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Legitimate for the street…

Nhat Lan • June 10, 2024 14:02

Not as colorful as royal poinciana, rosewood, ban, lagerstroemia..., and not yet included in the urban tree project; but cassia - a tree species originating from the mountains and forests - with tiny clusters of ivory-white flowers, has quietly come and beautified Vinh city.

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STREET GAS

The single-leafed cassia tree - a tree species originating from the mountains and forests of Western Nghe An - has appeared sporadically, mixed in with some roads, in offices, and in front of households in Vinh city for quite a long time. But perhaps, except for their owners, few people know exactly when these single-leafed cassia trees were planted. Perhaps, people only know that there are single-leafed cassia trees planted in the streets, "thanks" to a few times of noise and controversy about their origin, and suspicions that they were illegally brought from the forest.

But then, in the midst of the waves of new information, and because of the hustle and bustle of daily life, all the noise, controversy, and doubt quickly drifted away, leaving the single trees planted in the streets to sink into oblivion.

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When the tiny clusters of ivory-white flowers bloom on the green leaves, on the straight tree trunks with bright yellow bark, people remember that the street has the presence of the single-flowered cassia tree...

Until the beginning of May, when the clusters of tiny ivory-white flowers bloom on the green leaves, on the straight tree trunks with bright yellow bark, people remember that the street has the presence of the cassia tree. They suddenly realize that the tree originates from the forest planted in the city, how beautiful. Like many people, I was also surprised when I saw the cassia tree blooming with tiny ivory-white flowers on Duy Tan and Le Loi streets...

Realizing that the tree line originating from the mountains and forests has created a unique beauty for the street. Not as brilliant red and yellow as royal poinciana, rosewood, not as purple as ban, lagerstroemia..., but gently beautiful, simple, and charming. And I think, the managers should pay attention, choose the single-tree trees to become the urban green trees, creating streets of pure single-tree trees.

Confessing his feelings on his personal Facebook, an older friend announced that if he wanted to see the street-side cassia, he should visit the new urban area along the Vinh River. “There, the cassia has been nurtured and planted into streets hundreds of meters long, with some trees blooming beautifully…” - he texted.

According to what he said, when he entered the new urban area along the Vinh River, it was true. Here, the cassia trees were planted on a large scale, and the number of trees planted was very large. There were streets where cassia trees were planted with other types of trees; but there were many streets where cassia trees were planted purely. Observing, these cassia trees were all planted not long ago, but they had grown very well. It seemed that the cassia trees were suitable for the climate, soil, and land of Vinh city, and in the harsh early summer sun, they still sprouted young branches and bloomed with tiny clusters of ivory-white flowers...

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Like the cassia tree, which is suitable for the climate, soil, and land of Vinh city, in the harsh early summer sun, it still sprouts young branches and blooms with tiny clusters of ivory-white flowers...

I chatted with a businessman who manages the urban area, expressing his desire to know the origin of the cassia trees, as well as the reason for choosing this type of forest tree to plant on the streets. Without hesitation, he confided that many years ago, when he went up to the Western region of Nghe An, he knew and really liked the cassia tree. He liked it because the cassia tree is a forest tree with comprehensive beauty, from the base, roots to the trunk, branches, flowers, and leaves.

“The cassia tree is found in many villages and households’ production gardens in mountainous areas. It has bright-colored branches and leaves, and its flowers are almost green all year round. In winter, when the cassia tree changes leaves and sprouts new buds, it is absolutely beautiful. We have studied the cassia tree’s roots and found that both the taproot and the fibrous roots are deep in the ground, very strong, and do not worry about the impact of storms and rain, and basically do not harm the technical infrastructure of sidewalks and roadsides… Therefore, when implementing this project, we determined that the cassia tree will be the main tree species planted on the streets…”, he shared.

Regarding the origin of the individual cassia trees in the urban area, according to him, they all come from the highland districts, bought and exploited by gardeners in Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Nghi Loc, Nghia Dan districts... from villages, in the home gardens of households, then transported and brought back for planting. "For example, in Nghia Dan district, there are quite large individual cassia tree nurseries. We order trees from such nurseries, with full legal documents. This urban area has planted approximately 1,000 individual cassia trees, all of which have clear and legal origins...", he said.

GARDEN CENTER

The businessman's comment that the cassia tree exists in many villages, on garden land, and production land of households in the highlands is not wrong. Journalists travel everywhere, so we know that along Highway 7, from Con Cuong district up; and along Highway 48, from Quy Hop, the cassia tree is not only found in the forest, but has spread and grown naturally in large numbers.

In March this year, during a trip to Dien Lam and Chau Hoan communes of Quy Chau mountainous district, we saw many small-flowered cassia trees growing on people's production land and gardens. When asked, people said that the small-flowered cassia trees were mainly scattered, and expressed their desire to exploit the small-flowered cassia trees for additional livelihoods.

Talking about this with Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Chairman of Dien Lam Commune People's Committee, he told us that on the production land and garden land of the people, there are many types of trees originating from the forest that grow naturally, including the cajuput tree. On the part of the commune government, they encourage people to preserve trees in locations that create landscapes and shade to beautify their homeland; as for trees far from roads and villages, they also hope that there will be legal purchasing units so that people can have more livelihoods...

