The Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board carries out replacement forest planting under the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, with an area of over 47 hectares. One of the planting sites is in Sub-area 448, in Muong Tip commune. To get here in January 2024, the road from Muong Xen town to Muong Tip was eroded, so we had to go down to Luu Kien commune (Tuong Duong), then cross the mountain road to Na Ngoi commune to go to Muong Tip commune.
The road is long, but in return, when reaching Muong Tip commune, the trip to the replacement forest planting site is somewhat convenient, because it is close to the main road and has a moderate slope. Here, the native tree species that the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board chose to plant is the sa moc tree, which is in the same family as the pine tree, with trunks, branches, and leaves quite similar to the sa mu and po mu trees. Observing the overall view of the planted trees, we see that there is no uniformity, some trees have strong trunks, green branches and leaves, about 1.4 - 1.5m in height; but there are also many short and small trees about 30 - 50cm, with yellow branches and leaves.
As a permanent resident at the Muong Tip forest planting site, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa - an employee of the Muong Tip Commune Forest Protection Management Station, said that these sa moc trees were planted by the board since July 2021, more than 2 years ago. According to the initial plan, the forest planting area was 13 hectares, but because many areas overlapped with people's fields, the board had to mobilize and propagate many times with the commune to get 8 hectares, and mobilize 12 households to participate in forest planting. Regarding the small, yellowish trees, Mr. Hoa explained that they were newly planted for a short time, so there was a difference.
“Previously, this was a place where people grazed buffalo and cows, so the management and protection of newly planted forests was very difficult. There were many locations where we had to replant 3-4 times because buffalo and cows destroyed the trees, causing them to die. The committee had to spend money to buy barbed wire to build protective fences. However, the barbed wire fences were often stolen, so it only prevented part of the problem…”, said Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa.
Regarding the funding source for reforestation, according to Mr. Hoa, the approved unit price is 45 million VND/ha for the entire cost of seedlings, fertilizers, management fees, labor for clearing, digging holes, planting trees and 4 years of care and protection. Calculating these expenses in detail is not enough to implement. With the current state of the forest and the content heard, I asked Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa: With 2 more years until the acceptance of the forest, are you confident that the forest will be successful by then? After a moment of hesitation, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa turned away and said faintly in the cold wind: "If you have done it, then continue to try, if it does not become a forest, then what can you do...".
Also present at the Muong Tip forest planting site, when asked, Deputy Head of the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board Chu Van Hung said that in the past 3 years, the board has implemented a plan to plant 39 hectares of replacement forests in 4 communes: Muong Tip, Chieu Luu, Nam Can and Tay Son. However, the forest planting has encountered many difficulties. The difficulties that Mr. Chu Van Hung briefly mentioned are low unit prices; in the estimate and technical standards, there is no fence system; the transportation distance is only determined by 3 levels, under 1 km, 1-2 km, over 2 km, but in reality, there are many transportation points up to tens of kilometers, causing costs beyond the estimate. According to regulations, the replacement forest planting cycle is 1 year of planting, 3 years of care, and care is carried out twice a year, making it difficult to ensure the growth of the trees. At the same time, Ky Son district has its own unique characteristics, from the customs and practices of grazing buffalo and cows of the people, each commune has its own separate climate zone, so it is very difficult to choose suitable native plant varieties...
Because the Deputy Head of the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board, Chu Van Hung, mentioned the difficulty in selecting native tree varieties, we asked why they brought sa moc trees from Lao Cai to plant, instead of choosing sa mu and po mu trees as some ethnic households in Ky Son district have done? The answer was: “The replacement forest planting project can be understood as a silvicultural project, the origin of the seedlings must be clear. However, up to now, in the province, there is no unit producing native tree varieties suitable for Ky Son district. Therefore, we based on the natural climate and soil conditions to choose to bring sa moc trees from Lao Cai province to plant. Moreover, the seed production unit must have legal status, invoices and documents; otherwise, the forest planting records will not be valid for payment and settlement. This is an unavoidable choice…”.
Also assigned to plant replacement forests for the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, the Pu Huong Nature Reserve Management Board chose to plant 21.7 hectares of acacia forest in Pieng Lak valley, Chau Ly commune, Quy Hop district.
