Billionaires plant forests at the foot of Mong Ga mountain

(Baonghean) - From a poor village, working hard all year round but life was still lacking. Many families even had to leave the village. But now, the life of the people in that mountain village is not only full, but also rising to be quite rich. Those changes are thanks to the people here sticking with the profession of growing raw materials forests...

Raw material forests cover the Mong Ga mountain range. Photo: Huu Nghia

From the oasis of poverty…

We returned to Hamlet 10, Lang Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District on the last days of May when the sun was blazing hot. Looking at the spacious village behind the hills and mountainsides covered in endless green, everyone was happy about the change. The land that was once known as a poor oasis has now become a key forest growing area of ​​the district.

In the spacious wooden house of village chief Nguyen Ba Nghia, the tough, dark-skinned local men shared their stories of life connected to this isolated land in the middle of the rugged mountains. Sipping green tea, Party cell secretary Tran Nguyen Hao recalled that before the 1960s, our village was very crowded, but then, due to harsh natural conditions and difficult life, the villagers left.

People of Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) plant raw material forests. Photo: HN

Continuing, village chief Nguyen Ba Nghia said that for a long time, the lives of dozens of households passed by in misery. The dirt roads were muddy in the rainy season and dusty in the dry season, making travel extremely difficult. The village was only about 13 km from the commune center, but they were two opposite worlds in many ways. The rice fields were only 50 hectares but could only produce one crop. At that time, people only relied on the forests of Mong Ga mountain range.

But “eating from the forest brings tears to the eyes”, a prosperous life is still far away… All changes only come when the people in the mountain village are allocated land and forests. With the means of production being dozens of hectares of land divided among each family, the hard-working, dynamic farmers start to do business. The hillsides are full of pineapples, the green sugarcane fields stretch as far as the eye can see, and the strong eucalyptus gardens gradually conquer the barren land. But the color of prosperity and warmth is still not present when the refrain “good harvest, low price, good price, bad harvest” has repeatedly put the farmers in dire straits. And change only comes when the raw acacia tree takes root in this land.

…to billionaire neighborhood

When mentioning the story of planting acacia after many failures with other crops, Secretary Hao's eyes lit up with pride. Having spent almost his entire life on this land, he spent decades as a village cadre, from the cooperative captain during the subsidy period to the village chief, then took on the position of Party cell secretary of village 10. He was the first person to plant acacia on the production land assigned to his family.

Having done so, he actively encouraged the people in the hamlet to follow suit. Up to now, the whole hamlet 10 has up to 2,000 hectares of acacia forest. Now, after more than 2 exploitation cycles, the economic value that acacia trees bring has been confirmed. Secretary Hao's family alone has over 60 hectares of forest land planted with acacia, and hamlet chief Nghia's family also has over 35 hectares. Taking us to visit the two-story house under construction, Secretary Hao excitedly said: "Since the beginning of the year, my family has sold 20 hectares of acacia and earned a profit of about 1.2 billion VND. This house is made from the money from selling acacia. Before, I never dared to dream of having a house like this."

Sticking with acacia trees, not only Secretary Hao's family but also the majority of 187 households with 678 people in Hamlet 10 have food and savings. There are even 17 families in the hamlet who have bought cars to travel and transport raw acacia. Mr. Nguyen Hong Thai's family is one of them. His family only has 10 hectares of acacia, and after the first harvest cycle, he had a little capital, so he boldly invested in buying a truck worth more than 400 million VND. Having a car not only allows him to actively transport raw acacia during harvest time but also regularly transports acacia from Hamlet 10 to the factory. Mr. Thai said: The model of forest planting and transportation services has been really effective, creating a stable regular income for his family.

Walking around the small village, under the mountains, the green hillsides of the forest, the old shabby houses have now given way to solid and spacious houses, neatly located next to the newly completed main concrete road. “This road was built with the support of 60 tons of cement from the State, the people in the village also contributed 300,000 VND/person to build it.

Foresters in Hamlet 10, Lang Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) discuss planting raw material forests. Photo: HN

The total length has been completed at over 1.3 km. Currently, in terms of the traffic system, our hamlet is considered the best in the commune. The Party cell resolution is in place, the goal is to complete the construction of 4 km of concrete roads within the hamlet by 2020," Mr. Nghia said excitedly. In addition, due to the remoteness of the road conditions compared to the commune center, the people in the hamlet have also contributed 200 million VND to buy a three-room house as a medical facility for the hamlet. This, surely only the people of hamlet 10 can do.

In the afternoon, a heavy rain suddenly poured down on the mountain village. Gathering around a cup of water, village chief Nghia and secretary Hao could not hide their joy when showing us pictures of their children studying information technology in Japan... Outside, trucks carrying acacia were rumbling in and out, bringing green prosperity to the people in the mountain village. The life-changing story of billionaire farmers in the western mountain village of Yen Thanh is a vivid proof of the effectiveness of afforestation.

It is the hard-working farmers in Hamlet 10, Lang Thanh Commune who have contributed to awakening the potential of the vast Western region but with complex terrain conditions and harsh climate of this locality. The effectiveness of planting raw material forests to change the lives of the mountain hamlets has been confirmed through several crops, but the effectiveness will increase, the value of forest land will be worth it once people learn and apply the techniques of planting, caring, and selecting standard varieties in a closed process of planting - caring - harvesting. And Mong Ga Mountain will become a "money chest" with a sustainable green color, literally following the saying that every rice farmer is familiar with: "In front of the granary, behind the money chest".

Meaning