The Thai people's 'forbidden forest' in Xiangyang

(Baonghean) - The Sang Le forest is not only a tourist symbol of Tuong Duong, but also represents the spirit and tireless will of the Thai people to protect the forest.

Oral tradition

We met Mr. Vi Duong Canh while this veteran was walking along the trail surrounding the cajuput forest in Quang Thinh village (Tam Dinh commune, Tuong Duong district). The 62-year-old man walked quickly over the rocky outcrops, his eyes focused on the forest as if counting each tree.

Mr. Canh is currently one of 11 households assigned to protect the cajuput forest, although this forest has been managed by the Tuong Duong District Forest Protection Department for more than 20 years.

“It is very difficult for a ranger to guard the forest alone, the villagers must join in. Eleven households take turns, two people are in charge of patrolling every day. If anything unusual is discovered, it will be reported immediately to the rangers,” said Mr. Canh, adding that this forest protection team was established in 2016, selected from the most prestigious and dedicated people in Quang Thinh village.

Not only with the mangrove forest, they also have the task of protecting more than 170 hectares of the buffer zone of the forest that they still call "forbidden forest".

Mr. Vi Duong Canh, one of 11 households currently assigned to protect the forest. Photo: Tien Hung

The 70-hectare cajuput forest alone has not only become a tourist symbol of Tuong Duong district for many years, but also represents the spirit and tireless will to protect the forest of the Thai village here.

“Now it is preparing to become an eco-tourism area. But few people know that to keep it for the people is a long-term battle with illegal loggers,” Mr. Canh said. Mr. Canh’s house is located right next to Highway 7, behind the house are towering ancient cajeput trees.

Talking about the merits of protecting this forest, people often mention Mr. Vi Chinh Nghia - former Deputy Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Nghe An province. Mr. Nghia just passed away 2 years ago at the age of 87. However, Mr. Canh and the elders here said that Mr. Nghia is just one of the children of Quang Thinh village who continues the tradition of protecting the Sang Le forest that has existed for many generations.

“Mr. Nghia is my uncle. Before he built a hut in the middle of the forest to manage it, this village already had a village covenant to protect it. We considered it a forbidden forest, a sacred forest,” Mr. Canh said.

According to Mr. Vi Vo Tuan - Head of Quang Thinh village, in the past, there were many small trees growing sparsely around this area, then they were cut down by villagers to get land for farming and building houses.

“The current forest is special because it grows densely and closely together, so the trees are tall and straight, looking very beautiful. This place is considered the “fire pan of Indochina” because of the peak heat in the summer, but once entering the forest, the climate is cool. Therefore, since ancient times, our ancestors have had an oral covenant to preserve the forest,” said Mr. Tuan.

According to current statistics, each hectare has up to 240,000 large individual cassia trees. The forest of more than 70 hectares is equivalent to nearly 17 million trees crowded together, each tree is 30 - 40m high. There are trees that 3 people cannot hug around. "Now a patrol road has been built around the forest, but before its boundaries were streams.

"People here want to build houses but no one dares to go into the forest to cut trees, they accept to go far away. Everyone is aware of the teachings of their predecessors. Moreover, if they are discovered by the villagers cutting trees in the forest, they will be severely punished," Mr. Tuan added.

"Guardian" of the forest

In 1964, the “treasure” of the Quang Thinh villagers was in danger of being wiped out. At that time, Tuong Duong Forestry asked the People’s Committee of Nghe An province to exploit the cassia forest. Immediately, Vi Chinh Nghia, a son of the village who was the Secretary of the District Party Committee, submitted a request to preserve this forest and was approved by the province.

By 1989, Quang Thinh village officially had a written village covenant with prohibitions to protect the forest. Accordingly, villagers were not allowed to cut down cassava for any reason, and were not allowed to graze livestock in the forest.

“If people want to cut down wood to build houses, they have to submit it to the village for review. Then the village will specify how much wood to cut and which forest to cut. Except for the current small-scale forest, they are not allowed to touch it,” said Mr. Vi Duong Canh. In addition, the villagers are also responsible for regularly organizing clean-up and clearing of vines clinging to the small-scale forest.

Mr. Canh said that once, a villager, lacking wood to build a house, secretly went into the forest to cut down a single cassia tree and brought it back. The incident was discovered by the villagers, and the family later had to sell their buffalo to pay the fine.

National Highway 7 passes through the forest for about 1 km. Photo: Tien Hung

The village covenant protected the forest from being cut down by villagers to build houses or take land for farming. The forestry department could not exploit it because the province allowed the district to keep it. But for illegal loggers from other localities, the casuarina forest was like a “delicious prey”.

National Highway 7 runs through the forest for more than 1km, in just a few minutes, loggers can cut down old trees along the roadside, load them onto trucks, and "run away". The most stressful period was in the early 90s of the last century, when most of the surrounding forests had been destroyed into bare hills, and the casuarina forest was the desire of many loggers.

The forest was now under the management of the Tuong Duong District Forest Protection Department. Faced with the prying eyes of illegal loggers, the Department decided to assign Mr. Canh to build a hut in the middle of the forest to protect it. "I went in there to protect it, but after a while, illegal loggers secretly cut down trees and continued to deforest," Mr. Vi Duong Canh recalled. The District Forest Protection Department then had to "ask for help" from Mr. Vi Chinh Nghia. At this time, Mr. Nghia had retired and returned to his hometown in Quang Thinh village to live.

“Mr. Nghia then asked the district for a small piece of land in the middle of the cajuput forest, next to Highway 7, to build a watchtower, and brought his wife there to live. He was very strong, walking in the forest every day to patrol. As a very prestigious person in the locality, at first there were a few cases of violations that he discovered and reported to the forest rangers, who severely punished them, so the loggers seemed to be “terrified” of him, not daring to come near the forest,” Mr. Canh recalled.

Since then, the cajuput forest seems to have remained intact. In 2008, Mr. Nghia was “tired and tired”, and had difficulty patrolling, so he asked to retire and assigned the task of protecting the forest to another prestigious person in the village.

In 2012, President Truong Tan Sang awarded Mr. Vi Chinh Nghia the Second Class Labor Medal for his outstanding achievements in work and contributions to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

The dense growth of the cassia tree makes it straight and more than 30 meters tall. Photo: Tien Hung

Quang Thinh village chief said that after Mr. Nghia passed away, the house in the middle of the forest was still kept intact even though no one lived there. Remembering his contributions, the villagers still come here regularly to burn incense.

Tien Hung