Restoring the festival of worshiping the forest god at the beginning of the year in Que Phong district

On the morning of May 31, the People's Committee of Que Phong district launched the project "Improving forest management and protection capacity associated with livelihoods and culture for the Thai ethnic community in Que Phong district".

Launching the project to improve forest management and protection capacity associated with livelihoods and culture for the Thai ethnic community. Photo: Thanh Chung

The objective of this project is to improve knowledge and capacity in forest protection management associated with livelihoods and beliefs for Thai people; organize forest land allocation to communities, strengthen cooperation and linkage in forest protection between communities and the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board; preserve and promote good cultural customs in forest protection management of Thai people; replicate the model of developing bon bo trees according to the value chain, create jobs, increase income associated with forest protection management in Que Phong district.

Forest worship festival of Thai people in Yen Bai province. Photo: Internet

Project activities include organizing communication on community forest protection and management; organizing the allocation of 400 hectares of forest land and granting certificates to the communities of villages in Nam Giai commune; developing and implementing regulations on strengthening cooperation in forest protection between the Nam Giai commune community and the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board; organizing for people to enclose, protect, and plant additional bon bo trees on an area of ​​200 hectares in Nam Giai and Nam Nhong communes; building a bon bo seed drying kiln, and establishing a bon bo consumption cooperative.

One of the important activities of the project is to restore the organization of the festival to worship the forest god at the beginning of the year and to promulgate and implement regulations on preserving and promoting good cultural values ​​in forest management and protection.

In the minds of the Thai ethnic group, wherever there are villages and hamlets, there must be forbidden forests. The forest is the dwelling place of gods, of the village's soul. After thousands of years of living in harmony with the forest, understanding the laws of the forest, the Thai people respect the forest and set out regulations on forest protection.

In order to protect the sacred forest from destruction, in the past, every spring, the Thai ethnic group held a ceremony to worship the forest god. This is a form of folk belief praying for favorable weather and green trees. The festival shows an attitude of respecting and protecting the forest.

Bon bo is a plant with many uses, used as medicine. Photo: Internet

The project was proposed by Nghe An Forestry Development Consulting Center, with an implementation period of 24 months. The total implementation cost is 2,658 billion VND, of which the funding requested from the Global Environment Facility's small grant program is nearly 1 billion VND./.