Story in Nghe An: Handing over forests to families to protect

(Baonghean) - To protect the ancient lim trees, the people of Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) established a village covenant, handing over each forest to large clans. These clans then hand over to each household for protection, with a commitment not to cut down trees but only to collect secondary forest products and produce under the forest canopy.

Old forest in the lowland

In June, dozens of people in Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) gather under the shade of ancient lim trees to avoid the sun. The lim tree populations growing on the gentle hills are like layers of armor protecting the villagers. Thanks to this forest, the harsh sunlight and the scorching Lao winds in the Central region do not affect the lives of the people here.

Lim trees right behind houses in Yen Thanh. Photo: Tien Hung

As soon as I arrived at the ironwood forest in Ru Chua, many people followed me with wary eyes. Ru Chua is the name of a hill with an area of ​​dozens of hectares surrounding the center of Lang Thanh commune, right behind the commune People's Committee headquarters. This hill still has hundreds of ironwood trees living.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”, an old man around 70 years old stopped me right at the forest gate and asked sternly. After showing my papers and explaining the reason, he happily led me into the forest. Many people were leaning against the ironwood trees to rest, next to an ancient pagoda. In the forest, the temperature on these summer days is always about 5 degrees Celsius cooler than outside.

Lang Thanh has an area of ​​nearly 5,000 hectares, is the largest commune of Yen Thanh district - a locality still known as "rice homeland" with fertile fields. Therefore, few people think that in the middle of this plain, less than 10 km from the district center, there still exist ancient lim forests.

"With the destruction caused by illegal loggers, now even in remote areas and the deepest mountain valleys, it is difficult to find ironwood forests like this," Mr. Ho Van Huy (69 years old) proudly said.

According to statistics of Lang Thanh Commune People's Committee, currently the whole commune has more than 106 hectares of ironwood forest, distributed in 14 hills of villages 1, 2, 3, 4, 8. The number of ironwood trees with diameters of 30 cm or more is currently more than 2,000 trees. Most of the ironwood trees have diameters of 60 - 80 cm, over 30 m high. In addition, in the forest there are also thousands of precious wood trees such as mahogany, trai... Right at the foot of the hills are rice fields and houses.

“We, the people of Lang Thanh, consider these forests as treasures, as “green lungs”. They help regulate the climate. In the summer, they are cool, in the rainy season they protect the villagers, and in the flood season they are a shelter for the people. The lim forest hills also help retain water during the dry season…”, Mr. Cao Van Vo, Head of Village 4, told about the benefits that the forests bring.

According to the elders in the village, during the war years, the American army brought bombs to destroy the North. At that time, the forest was a shelter for both the people and the soldiers. Bunkers and trenches were dug under the forest canopy so that the soldiers could be ready for battle...

Hundreds of years old lim trees. Photo: Tien Hung

Village covenant to preserve ironwood forest

Currently, there is no document mentioning when the Lim Lang Thanh forest was established. Some elders believe that it was planted when Mr. Nguyen Huu Dao, a son of the village, passed the exam with high marks (Hoi Nguyen Hoang Giap) in the Tan Mui year of Chinh Hoa 12, King Le Hy Tong (ie 1691).

After passing the exam, Mr. Dao returned to his hometown to "pay his respects to his ancestors" and planted lim trees on most of the hills in the village. If this hypothesis is correct, the ancient lim forest in Lang Thanh began to be planted in the 90s of the 17th century, which means it is over 300 years old.

However, this hypothesis is not recorded in any historical document. Meanwhile, many others believe that the ironwood forest existed before.

“Lim trees take a long time to grow. I was born and raised in this village. When I was young, I often went to the forest with my friends to play. At that time, I saw these big lim trees. Even though they are over 70 years old, their size seems to have not changed at all. They must be at least a few hundred years old,” said Mr. Hoang Van Tho (79 years old).

It is not certain when the forest appeared, but Mr. Tho still clearly remembers the strict rules of his ancestors to protect the forest.

The ironwood forest covers the area, making the climate here cooler on hot days. Photo: Tien Hung

According to this village covenant, households assigned to manage the ironwood forest are only allowed to collect secondary forest products such as firewood collection, medicinal plant exploitation and farming under the forest canopy. “I still remember that under the ironwood forest canopy, pineapples are often grown. Every time the pineapples ripen, the whole area is fragrant. Meanwhile, above, if you want to trim ironwood branches, you have to ask for permission and get the village’s approval before you can cut them,” Mr. Tho said.

According to this village convention, the village will appoint reputable people to regularly inspect and monitor the forests. The counting of lim trees is strictly done. If the forest managed by any family is found to have lost lim, the village will severely punish that family. Meanwhile, on the family side, if the lost lim is determined to belong to a household responsible for protecting it, that household will be punished. The form of punishment is usually rice.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hai - Vice Chairman of Lang Thanh Commune People's Committee, said that the form of forest protection by village convention existed until 1954. At that time, implementing the nationalization policy, the ironwood forest was handed over to the Cooperative for management by the villagers. However, in the early 90s of the last century, the caterpillar epidemic appeared, killing many ancient ironwood trees.

At the same time, illegal logging was rampant throughout the country. The precious ironwood forest located in this lowland area thus became the target of illegal loggers. The Cooperative's protection team was ineffective, causing the ironwood forest to be heavily damaged.

Faced with that situation, in 1992 Lang Thanh commune decided to hand over the lim forest area to households for management under a contract form until today. Currently, 106 hectares of lim forest are assigned to 132 households. Just like the village covenant established hundreds of years ago, under this contract form, households are only allowed to produce under the forest canopy such as growing pineapples and rattan. If lim trees are lost, that household will be fined.

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Tien Hung