Going back in time, in 2023, on a trip to the Ba Ha mountain area to visit the difficult situation of the Dan Lai people, when passing through the Chi Khe, Chau Khe, and Thach Ngan communes of Con Cuong district, we observed countless wild cassia trees growing on their own, or planted, protected, and cared for by the people on production land, garden land, and in the villages. Stopping at Ke Tre village, Thach Ngan commune, we also heard about the difficulties related to wild cassia trees in home gardens, when people harvested them and sold them to traders to earn more income. In the past few years, when wild cassia trees were loved by people in the city and sought to be planted as ornamental plants, in Thach Ngan, traders came to buy them. Each wild cassia tree, depending on the circumference of the base, shape, and form, will cost from several hundred thousand dong to several million dong.

In a land with many difficulties like Thach Ngan, the value of cassia has added to the livelihood of the people. Unfortunately, cassia is a tree species originating from natural forests, so it faces many difficulties in the process of exploitation, trading and transportation. For example, in Ke Tre village, according to Vice Chairman of Thach Ngan Commune People's Committee - Mr. Ngo Tri Dai, there was a case where Ms. Vi Thi Hanh and Mr. Nguyen Van Hiem's ​​family exploited cassia trees they had grown themselves to sell to traders, but when they were taken out of the commune, they were detained on suspicion of illegal exploitation in natural forests. Only when the authorities clarified the origin were they returned.

In Ke Tre village, we visited the family of Mr. Hiem and Ms. Hanh and saw that the family's small cassia garden still had about 40 trees, close to the house. Here, Ms. Hanh said that the family's small cassia garden was planted by Mr. Hiem around 1991, when he and his parents built a house and reclaimed land to grow corn and peanuts. At that time, there were no small cassia trees on the land. After reclaiming the land for a while, seeing that small cassia trees were growing on their own, Mr. Hiem dug up some small cassia trees in the village and brought them back to plant in a garden, take care of them, and protect them. In recent years, because the small cassia garden close to the house was at risk of collapsing, affecting the house and the lives of family members, Mr. Hiem intended to cut it down for wood, firewood, or sell it to earn more income.

In 2022, when a trader came to buy, Mr. Hiem's ​​family agreed to sell, but the odd cassia trees exploited during transportation were temporarily detained. Although they were later returned, the exploitation was also temporarily suspended... And Ms. Hanh expressed: "If we leave it like that until the storm and flood, the odd cassia trees will break and damage the house. Therefore, my family hopes to exploit and sell this odd cassia garden. In 2022, someone bought it and took a truck away, but then it was suspended and no further exploitation was allowed. Now the family does not know what to do...".

Recently, when contacting the Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Con Cuong District, Luong Dinh Viet, I heard him confide about a number of problems that are obstacles to economic development in the area. Referring to the individual cassia trees on production land and garden land of the people, according to Mr. Luong Dinh Viet, the current legal regulations have been changed to be accurate and suitable to reality, allowing people to exploit and trade, with the requirement that local authorities and functional units in the area must accurately determine the origin, helping people to prepare forest product records according to regulations.

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“The regulations are very clear. People can proactively report to the local authorities and forest rangers to be inspected and have their records made before organizing the exploitation, purchase, and transportation of timber in their production land and garden land. We also hope that the individual cassia trees in people’s gardens will become a commodity, purchased by businesses so that people in mountainous areas can have more income…”

Mr. Luong Dinh Viet
Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Con Cuong district

WILL RETAIL GAS BE INCLUDED IN THE URBAN GREEN TREE PROJECT?

He told some Vinh city officials about the planting of individual cassava trees on the streets in the Vinh riverside urban area. These officials also recognized that individual cassava trees are very suitable for planting on the streets. As Deputy Head of the Urban Management Department Nguyen Son Tung commented, individual cassava trees adapt well and have many advantages for planting on the streets; and the discussion will consider recommending the city to include them in the Urban Green Tree Project. Mr. Nguyen Son Tung said: "In the next term, we will recommend adding individual cassava trees to the Urban Green Tree Project. At present, for streets that have not been planned for trees, when there is investment, the Urban Management Department will study and recommend the city leaders to allow pilot planting..."

Having served as Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, Vinh City Party Secretary Phan Duc Dong has a deep understanding of the cassia tree. He also assessed that the cassia tree has many advantages and is very suitable for planting on urban streets, but the Vinh City Party Secretary has some concerns. Because as he discussed, cassia tree is a type of tree originating from the forest, although it grows widely on production land and garden land of people in mountainous areas, but is the law allowing its exploitation, purchase, sale, and transportation to plant on the streets?

Citing Article 12, Circular No. 26/TT-BNNPTNT dated December 30, 2022 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, affirms that the law allows organizations, individuals, households, and communities to exploit common forest plants from production forests that are self-invested planted forests; scattered plants, home garden plants with names that coincide with common forest plant species from natural forests.

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“If the law allows, the city will research to be able to supplement the planning for planting on some streets. If done, it will not only beautify the urban space, but also help the mountainous people of the province reduce difficulties…”.

Mr. Phan Duc Dong -
Secretary of Vinh City Party Committee

Listening to the above discussions, I feel happy. Because maybe in the near future, the cassia - a tree species originating from the forest - will officially become an urban green tree. Vinh city, and possibly other urban areas of the province, will have streets planted with pure cassia; so that people in the mountainous areas will have an additional livelihood, and in the city, in the early days of summer, there will be streets covered with flowers of tiny white color...