To get to Pieng Lak valley, it is very difficult. Because the road is a rocky, muddy, slippery trail and you have to continuously cross many very high mountain slopes. Also entering Pieng Lak valley, Mr. Tran Duc Long, Head of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation of the Pu Huong Nature Reserve Management Board, said that although this is an area under the management of the Pu Huong Nature Reserve Management Board, it is also a grazing ground for about 1,000 buffaloes and cows of the people of Chau Ly and Bac Son communes. After the Provincial People's Committee approved the reforestation program in this area, the Pu Huong Nature Reserve Management Board had to work with the Party Committee, the commune, village and hamlet authorities to organize many meetings, propaganda and mobilization for a long time to get the people to agree to move the buffaloes and cows to another place so that Pieng Lak valley could be reforested. Because people no longer have concentrated grazing grounds, they often chase buffalo and cows to the outskirts, so the Pu Huong Nature Reserve Management Board had to balance the budget to organize the construction of a nearly 1,000m long trench to prevent buffalo and cows from entering the forested area.
In the Pieng Lak valley, the growth of the Acacia trees is large, about 1.3 - 1.5m high; but there are also some replanted trees, especially those planted on the slopes, which are overrun by thorny grass, so they grow poorly. A worrying point is that many trees are being eaten by worms and have holes in them. According to Mr. Tran Duc Long, this land is overrun by thorny grass, so it is necessary to regularly organize clearing, even covering the base of the Acacia trees with tarpaulins to prevent grass from growing. However, to do this, it will incur huge labor costs. “According to regulations, clearing and care can only be done twice a year. But in reality, if we only take care of them twice a year, the replacement forest planting cannot be successful…”, Mr. Tran Duc Long worried.
According to Mr. Tran Duc Long, to plant replacement forests, the board has a contract with a local household. The household is entitled to receive the estimated items in the dossier, however, it is not really interested. Because to organize the clearing of the ground cover with a unit price of about 4 million VND/ha, with an area of 21.7 ha, they have to pay more than 80 million VND. But to be paid back, they have to go through a long process, from acceptance, making records, checking... Therefore, the household does not have enough resources, and has to borrow money from outside to pay for the workers. "That's just the clearing part, but also digging holes, fertilizing... so the cost is very expensive. For this reason, no household dares to accept the contract outright, because as they said, they are afraid that the forest will not be created, losing the State's money and having to go to jail...".
When asked about the situation of the leaves of the Acacia trees being filled with holes by worms, Mr. Tran Duc Long said that this is a problem that the Management Board of Pu Huong Nature Reserve is very worried about, and has organized spraying of pesticides but has not been effective. “We have taken samples and sent them to some specialized institutes for analysis to find a suitable specific medicine, but so far we have not received a response. Regarding the cost of pest treatment, it is not included in the budget, but if it is not treated, or not treated promptly, it will affect the results of forest planting…”.
With the Northern Nghe An Forest Protection Management Board, assigned the task of planting replacement forests under the Ban Mong Reservoir Project with an area of 42 hectares. Up to now, this board has planted 20 hectares of So trees in the communes of Quynh Thang, Tan Thang and Quynh Trang. Traveling on National Highway 48E, the intersection with Highway 36 will see plots of land planted with So trees nearly 2 years old with a height exceeding the head of a person, quite beautiful. However, when contacted, the leaders of the Northern Nghe An Forest Protection Management Board said that to get such initial results, they encountered many difficulties. And because of the difficulties, they were forced to temporarily stop investing in planting the remaining 22 hectares, spending time focusing on taking care of the planted area.
“The households that received the contract neglected the planting immediately after planting, so there was a lot of damage. Therefore, we had to invest in seedlings and workers to plant and replant 3-4 times. So is a difficult tree, if not cared for properly, it cannot become a forest. Moreover, the land of the remaining area has complicated problems, so the board reported to the superior agency, temporarily focusing on caring for the 20 hectares of planted area to evaluate, learn from experience, and then continue planting…”, Mr. Tran Van Son - Head of the Northern Nghe An Protective Forest Management Board briefly discussed over the phone.
