Inadequacies in management and protection of Vuc Mau Lake protective forest

(Baonghean) - Recently, Nghe An Newspaper continuously received reports: dozens of hectares of protective forest in Vuc Mau Lake, Quynh Trang Commune (Hoang Mai Town) were cut down; after being informed, the authorities resolved the matter but not thoroughly because there was a cover-up... To clarify whether this situation existed or not, Nghe An Newspaper reporters went to Quynh Trang Commune to investigate and verify.

Based on the protective forest signs, we went deep into the vast hills and forests of Quynh Trang commune to search for the places that had been deforested. Passing the Vuc Mau reservoir dam, following the trails towards Quynh Vinh commune, there were a few spots with signs of deforestation and burning of vegetation, but the area was only about a few hundred square meters. Returning to the center of Quynh Trang commune, we heard information about some cases of encroachment and disputes over forest land... but there was absolutely no new incident that had destroyed dozens of hectares of forest as described in the news.

The protective forest area of ​​Sub-region 342 was illegally exploited and burned.

Returning to Vuc Mau lake dam, going back towards Quynh Tan commune (Quynh Luu), we encountered columns of smoke.

Returning to the deforested area with Mr. Mai Truong Hai - a forestry officer of Quynh Trang commune, he was clearly surprised by the desolate scene of the forest. Immediately, he called an officer of the Forest Protection Management Board named Dat, reported the incident and asked if the Board had made a logging procedure for Mr. Khang, then kept saying "this is death". Stopping the conversation, Mr. Hai confirmed that the deforested area was a protected forest; this forest area was assigned by the Quynh Luu Forest Protection Management Board to Mr. Le Sy Khang, a citizen of Hamlet 10, Quynh Trang commune, for protection; before cutting down the trees and burning the ground cover, Mr. Khang spoke to Mr. Dat on the phone, and was told to wait for the opinion of his superiors, but Mr. Khang arbitrarily exploited the trees and burned the ground cover. "To exploit or plant trees in the protected forest, you must follow the procedure. There must be a design document approved by the competent authority, it must be approved by the commune government, it cannot be done arbitrarily. Cutting and burning like this is dangerous..." - Mr. Hai said.

According to Mr. Dau Minh Cong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Trang commune, in the protective forest area of ​​Vuc Mau lake, there are a number of complicated cases that have lasted for many years. The most painful case is the case of some Catholic households in hamlets 12 and 13 of Quynh Trang commune moving to the area of ​​the Lizard's Tail Hill (a long hill stretching into the heart of Vuc Mau lake) in the protective forest to cut down trees of groups Ib, Ic, clear the ground cover and plant Acacia auriculiformis; the case of forest land dispute between two households Le Cong Hai (hamlet 6) and Ho Van Luan (hamlet 2). Mr. Cong said that the main reason for these complicated incidents is that the management of protective forests has many shortcomings: "People who are contracted to protect protective forests think they are the forest owners, so they arbitrarily plant, exploit, burn the ground cover, and some households even transfer forests to each other. Meanwhile, the determination of protective forest boundaries between communes and between contracted households is unclear, there are no field markers, and the Protective Forest Management Board is far away so it is not close to the work...".

Quynh Luu Protective Forest Management Board is assigned to manage 5,620 hectares of forest. Of which, there are about 720 hectares of natural forest, a small amount of mangrove forest, and the rest is mostly planted forest (mostly planted by people who are contracted to protect it with their own funds). Mr. Duong Minh Ngoc - Head of the Quynh Luu Protective Forest Management Board said: "I have only been assigned to the task for a year but I find the work very complicated. When assigned to protect the forest, people who have invested in planting forests have the idea that they are the forest owners and then arbitrarily exploit, burn the ground cover, and plant new ones... In the protective forest area, since 1995, the Quynh Luu district government has assigned the right to manage and use forestry land according to Decree 02 with an area of ​​over 350 hectares, for a term of 50 years to a number of households, so many complicated problems have arisen. As for the Board, it was established in 2007 but up to now the forest land records have not been transferred, so it is very difficult to determine the boundaries and set up markers. Meanwhile, the Board's staff is still passive...".

