The story in Nghe An: Handing over forests to family clans for safekeeping.

(Baonghean) - To protect the ancient ironwood trees, the people of Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) established a village agreement, assigning each forest area to large clans. These clans then assigned the protection to individual households, with the commitment not to cut down the trees but only to harvest non-timber forest products and cultivate crops under the forest canopy.

Ancient forest in the low-lying area

In June, dozens of people in Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) gather under the shade of ancient ironwood trees to escape the sun. These clusters of ironwood trees growing on gently sloping hills are like layers of armor protecting the villagers. Thanks to this forest, the intense sun and scorching hot winds from Central Vietnam have little impact on the lives of the people here.

The ironwood trees stand right behind the houses in Yen Thanh. Photo: Tien Hung

As soon as I set foot in the ironwood forest at Rú Chùa, many locals watched me with wary eyes. Rú Chùa is the name of a hill covering tens of hectares surrounding the center of Lăng Thành commune, right behind the commune's People's Committee office. Hundreds of ironwood trees still grow on this hill.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” an elderly man, around 70 years old, stopped me at the forest gate and sternly asked. After I showed my identification and explained my reason, he cheerfully led me into the forest. Many locals were resting against the trunks of ancient trees, next to a venerable temple. Inside the forest, the temperature on these summer days is always about 5 degrees Celsius cooler than outside.

Covering nearly 5,000 hectares, Lang Thanh is the largest commune in Yen Thanh district – a locality still known as the "rice homeland" with its fertile rice paddies. Therefore, few would imagine that, in this flat area less than 10 km from the district center, ancient forests of ironwood trees still exist.

"With the devastation caused by illegal logging, it's now difficult to find forests of ironwood trees like these, even in the remotest mountain valleys," said Mr. Ho Van Huy (69 years old) proudly.

According to statistics from the People's Committee of Lang Thanh commune, the commune currently has over 106 hectares of ironwood forest, distributed across 14 hills in hamlets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. There are currently over 2,000 ironwood trees with a diameter of 30 cm or more. Most of these trees have a diameter of 60-80 cm and are over 30 meters tall. In addition, the forest contains thousands of other valuable timber trees such as mahogany and teak. Rice fields and residential houses are located at the foot of these hills.

“We people of Lang Thanh consider these forests as treasures, our ‘green lungs.’ They help regulate the climate. In the summer, they provide coolness; during the rainy season, they shelter the villagers; and during floods, they serve as refuge. The hills covered with ironwood trees also help retain water during the dry season…,” said Mr. Cao Van Vo, Head of Village 4, recounting the benefits the forest provides.

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

These ancient ironwood trees are hundreds of years old. Photo: Tien Hung

Village covenant to preserve the lim tree forest

Currently, there are no documents mentioning when the Lang Thanh lim forest originated. Some elderly people believe it was planted when Nguyen Huu Dao, a villager who achieved high academic honors (Hoi Nguyen Hoang Giap) in the Tan Mui year of Chinh Hoa 12, during the reign of King Le Hy Tong (i.e., 1691), achieved the highest rank.

After passing his exams, Mr. Dao returned to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors and simultaneously planted ironwood trees to cover most of the hills in the village. If this hypothesis is correct, then the ancient ironwood forest in Lang Thanh began to be planted in the 17th century, meaning it is over 300 years old.

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

“The ironwood trees grow very slowly. I was born and raised in this village. When I was little, I often went into the forest to play with my friends. Back then, I saw these ironwood trees that had grown so big, and now, after more than 70 years, their size seems to have remained unchanged. They must be at least several hundred years old,” said Mr. Hoang Van Tho (79 years old).

It's not certain when the forest was established, but Mr. Tho still clearly remembers the strict regulations his ancestors set to protect it.

The dense forest of ironwood trees makes the climate here cooler on hot days. Photo: Tien Hung

According to this custom, households entrusted with managing the teak forest were only allowed to harvest non-timber forest products such as firewood, medicinal plants, and cultivate crops under the forest canopy. “I remember that pineapples were often grown under the teak forest canopy. Every time the pineapples ripened, the whole area smelled wonderful. Meanwhile, up above, even pruning teak branches required permission from the village before any cutting could be done,” Mr. Tho recounted.

According to this custom, the village would appoint reputable individuals to regularly inspect and monitor the forests. The counting of the teak trees was strictly enforced. If any family clan was found to have lost teak trees, the village would severely punish that clan. Meanwhile, if the lost teak trees were determined to belong to a household responsible for protection, that household would be punished. The punishment was usually in the form of rice.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hai, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lang Thanh commune, said that the form of forest protection through village regulations existed until 1954. At that time, in accordance with the policy of nationalization, the lim forest was handed over by the villagers to the Cooperative for management. However, in the early 1990s, a caterpillar infestation appeared, killing many ancient lim trees.

Around this time, illegal logging was rampant throughout the country. The precious teak forest located in this low-lying area therefore became a target for illegal loggers. The cooperative's protection team was ineffective, resulting in significant damage to the teak forest.

Given this situation, in 1992, Lang Thanh commune decided to entrust the management of the teak forest area to households under a contract system, which continues to this day. Currently, 106 hectares of teak forest are allocated to 132 households. As per the village's centuries-old regulations, under this contract system, households are only allowed to cultivate crops under the forest canopy, such as pineapple or rattan. If teak trees are lost, the household will be penalized.

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Tien Hung