Infiltrating the great forest, 'visiting' the primeval forest

The delegation consisted of more than 10 people, led by Mr. Pham Trong Hoang - Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee, the remaining members were forest rangers with many years of experience in managing and protecting upstream forests, 2 border guards from Tam Hop Border Guard Station (Tuong Duong), and 1 district police officer.

Ancient sa mu trees in the protective forest of Luu Kien commune (Tuong Duong). Photo taken during the journey into the great forest at the end of September 2017. Photo: Ho Phuong

In late autumn, the sun was still shining but it was quite cold in the morning. However, all members were optimistic on the first leg. But the excitement faded after more than 2 hours of trekking through the forest. There were no roads, so everyone found their own way. Fortunately, many members had extensive experience in trekking through the forest. The person in charge of determining the direction and finding ways to cut through the mountain to save energy was the forest ranger - Mr. Cao Anh Tu. He was small but agile, and liked to talk and sing. Tu was born in 1981, from Do Luong district. He had just been transferred to manage the protective forest area in Luu Kien commune for a few months. Tu alone had to participate in managing and protecting the entire protective forest of Luu Kien commune with an area of ​​11,000 hectares. According to the words of the Head of Tuong Duong Forest Ranger Department - Nguyen Huu Hien, Tu was using "half a man" to carry out the task here. Because he also has to be in charge of the protective forest area of ​​Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong). Meanwhile, according to government regulations, each forest management and protection officer must only perform tasks for a maximum of 1,000 hectares.

Making a way through the cliff. Photo: Ho Phuong

On the way, Tu occasionally stopped to let everyone pass and after each stretch, somehow he continued to lead. Sometimes, he gave us some leaves to eat to quench our thirst. We stopped for the first stretch at a saddle-shaped mountain peak. It was about 2 pm but the fog had already covered the entire area. Everyone descended on a large fallen tree with rotten roots. Everyone took off their sandals and took off their leggings to look for leeches. Only then did I notice that the head of Tuong Duong district - Mr. Pham Trong Hoang - had not said a word during the entire journey. There seemed to be a deep contemplation in his eyes. Actually, he did not have to participate in this arduous journey, but he still decided to go to witness with his own eyes the primeval forests at the source, to experience the life of forestry workers and to visualize more clearly the fierceness and hardship of the battle to preserve and protect the forest of which he was a member.

Grilling chicken for dinner. Photo: Ho Phuong

The story of deforestation in the border commune of Tam Hop was discovered in early 2017 and had not yet been resolved when another incident occurred in Luu Kien. It turns out that managing a large resource area is not a happy thing. On the contrary, criminals there are plotting day and night to cut down precious wood because of the value it brings. Meanwhile, Tuong Duong district has the largest forest and forestry land area in Nghe An with 249,076.9 hectares. Of which, protective forest is 93,546.8 hectares, special-use forest is 39,530.8 hectares and production forest is 115,999.3 hectares. Head of Tuong Duong Forest Protection Department - Nguyen Huu Hien almost cried when he said helplessly: "Tuong Duong is not only a district-level locality with the largest forest area in the province but also the largest in the country. Our forest protection force has only 18 people. Every month, we stay in the forest from 20-25 days, all of whom have families living far away but rarely have days off, the policies are still not commensurate with the assigned responsibilities"...

A break in the deep forest of the border. Photo: Ho Phuong

As the afternoon progressed, the air became colder, and occasionally everyone was startled by the howling of primates. At around 4:30 p.m., the group stopped in a fairly flat forest area. This was almost a permanent stop for the forest rangers of the Luu Kien border. There was no time to rest, and without anyone telling anyone, everyone spread out to find materials to build a hut. Four fires were lit in the four corners outside the hut to warm up the narrow space because the temperature was only around 100C. The experienced border guard used fresh leaves to cover the fire to create smoke to repel mosquitoes and insects. Another fire was lit right next to the edge of the floor. Several forest rangers brought out cleaned pork and chicken to grill on a wood stove with glowing coals. The border guard took a handful of still-wet forest leaves from his backpack, then pried open the canned meat to make a pot of sour soup.

A sumptuous meal, full of the flavor of the mountains and forests, was served. The sound of laughter and chatter filled the forest in the dark night. However, before everyone could enjoy their meal, a swarm of termites suddenly rushed in. There could be tens, hundreds of thousands of them. The sound of their wings flapping like a waterfall. The light of 6 flashlights hanging in the middle of the hut in the dark night attracted them. Termites as big as chopsticks covered the entire plate of food, falling into the soup bowls and small and large bowls. After a few minutes of silence due to surprise and panic, someone shouted: “Turn off the flashlight. Turn off the flashlight. Quickly”…

The night dew was thick, many people quickly fell into a deep sleep in the dark forest after a hard day. Some people tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Cao Anh Tu occasionally got up to add more firewood to the stove. The fireworks had a chance to pop, rising in the pitch-black night mixed with the screeching of nocturnal animals.

A moment of contemplation on the journey. Photo: Ho Phuong

I woke up to the sound of a bird calling from a short distance. “It’s a gibbon,” said Hiep, a member of the group. Hiep was preparing breakfast while everyone else was getting up. After a quick meal, we dressed neatly to continue our journey. The destination would be Sub-region 681 on the border of Luu Kien commune. This is also the area where rare forest products such as sa mu and po mu are distributed. I don’t know how many kilometers the group had traveled, but my legs felt tired and my knees were about to collapse. There were cliffs that seemed like they would never be overcome, and there were paths where the foothold was less than 10cm. We walked close together, face down, lying flat, hugging our bodies against the steep cliff to move step by step.

Then the group finally reached their destination. It was a primeval forest located at an altitude of 1,400 - 1,700 meters above sea level. This altitude is the distribution area of ​​the sa mu and pơ mu species. Perhaps in this harsh climate, covered in fog all year round, cold, only this pine tree species can survive. We saw patches of forests with hundreds of years old pơ mu trees. There were tree stumps up to thirty or forty meters high, as big as ten people hugging. But there were also a few ancient pơ mu trees that had been secretly cut down by illegal loggers. According to the traces left behind, the trees had fallen 3-5 years ago. Their roots were rotten and covered with a thick layer of algae and countless wood ear mushrooms. There were tree trunks that had been cut down lying across the cliffs on two mountain peaks. The locations we arrived at were plots 14, 15, 16, 17 of Sub-zone 681. From here, it only took about an hour to cross into Laos. It was not until early afternoon, after the rangers had surveyed, counted and meticulously recorded the parameters of the forest plots, that we began to leave the high point.

On the next day’s journey “down the mountain”, I once again understood more clearly the forest profession. That joy, sweat, tears and bitterness can also come from it.