More than 200 hectares of young acacia trees fell after storm No. 5, farmers struggled to find a way out
After storm No. 5, Quang Dong commune (Nghe An) recorded hundreds of hectares of young acacia forest felled in series, causing damage estimated at tens of billions of VND. Many days have passed, but people have not been able to clean up due to bad weather and difficulties in selling wood.
Recorded in Trai Mat hamlet (Quang Dong commune) - the place that suffered the most damage, the vast green acacia forests have now collapsed and broken.
Mr. Dang Trong Thanh, a local resident, could not hide his sadness: “My family has more than 2 hectares of acacia trees, planted for more than 3 years, only about a year left until harvest, each hectare can bring in nearly 100 million VND. Now the storm has destroyed everything, we can only sell it for firewood at a cheap price, and it is not certain that there will be buyers.”
Not only Mr. Thanh, Mr. Dong Van Nham’s family in the same commune also fell into a state of poverty when more than 7 hectares of acacia trees were completely destroyed. The general situation in Quang Dong commune is that people are in a “dilemma”: If they want to clear the forest, the weather does not allow it, and if they wait too long, the acacia trees will be damaged and lose value.
Meanwhile, traders are not interested in buying, or if they do, the price is only a very small fraction of the actual value.
Along Highway 48E, passing through the Ve Vung dam area, on both sides of the hills, fallen acacia forests continue to create a desolate scene. Mr. Tran Van Tu - another resident of Quang Dong commune - sadly said: "My whole family depends on these 2 hectares of acacia to take care of our children's education and Tet spending. Now we have nothing. We just hope for the sun to shine soon so we can go into the forest to clean up and sell it for whatever money we can."
According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Son - Vice Chairman of Quang Dong Commune People's Committee, the whole commune has more than 1,100 hectares of raw acacia forest. After storm No. 5, about 220 hectares of young acacia (2-3 years old) were broken, causing an estimated loss of about 22 billion VND.
According to Mr. Son, the commune government is currently mobilizing people to quickly clear the forest when the weather permits, and at the same time encouraging households to replant forests to restore the lost area. However, in order for people to recover from natural disasters, timely intervention from functional agencies and practical support policies from the State are needed.