The story of a forest lover.
(Baonghean)While illegal wildlife trafficking is rampant across borders, and a large number of wild animals are becoming delicacies in upscale restaurants, there is one person who buys monkeys individually from hunters, cares for them, and releases them back into the forest.
His name is Nguyen Xuan Thanh, born in 1962, into a poor farming family in Phu Son commune, Tan Ky district.
In the 1980s, this area was a pristine forest with many rare and valuable tree species such as ironwood, rosewood, teak, and other precious woods. Mr. Thanh was once one of the "active" young men involved in deforestation. He felled hundreds of trees to sell to dealers... In just a few years, the old-growth forests were transformed into barren hills and empty land due to logging and farming by the local people. When the forest was gone, he realized that with the forest gone, the money was gone, leaving him completely penniless. He felt a deep sense of regret.
In 1994, the State implemented a policy of allocating forest land under Decree 02/CP, and he applied to receive land for reforestation. The land he received was in a remote mountainous area bordering Anh Son district. His land allocation story is quite ironic. He wanted the land, but his father wouldn't allow it because at that time, no one in the area was willing to accept it, despite forest rangers spending months in the village trying to persuade people to accept land and forest under the Government Decree. He requested 100 hectares, but because no one else accepted after much persuasion, and encouraged by the forest rangers, he accepted 200 hectares. When the land was re-allocated under Decree 163/CP and surveyed again, the total area he had received was 298 hectares.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh
In 1994, forests were constantly being encroached upon, cut down, and exploited for slash-and-burn agriculture. To enhance the legal basis for forest protection and development, he applied to establish the Tuan Thanh Forestry Enterprise. The Provincial People's Committee granted him a license to establish a private enterprise on January 8, 1994, making it one of the earliest private enterprises in the district. He moved his family to the forest, dedicating his life to it, combining forestry with livestock farming and other agricultural activities.
When he received the land and forest, the entire Khe San and Pu Ha area, belonging to plots 3, 4, and 8 of sub-area 864, was mostly barren land left after slash-and-burn farming, completely depleted by exploitation. After nearly 20 years of hard work in the forest, countless hardships and even imprisonment for protecting the forest and the fruits of his family's labor, he now owns over 200 hectares of restored natural forest with many valuable timber species; over 70 hectares of planted forest ready for harvesting; 9 hectares of fish ponds; and a farm for raising hybrid wild pigs that is under construction.
To protect the forest, Mr. Thanh had to use every method imaginable, from propaganda and persuasion to fighting and relying on government authorities at all levels, to preserve the forest as it is today. In his 298-hectare forest, he knows every tree and blade of grass. The ironwood trees are now so large that a person can barely embrace them, and the teak and rosewood trees are so densely packed that thinning them out is a waste. Now, there are not many animals left in his forest, only a few small species like weasels and squirrels, and mostly birds. It's sad that the forest is devoid of animals, so he buys animals that have been hunted elsewhere to release back into the forest, especially rare and endangered species.
The monkeys are about to be released into the forest by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh.
When we asked him why he acted so strangely, given that his forest area wasn't large, and the surrounding mountains were residential areas, making it vulnerable to encroachment, and how he managed to protect it, Mr. Thanh smiled thoughtfully: "Many people think I'm eccentric, some think I like to show off, like to be famous, but I don't think that way. I just want to be a forest-loving citizen and want people to understand that Mr. Thanh, despite being poor, is doing everything he can to protect the forest and its animals, hoping that everyone will refrain from encroaching on the environment and work together to protect the forest."
Mr. Thanh hopes that in the future, his descendants will know what monkeys, deer, and muntjacs are like, not just through books and newspapers, but through firsthand experience in the forest. He also knows that the monkeys he released into the forest are very vulnerable to harm, but he will do everything he can to protect them. He may never get to see them again, but he hopes that the people will understand that deforestation is wrong, and that his descendants will know their father's wish and forever protect the forest.
Text and photos: Nguyen Trong Le (Head of Tan Ky Forest Ranger Station)