Regarding the incident of some parishioners in hamlets 12 and 13 of Quynh Trang commune going to the Lizard's Tail hill area to cut trees, clear the ground cover and plant trees, the Quynh Luu Protective Forest Management Board coordinated with the Quynh Trang commune government to mobilize, explain; organize forces to guard and block the forest gate, however, people still secretly cut down and illegally plant trees.

On September 7, 2012, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district issued an official dispatch directing prevention and handling. The Forest Protection Management Board, the District Police, the Forest Protection Department and related units established an inspection team, but when the team entered, the subjects fled, and when the team withdrew, they continued to cut down and plant trees. On September 12, 2013, some households secretly burned the ground cover with an area of ​​up to nearly 15 hectares. On September 18, 2013, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district criticized the forest land management work of related units, allowing households to encroach on forest land and illegally plant trees. At the same time, he assigned specific tasks to each unit to completely handle the case... "However, up to now, the case has not been completely handled. Currently, the acacia trees illegally planted by people on the Lizard's Tail hill have grown green..." - Mr. Tien, Deputy Head of the Quynh Luu Forest Protection Management Board explained.

In the case between two households Le Cong Hai and Ho Van Luan, the cause was clearly determined by the Quynh Luu Protective Forest Management Board to be the Board's fault. At the end of 2010, when designing the protective forest planting, the technical staff of the Protective Forest Management Board assigned Mr. Hai to plant on the land that Mr. Luan had contracted to protect (about 4.6 hectares), so a dispute arose between the two households. Over the years, the dispute was not thoroughly resolved, so on April 8-9, 2014, illegal logging occurred. Upon receiving the report, the Board went to the scene with the authorities and the Quynh Trang Commune Police to make a record. On March 18, 2014, the Board, together with relevant agencies, organized a mediation between the two families. The parties agreed to resolve the matter according to the plan that Mr. Hai would hand over the trees planted on the area that Mr. Luan protected, and in return, Mr. Luan would compensate Mr. Hai financially.

Regarding Mr. Le Sy Khang's illegal cutting and burning of vegetation, Mr. Duong Minh Ngoc admitted that the Board was irresponsible and bureaucratic, so they did not promptly grasp and handle the incident. According to the contract for protecting the protective forest, Mr. Le Sy Khang was assigned by the Quynh Luu Protective Forest Management Board to protect 15.2 hectares of forest in Sub-area 342. In addition to the benefits he enjoys, Mr. Khang has the obligation to protect the forest, not to allow illegal exploitation and transportation of forest products, deforestation for slash-and-burn farming, forest fires, etc. However, according to Mr. Ngoc, Mr. Khang did not comply with the signed contract, committed serious violations of the protective forest, so the Board will draw up a record of violations and take disciplinary action.

From the information we received, we determined that the illegal logging in the protective forest, which the report said "the authorities after being informed resolved but did not thoroughly resolve because of cover-up", was the case involving the households of Le Cong Hai and Ho Van Luan. The illegal logging in the protective forest was clear, but in the case involving the households of Le Cong Hai and Ho Van Luan, it was not as serious and there was no cover-up. However, thanks to the report, we were able to get a closer look at the extremely inadequate issues in the management and protection of protective forests in Quynh Luu district and especially in the Vuc Mau lake area, Hoang Mai town.

The role of protective forests is extremely important: regulating water sources for streams and reservoirs to limit floods, reduce erosion, protect land, protect agriculture, protect residential areas, urban areas, production areas, prevent landslides, protect coastal works, protect the ecological environment, landscape, regulate climate... Therefore, in the face of these shortcomings, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Quynh Luu District, Hoang Mai Town need to take measures to direct the Protective Forest Management Board, Forest Protection Department, and authorities of communes with protective forests to urgently rectify.

Article and photos:Nhat Lan