Forest rangers are turning a blind eye and colluding with illegal loggers.

Some people tasked with managing and protecting forests have turned a blind eye and aided in deforestation, logging, and the consumption of forest products - Chief Justice of the Dak Lak Provincial People's Court and National Assembly representative Nguyen Duy Huu, who has previously spoken out in the National Assembly to call for help for the Central Highlands forests, shared with the reporter.

Sir, many cases of deforestation have been brought to light by law enforcement agencies, including cases where the perpetrators were people entrusted with managing and protecting the forests. What is your opinion on this?

Chief Justice of the People's Court of Dak Lak Province, National Assembly Representative Nguyen Duy Huu

The situation of deforestation and illegal logging remains complex and is mainly concentrated in natural forests, border areas, adjacent regions, nature reserves, and special-use forests. In some places, there has not been adequate attention paid to forest development and protection, especially in areas with unclaimed forest land; some agencies have not fulfilled their responsibilities in forest protection.

Furthermore, in some areas where forests are being destroyed, even though law enforcement officers are stationed to monitor the situation, some individuals assigned to manage and protect the forests have turned a blind eye due to vested interests, and some have even shown signs of colluding with those involved in deforestation, illegal logging, timber trafficking, and land transfers.

Some reasons for this situation include:

+ The National Assembly has enacted numerous legal documents to regulate social relations; however, some legal regulations, enacted long ago, are no longer suitable for the current socio-economic development conditions, creating loopholes that law enforcement officials exploit to circumvent the law. We also lack truly effective mechanisms to thoroughly address violations.

Forest management and protection is an extremely important, difficult, complex, and dangerous task, yet the remuneration for officials and employees in this field remains low.

Some officials and civil servants have become corrupt and degenerate in terms of political ideology, moral character, and lifestyle; they abuse their positions and authority for personal gain.

The press actively exposes deforestation.

In many cases of deforestation, the investigation, detection, and exposure of these issues have been crucial. Specifically, this includes the deforestation of cypress trees at the Nam Giang border gate (Quang Nam), in the Pu Hoat nature reserve (Nghe An), and in the area surrounding the Dong Nai 5 hydroelectric reservoir (Lam Dong). How do you assess the role of the press in this?

In the field of forest management and protection, the press has played an active role.

The press has contributed to disseminating information provided by the public, as well as information discovered through its own investigations, regarding violations of laws governing forest management and protection.

Timely information is crucial for investigating and handling violations of forest management and protection laws. In fact, many cases of deforestation discovered, such as in Quang Nam, Nghe An, and Lam Dong, owe a great deal to the contributions of the press.

The press plays an increasingly important role in detecting and addressing violations of laws governing forest management and protection, contributing to the protection of forest resources.

How do you view the handling of cases where large-scale deforestation is discovered?

In reality, numerous large-scale deforestation incidents, forest loss, and serious violations in forest protection have occurred. However, when these are discovered, handling them still faces many problems.

According to the Law on Forest Protection and Development, forests are divided into three categories based on their intended use (special-use forests, protection forests, and production forests), leading to the formation of management organizations for each type of forest. Many primary forests are entrusted to protection forest management boards and national parks for management, but there is still no effective mechanism to manage the activities of these units efficiently.

Furthermore, overlapping legal regulations in the operational mechanisms, management, and functions and responsibilities of forest protection between forest rangers and the management boards of protection forests and national parks have narrowed the role of these units and failed to maximize the effectiveness of forest protection activities.

The overlapping mechanisms and regulations regarding the functions and responsibilities of forest protection make it difficult to thoroughly address violations, and there is no effective mechanism in place; this leads to difficulties in clearly determining the responsibility of each unit when violations occur.

The regulations of the Law on Forest Protection and Development are still general, lacking specificity, and contradict and overlap with nearly 100 sub-laws guiding its application; they also contradict and overlap with some specialized laws such as the Land Law and the Biodiversity Law.

The current Criminal Code's provisions regarding crimes related to forest management and protection are inadequate and inconsistent. Many acts are not covered by the Criminal Code; some articles defining these crimes lack specific legal characteristics, leading to potential confusion. The application of the Criminal Code's provisions in investigation, prosecution, and trial practices also faces difficulties.

Therefore, dealing with deforestation cases is quite difficult. To effectively handle these cases, close monitoring by the public and the media is needed; measures to build more effective sanctions are required; and individual responsibility, especially the responsibility of the heads of state management agencies related to forest management, protection, and development, is necessary.

At the same time, it is necessary to quickly complete the legal system for forest management and protection in a unified and rigorous manner, ensuring its feasibility.

Recently, the Prime Minister directed the closure of natural forests, prohibiting the conversion of forest land use in the existing 2.25 million hectares of natural forest to other purposes, including approved but unimplemented projects and works, except for projects serving important national defense and security purposes.

This is a drastic measure to improve the effectiveness of forest protection and development.

According to Vietnamnet