Hundreds of households 'trapped' in special-use forest in Nam Dan

Uprooted trees are not exploited.

For over a year now, every time they hear the weather forecast of storms, the people of Hamlet 9 (Nam Thanh Commune, Nam Dan District) are anxious. They are not worried about their lives or their homes, but are only afraid that the acacia forest on the mountain will break or fall. This is the forest they invested in planting, but even though it is too old to harvest, and despite having applied for permission to exploit it many times, it has not been approved yet.

Hamlet 9 is the most remote hamlet of Nam Thanh commune, located at the foot of Dai Hue mountain. For generations, people have lived off the forest. Leading us to the forest, Mr. Le Cong Hoa (69 years old) said that although storm Noru in September did not directly hit Nghe An, it still caused wind and rain, causing 5 hectares of acacia forest of the local people here to break or fall. “It’s such a pity, uncle. Seeing it broken and fallen like that, I don’t dare to take it back. I can only watch it gradually rot,” Mr. Hoa said with tears in his eyes.

When we arrived, many acacia trees had just been uprooted and broken after the rain a few days ago. In Mr. Hoa’s forest, many acacia trees with a diameter of about 40cm that had fallen months ago were still lying around. Some were rotten.

Broken and uprooted trees litter the forest. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Hoa said that this area used to be called a forest but it was mainly reeds and bushes. In the dry season, fires broke out almost every year, and the local authorities and functional forces had to spend a lot of effort to put out the fires. In 2007, the people of Hamlet 9 were mobilized by the Nam Thanh Commune government to receive land to plant forests to cover the bare hills. Since then, there have been no more forest fires in this area.

“At that time, we were encouraged that anyone who wanted to be divided land only needed to submit an application. When the harvest season came, they had to pay the commune 8 yen of rice per hectare,” Mr. Hoa said. After submitting the application, Mr. Hoa was divided 5 hectares of land. His family then had to borrow money to buy seedlings and hire people to clear bushes to plant acacia. In 2015, excited to harvest the first acacia crop, like many other households, Mr. Hoa continued to invest in planting acacia in the assigned forest. In 2021, when this acacia crop was ready to be harvested and he was about to bring in machinery to exploit it, Mr. Hoa was shocked to receive the information that “if exploited, it would be a violation of the law”. At this time, he learned that this forest had been planned as a special-use forest.

Forests are the only source of income for Mr. Hoa’s family. But because they cannot harvest, his family has fallen into debt. “To plant forests, we had to borrow money. Up to now, my family still owes the bank 180 million. We thought we would pay after harvesting the acacia, but we have waited for more than a year and still have not been able to harvest,” Mr. Hoa said.

Also in the same situation as Mr. Hoa, Mr. Dinh Huu Bao (67 years old) had to swallow his tears as he watched his 20-hectare forest being destroyed by storms and rains day by day. “Acacia trees are not like pine trees, they cannot live long. If they are not harvested early, they will not be uprooted or broken by storms and rains, they will die. We do not know what we did wrong that they did not allow us to harvest them,” said Mr. Bao.

Mr. Vo Van Son - Vice Chairman of Nam Thanh Commune People's Committee said that, following the policy of Nam Dan district, in hamlet 9, 34 households were mobilized by the government to receive land to plant forests to cover bare hills, limit forest fires and develop the economy. In addition, there were 14 other households who arbitrarily went up the mountain to clear land for planting.

“In fact, that area used to be just bushes and reeds. Thanks to the people planting new acacia forests, there are no more fires. I don’t understand why they planned it as a special-use forest. In 2015, when people finished harvesting the first crop of acacia trees, no one had any objections, so they continued to plant new trees. When it was planned as a special-use forest, we didn’t receive any notice, so we didn’t know how to inform the people,” said Mr. Son, adding that the area of ​​acacia forests is up to hundreds of hectares. All of them are past the age of harvest.

