Cutting down hundreds of years old ironwood to make cutting boards... and sell them across the border

Hundreds and thousands of years old ironwood trees in the core zone of Phong Quang special-use forest, Vi Xuyen district, Ha Giang province are being cut up by groups of illegal loggers, turned into cutting boards for transporting and trading across the border.

Phong Quang special-use forest, Vi Xuyen district, Ha Giang province, with many groups of precious timber trees such as nghien, trai and many other precious woods in group 2A, with ages ranging from 100 years to 1,000 years old, needs to be protected to maintain valuable gene sources and ecosystems. However, nghien trees hundreds and thousands of years old in the core zone of the special-use forest are being cut up by groups of illegal loggers, turned into nghien wood in the form of chopping boards to be transported and traded across the border.

Hundreds of years old ironwood tree only has bare roots left

According to the Inter-sectoral Working Group including the Forest Rangers of Phong Quang Special-use Forest Management Unit, Thanh Thuy Border Guard, Provincial Police Mobile Police, Provincial Forest Protection Sub-Department. From the trail of Phin Sang village, Minh Tan commune, Vi Xuyen district, up Rang Cua mountain range, we arrived at the core area of ​​Phong Quang Special-use Forest to see with our own eyes the destruction of nghien trees that are thousands of years old by illegal loggers.

Looking at the images of thousand-year-old ironwood trees being cut down, no one can help but feel sorry, when the blood of the forest is flowing. The ironwood trees with bare roots and trunks were cut into chopping boards by illegal loggers, and from there they transported them through mountain trails to sell across the border. From the core of the special-use forest, illegal loggers formed a route to transport ironwood chopping boards in all directions to avoid the inspection and control of the interdisciplinary teams and used many forms such as carrying goods, using motorbikes to transport wood overnight to the border.

With complex terrain, Phong Quang special-use forest is located in 4 communes including Minh Tan, Phong Quang, Thuan Hoa, Thanh Thuy and part of group 9 of Quang Trung ward. Phong Quang special-use forest is always a hot spot for exploitation and transportation of ironwood in the form of cutting boards across the border. The illegal loggers have many sophisticated and reckless methods of operation, disregarding the law, fiercely fighting back when detecting the functional forces, causing the blood of the forest to flow and the blood of border guards and forest rangers to be shed to protect this forest.

With a value of 1.5 - 1.8 million VND/40 x 40cm Nghien wood, it is an amount of money that blinds the greedy people who are willing to cut down ancient trees in the core area of ​​the special-use forest. Seeing 24 ancient Nghien trees being cut down in the middle of the forest, the interdisciplinary task force tried their best to suppress them, but because the force was too small, they could not control all the roads. Mr. Sai Minh Phuong, Head of the interdisciplinary team - Phong Quang Special-use Forest Ranger Department said: The illegal loggers operate very recklessly, always fiercely resisting the law enforcement forces when suppressed by the forest rangers and interdisciplinary forces.

Hundreds of blocks of ironwood left behind by illegal loggers when they were raided by authorities

Present at the headquarters of Phong Quang Special-use Forest Ranger Department, where over 200 blocks of ironwood in the form of cutting boards were seized from illegal loggers, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Head of Phong Quang Special-use Forest Ranger Department said: "Currently, the core area of ​​Phong Quang Special-use Forest is seriously encroached upon, the deforesters are willing to destroy hundreds of years old ironwood trees regardless of any means. We have blocked many hot spots, however, due to the thin force, the illegal loggers operating deep in the old forest have not been able to stop it. Currently, due to the reinforcement of forces from the police and border guards, the situation of deforestation has temporarily subsided."

Identifying this as the survival of Phong Quang special-use forest in the face of the risk of destruction by illegal loggers, in March 2012, Vi Xuyen district established 4 interdisciplinary working groups including forest rangers, police, border guards, and commune militia to block off hot spots 24/7, such as Ma Hoang Phin, Hoang Ly Pa, Giang Nam... in Minh Tan, Phong Quang, and Thanh Thuy communes to cut off the illegal loggers' transport of nghien boards from the special-use forest to the other side of the border. However, the subjects often change their locations of movement and deforestation, and they use many tricks to continue to bring nghien boards across the Vietnam-China border. Current measures are only solutions to control hot spots of nghien board exploitation and transportation. In the long run, it cannot be maintained without increased forces, as well as fundamental solutions from the government in handling subjects illegally exploiting and transporting precious wood. Peace has only temporarily subsided in Phong Quang special-use forest. The blood of the forest, the blood of soldiers and officers on duty to protect the forest may continue to be shed if there is no synchronous and drastic participation of the government, organizations, functional forces and the awareness of forest protection of each person inside and outside the special-use forest.

According to Anninhthudo-M