Part II: Thanh Chuong - Destruction of upstream forests

Part I: THONG THU - QUE PHONG:The forests are destroyed day and night.

(Baonghean) -Not only in Huoi Tang (Thong Thu - Que Phong), going up to the border of Thanh Thuy - Thanh Chuong border gate, we still hear the roar of chainsaws in the middle of the forest. We witnessed "camouflaged" vehicles carrying timber to the downstream, easily passing through the Thanh Thuy forest product control station. Nearly ten thousand hectares of protective forest in Thanh Chuong are facing the risk of being "wiped out".

The forests are "dying"

After 2 days of “waiting and waiting” in Dung Town - Thanh Chuong, we were finally accepted by a local resident to take us into the forest to record images of loggers destroying the upstream forest. At exactly 12 noon, we set off on an “iron horse” straight to Thanh Thuy Border Gate. The road was winding, steep and deep, and ahead we saw groups of motorbikes carrying “deforestation tools” speeding upstream. The guide said: The road to Thanh Thuy Border Gate used to be filled with precious woods such as sen, tau, cloves… but in recent years, “loggers” have destroyed too much, now only bare stumps remain.

The trees were "cut down".

Arriving at Thanh Thuy Border Gate along the border belt road, we parked our motorbikes in the bushes along the roadside and walked through the forests bordering Ha Tinh and along the Vietnam-Laos border. Going deep into the wood-pulling trail, we saw scattered stumps of giant trees cut down by illegal loggers. Most of the wood was immediately transported by the "illegal loggers" wherever it was cut. According to our observations, there was a group of people in front with chainsaws and shiny, sharp axes, preventing us from going deeper. The sound of chainsaws echoed from all sides, the forest wood fell down, the vast forests in Thanh Chuong looked like tattered clothes "dying" under the saw blades of the "illegal loggers". We heard the "illegal loggers" say that the forest wood here is exploited according to "orders", the buyers need whatever type of wood the illegal loggers saw right in the forest. According to our observations, at the makeshift gathering areas, mainly the wood slabs are cut into squares and round logs.

The method of transporting illegal timber here is mainly by using buffaloes to pull it through the forest and then bring it to the gathering place. It is known that the forest areas with a lot of precious timber are mainly concentrated in the areas bordering the Vietnam-Laos border. Therefore, currently, illegal loggers still find every way to sneak into these areas to exploit. On the way back, we saw along the border gate many giant makeshift timber "transit" stations "camouflaged" with grass and straw. According to the guide, the reason for gathering near the road is to facilitate the transportation. Small timber is carried by motorbike, large timber is transported by car. Not to mention that forest timber in Thanh Thuy also flows downstream along the Ro River.

We continued to circle back to Ho Chi Minh road, going back to Ngoc Lam commune to enter the border patrol route. Right from the last resettlement village, the road had been deformed by flash floods into a stream. To enter this area, we had to pass a fenced forest protection station. There was a group of people carrying chainsaws along the stream to enter the forest. We stuck close to the entrance of the great forest, but the other group of people all had murderous looks on their faces and cursed: "If you come in and turn around, we will have no way back." The guide whispered: "They are suspicious, we have to turn back." We approached the people in Ngoc Lam resettlement area and learned that: In addition to the resettled people who came to cut wood, many Thanh Huong people also came here to participate. Inside this forest product checkpoint, a lot of wood was gathered on both sides of the road, waiting for trucks to transport it downstream. Along the road to the resettlement villages, we saw some people illegally transporting wood by buffalo cart. A man named L in Ta Xieng village - Ngoc Lam explained: "We were transporting some miscellaneous wood to build a buffalo pen." It is true that there was miscellaneous wood on top, but underneath the truck were all precious wood panels that were still being transported openly.

Illegal timber being driven on a motorbike in broad daylight

On the way back in broad daylight, we witnessed “forest bandits” loading wood onto motorbikes and “camouflaging” it with fresh grass on top. From afar, we saw a line of motorbikes carrying only grass. “Forest bandits” also “invented” a type of motorbike to pull wood, attached to the back of a very mobile “three-wheeled” vehicle, which can carry 1-1.5 m3 of wood and weave through the roads. This type of motorbike is also camouflaged with grass and straw, and there are usually 2-3 people “escorting” each vehicle, when needed to push the vehicle uphill and load the goods quickly. The Thanh Thuy Border Gate road is dangerous, the mountain slope is winding, but dozens of motorbikes carrying wood and motorbikes carrying bulky goods still speeding. The vehicles do not honk, and they swerve and weave, forcing us to lean against the mountainside.

The "grass carts" inside are illegal timber and speed away.
on Thanh Thuy Border Gate road



Illegal timber is piled up behind Khe Mang Forest Protection Station.

According to the guide, hundreds of such vehicles pass through the station every day. In addition to motorbikes and tractors, “forest bandits” also use cars to transport wood, camouflaged with grass, straw, or covered with a layer of stone powder to fool passersby. At around 1 pm, we saw 3 motorbikes “carrying grass” and a tractor “carrying straw” stopping about 50 meters from the barrier (Thanh Thuy Forest Gate Ranger Station). The drivers of the “grass” vehicles drove into the checkpoint, and then quickly drove out?

The guide said that before the timber truck accident in Con Cuong, the timber transportation situation was even more bustling. Timber from the forest was brought directly to two sawmills about 1 km outside the forest gate, and illegal timber was transported along the herringbone tracks along the Ho Chi Minh trail by all means to the downstream.

After taking pictures of motorbikes carrying illegal timber disguised on the road, we were about to pass the checkpoint when we were suspected by “forest bandits” to be journalists. The guide was stopped by a “forest bandit” and questioned. In that situation, we had to run away, and arranged to meet at Dung Town. My colleague revved the engine, the motorbike sped like an arrow, behind were 2 homemade motorbikes carrying 4 bald-headed young men wearing dark glasses, revving their engines to chase us. It could be said that the chase was terrifying, our motorbikes were running at full speed of nearly 90 km/h. But with the homemade timber-carrying motorbikes that had “spinned the barrel” extremely strongly, they were running almost right behind. Knowing that we could not compete with the speed, we turned into a coffee shop near Cau Ro, before we could hide, the 4 “bald heads” had just arrived, I shouted: “You guys surround the coffee shop, they have arrived”. Thinking that the police were surrounding them, the four illegal loggers quickly grabbed their motorbikes and ran away.

Arriving at Dung Town, he met his guide again and said: This group has about 100 very fierce people. Among them are old people, young people, farmers, and drug addicts. Most of these "forest bandits" live in Hamlet 4, Thanh Thuy Commune. Luckily, you guys thought of a way to escape, otherwise if you let them get close, you will be "eaten" by their swords. Last year, a new forest ranger named Hoan was also beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized because he had just started working and did not know the "laws" of the forest.

The fence of the Forest Product Control Station in Thanh Thuy - Thanh Chuong is still "sometimes closed, sometimes opened" depending on the flow of "forest bandits" transporting wood from the forest. As a local said: "Just look at the fence to know... how to protect the forest here".
(continued)

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