of forest coverage caused by the conversion," the report cited an unnamed department representative as saying.

The province is already implementing another project to protect and develop its protection forests, the representative said.

Vietnam currently has around 14.6 million hectares of forest, 10.3 million ha natural and 4.3 million ha grown.

The national forest coverage is estimated at more than 41 percent of its total area, compared to 58 percent in Cambodia, 68 percent in Laos, and around 21 percent in China and India.