According to the Nam Thanh commune authorities, this area used to be a reed area, and forest fires often occurred. Since the land was allocated to the people to plant acacia forests, forest fires have stopped. Photo: Tien Hung

Need a solution soon

According to the reporter's investigation, not only in Nam Thanh, many other communes in Nam Dan district are also in a similar dilemma. From Nam Kim, Nam Thai, Thuong Tan Loc, Nam Hung to Nam Dan town. In Nam Hung commune, there are about 100 hectares of acacia forest that have been past the harvest age for many years but have not been exploited due to being stuck in special-use forests. Of which, 50 hectares of acacia forest were planted under the investment support project program; the remaining 50 hectares were purchased by local people to cover bare hills with trees. "People have made continuous petitions. They have opinions in almost every voter meeting. We hope that the competent authorities will consider allowing them to exploit," said Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan - Chairman of Nam Hung Commune People's Committee.

In Nam Kim commune, there are 100 hectares of acacia forests that are over 10 years old but still cannot be exploited. These are acacia forests planted under the project of planting 5 million hectares of new forests in the period of 2010 to 2011, which has been approved by the authorities.

In particular, in Thuong Tan Loc commune, there are forests that were planted 16 to 18 years ago, which are now too old but have not been harvested. Accordingly, implementing the project policy of planting 5 million hectares of new forests to green bare hills, create jobs and increase income for forest planters, Nam Dan Protective Forest Management Board (now Nam Dan Special-use Forest Management Board) has submitted the dossier to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for approval, and at the same time directed the planting of mixed forests of pine and acacia. In Thuong Tan Loc commune, from 2004 to 2006, nearly 300 hectares were planted. Currently, the acacia trees are too old and suppress the pine, making it impossible for it to grow. However, since being planned as a special-use forest, due to problems with the management regulations of special-use forests, this entire area cannot be exploited.

Acacia trees are lying around but people cannot take them home because they violate special-use forest regulations. Photo: Tien Hung

Discussing this issue, a leader of Nam Dan district said that in 2007, implementing the policy of land allocation and leasing of forestry land according to Decree 163 of the Government, the district People's Committee established a Steering Committee for forest land allocation for all communes with forests. Since then, households have purchased acacia and eucalyptus seedlings, invested in fertilizers, organized production and have harvested in rotation from 1 to 2 cycles.

In June 2010, the Prime Minister issued a decision approving the project of planning special-use forests associated with historical relics in Nam Dan district, increasing the total area of ​​special-use forests in Nam Dan from 628 hectares to 3,069 hectares. Of which, more than 1,700 hectares of protective forests, 410 hectares of production forests, 240 hectares of barren hills and nearly 29 hectares of garden land were converted to special-use forests.

“Because some land areas of households that were allocated or leased forestry land under Decree 163 are in the special-use forest planning, while the process of preparing documents to include them in the special-use forest planning, the forest management unit and the People's Committees of the communes did not clarify with the households, the people still planted acacia and eucalyptus. Now it is time to harvest but they have not been exploited. The people have repeatedly submitted petitions and recommendations through the district People's Council meetings, but they are not under the jurisdiction of the district-level government,” said the leader of Nam Dan district.

The acacia trees are now past harvest age but are not exploited. Photo: Tien Hung

In September 2021, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district sent a report to the Nghe An Forest Protection Department, proposing to convert some areas of special-use forests in areas unrelated to provincial and national historical and cultural relics to production forests. However, due to being entangled in the Planning Law, it has not yet been approved by higher authorities. Recently, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district continued to issue documents, proposing to competent authorities to convert nearly 500 hectares of special-use forests to production forests so that people can harvest acacia and eucalyptus. "These areas are mainly eucalyptus and acacia that people have abandoned seeds, fertilizers, and care for, and the trees are now past the age of harvest, and some areas of pine forests where workers have exploited resin for many years. This is a very legitimate aspiration of the people," the leader of Nam Dan district added.

Mr. Dau Dinh Hung - Head of Nam Dan Special Use Forest Management Board said that the predecessor unit was Dai Hue Forestry Enterprise. In 2006, it was transformed into the Protection Forest Management Board and in 2012, it was transformed into the Nam Dan Special Use Forest Management Board as it is today. According to Mr. Hung, since the planning of the special use forest, not only the people have been stuck, the Management Board has also fallen into a similar situation. Because many areas of pine forests were planted for resin but when they became special use forests, they could not be exploited.

In February 2021, the Nam Dan Special-Use Forest Management Board submitted a request to exploit supporting trees, pine resin, etc. in the special-use forest to the General Department of Forestry, but has not yet received a response.