Deputy Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee requested to implement solutions to protect border forests.

Speaking with Nghe An Newspaper on October 20, 2019, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong said that since the beginning of 2019, there has been a situation of illegal logging in border forests, in strictly protected national forests in Pu Mat National Park (Con Cuong) and Pu Hoat Nature Reserve (Que Phong).

Que Phong district forces caught two Laotian Mong people illegally logging sa mu wood in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve in early 2019. Photo: Contributor

The methods and tricks for illegally exploiting timber in border forests have changed. The ringleaders and loggers no longer directly carry out illegal logging, but hire people to do it. These subjects also do not hire Nghe An people in border forests, but instead connect and hire Lao people to illegally exploit timber for them.

The reason is that Nghe An province has strict control over illegal logging, transportation and trading of timber. Meanwhile, some border routes of Laos have been cleared, facilitating illegal logging and transportation activities and the control of the border districts of Laos is not strict, even loose.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong presented the current situation and proposed solutions to protect border forests at an online meeting on October 16, 2019. Photo: Thanh Duy

Through a number of investigative measures by the authorities, it was found that a number of timber traders, including those from Nghe An, had gone undercover in districts bordering Laos to connect with and hire Mong Lao people to carry out illegal logging, organize transportation, and trade in timber.

The forest trees that are often illegally exploited are mainly the sa mu tree, a rare tree that is strictly protected by Vietnamese law. This tree is still quite abundant at high points, in the border forests of Western Nghe An, in Pu Mat National Park, and Pu Hoat Nature Reserve.

A working group from Nghe An province discovered illegally logged Sa Mu wood gathered in Nam Tay village (Laos). Photo: Nhat Lan

In order to protect the border primeval forest, in June 2019, with the consent of the province, the People's Committee of Que Phong district organized a working group to the border districts of Hua Phan province of Laos to survey and assess the situation. However, after the trip, it was not possible to proactively implement effective measures. The reason is that to prevent this situation, Que Phong district alone cannot do it, but needs to have synchronous participation in a very large area, including Laos.

Therefore, effective measures must be taken and implemented resolutely. Firstly, it is necessary to direct the development of a plan to directly attack the methods and tricks of illegal timber exploitation, transportation and trading. The forces participating in this task are, first of all, forest rangers, Pu Hoat and Pu Mat forest protection units, border guards, police and related districts.

Second, through the investigation, it was determined that after the subjects cut down the trees, they brought the wood to the Mong Lao villages in the border area. Then they would transport it through the open roads, not only in Nghe An but also in Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa provinces... to bring the wood to Vietnam. Therefore, it is very necessary to have a unified plan between Nghe An and the two neighboring provinces of Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa to strictly control all border gates and open roads with Laos.

A working group from Nghe An province discovered illegally logged sa mu wood gathered at the Nam Tay border village, Xam Tay district, Hua Phan province, Laos. Photo: Nhat Lan

Third, to grasp the developments and activities of illegal timber exploitation, transportation and trading subjects, the participating forces must have activities on Lao soil. Therefore, it is necessary to have consensus with Lao provinces to direct the functional forces of both sides to have close coordination.

“I raised these contents at the online meeting on October 16 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee with the Standing Committees of the district, city, town Party Committees and affiliated Party Committees. In which, I requested the Provincial People's Committee and provincial-level sectors to pay attention to implementation because only when the provincial level takes the lead can this issue be resolved effectively. We must take drastic and strong action. Only then will the rich primary forest areas along the border be peaceful…” - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong emphasized.