According to the province's agriculture and environment authorities, declining soil fertility, shrinking vegetation cover, erosion and reduced water retention capacity have already emerged in some areas, prompting early intervention to safeguard agricultural productivity and local livelihoods.
To address these challenges, Gia Lai is implementing the National Action Program to Combat Desertification through 2030, with a vision to 2050. The program includes surveys, assessments and mapping of areas vulnerable to land degradation to support management and restoration measures suited to different ecological conditions.
Nguyen Van Hoan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said identifying risks at an early stage is essential not only for protecting soil resources but also for securing long-term livelihoods and improving resilience to increasingly severe climate change impacts.
Based on current land assessments, the province plans to gradually restructure its agricultural sector toward sustainable and climate-adaptive development. Between 2026 and 2030, Gia Lai intends to convert more than 26,700 hectares of low-yield crops to varieties better matched with local soil conditions, water resources and market demand.
The province is also promoting drought-resistant crop varieties, water-saving irrigation systems, smart agriculture models and wider use of organic fertilizers and biological products. Farmers are being encouraged to adopt crop rotation, intercropping, integrated pest management and comprehensive plant health management to improve soil quality, increase water retention and restore natural fertility.
Forest protection has been identified as another cornerstone of Gia Lai's long-term strategy, with authorities describing forests as a natural barrier against soil erosion, degradation and desertification.
Truong Thanh Ha, Acting Head of the Forest Protection Sub-Department under the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said the province aims to maintain a forest coverage rate of 46.51% by 2030.
During the 2026–2030 period, Gia Lai plans to plant and replant around 125,000 hectares of forest while producing more than 1.15 billion forestry seedlings to support reforestation and ecosystem restoration.
Alongside expanding forest area, the province is promoting the development of large timber forests managed under sustainable forest certification standards. The initiative is intended to meet the raw material needs of the wood processing industry while creating opportunities to participate in timber and forest carbon markets.
Digital technology is also being incorporated into forest management through remote sensing systems, drones and specialized databases. Authorities say these tools will improve monitoring of forest changes, track land degradation risks and enable earlier detection of forest encroachment and fire hazards.
The province is simultaneously encouraging under-canopy economic activities, including medicinal plant cultivation, ecotourism and experiential tourism, to generate livelihoods while strengthening community participation in forest conservation.
According to Truong Thanh Ha, effective implementation of forest carbon credit mechanisms could provide additional income for communities living near forests through forest protection and development activities, helping align economic benefits with natural resource conservation.
Beyond agricultural and forestry initiatives, Gia Lai plans to intensify public awareness campaigns on desertification prevention, environmental protection and biodiversity conservation to strengthen community engagement.
The province is also establishing coordination mechanisms with neighboring Dak Lak and Quang Ngai provinces to improve interprovincial water resource management and protect bordering protective forest belts, aiming to reduce the broader impacts of land degradation.
Nguyen Van Hoan said the combined measures are gradually creating a strong "green shield" that will protect land resources, preserve ecosystems and provide a foundation for the province's long-term green and sustainable economic development.