From the incident of 3 Sa mu trees in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve being cut down: Strengthening solutions to protect forests

(Baonghean) - On July 16, 2015, the Provincial Party Standing Committee directed relevant agencies to strictly handle the subjects who cut down 3 Sa mu trees in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve (arrested by the functional forces at 1:00 p.m. on July 3, 2015) and to strengthen propaganda work for deterrence and prevention. However, with the difficulties in forest protection, especially in forest areas bordering Laos, effective protection solutions are needed...

The direction of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on July 16 clearly stated: The Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee monitors and advises the branches in the Internal Affairs Bloc to strictly handle subjects who illegally cut down forests in the core zone of special-use forests in the Vietnam - Laos border area in Hanh Dich commune, Que Phong district; The Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department directs press agencies located in the area to strengthen information and propaganda work to deter and prevent...

The hundreds of years old sa mu trees in Sub-area 59, Pu Hoat Nature Reserve are always the "prey" that illegal loggers aim for.

On the side of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, after receiving reports of law violations, Official Dispatch No. 1565/SNN-KL was issued to direct the strengthening of measures against illegal deforestation. In particular, it requires forest owners and forest rangers to strengthen forest patrols, especially in special-use forests and upstream protection forests to promptly detect violations; direct the clarification of responsibilities of forest rangers, local forest ranger stations, forest owners, commune People's Committees..., where violations occur. Talking with representatives of the Forest Protection Department, the suspicion that there is a network in the organization of illegally exploited timber consumption that Nghe An Newspaper raised when reporting the situation of loggers cutting down 3 sa mu trees is well-founded. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Head of the Forest Protection Management Department (Forest Protection Department) said that in 2014, the department participated in working with Que Phong district and Sam To district (Laos). After the working session, a border patrol was organized and a number of Vietnamese people were found to be residing illegally in Sam To district to participate in timber exploitation or to serve timber exploitation subjects. Mr. Tuan also shared: "The reality is that Lao people do not have the same demand for timber as in Vietnam. Therefore, in the incident that occurred in Sub-region 59, Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, it is reasonable to identify 5 illegal loggers who illegally exploited sa mu timber and then went to Laos, made "resume" and brought it back to Vietnam for consumption. Who can do these things? Those are businesses that have been licensed to export timber. They just need to have people collect and buy. Then, pay money to get invoices and make "resume". The illegally exploited timber on Vietnamese soil was then transformed into "Lao timber" and brought back through border gates without being "touched" by the authorities...".

Since July 6, the forest owner (where 3 sa mu trees were cut down by illegal loggers) is the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board, which has sent a document to the relevant authorities, stating that the current situation of the forest area of ​​Sub-area 59 is an area bordering Vietnam - Laos, mainly rich forests of status IIIa3, concentrating on precious wood species, valuable for the conservation of rare genetic resources as well as high economic value. Due to the location being too far from the village in Vietnam but close to residential areas and roads in Laos, it is a great difficulty in the patrol and protection work of the authorities, while it is also convenient for subjects to infiltrate from Laos to illegally exploit the forest. Thereby, it is requested that law enforcement agencies promptly conduct investigations to strictly handle violators.

To effectively carry out forest protection work, Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board determined that it is necessary to continue to carry out propaganda, dissemination, education, and raise awareness of forest protection management; coordinate with local forces and authorities in forest protection work; effectively carry out the assignment and urge, inspect, and regularly monitor the forest protection contract work. In addition, strengthen coordination in forest protection patrols to promptly detect and prevent violations from the beginning; effectively use forest environmental service funding sources, 30a career capital, economic career sources, forest protection contracts... to improve the lives of local people, thereby changing people's awareness in forest protection work, reducing pressure on natural forests.

Mr. Nguyen Danh Hung, Director of Pu Hoat Nature Reserve said: "That is the task that we, the forest owner, must focus on. But besides that, we hope that the Provincial People's Committee and Que Phong District People's Committee will work with the authorities of Sam To District and Muong Quan District of Laos to coordinate in preventing illegal border crossings for forest exploitation like the recent incident; direct the People's Committees of the border communes to properly manage and protect forests according to Decision 07/2012/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. At the same time, we request the Forest Protection Department and relevant agencies to strengthen strict inspection of the volume of timber imported through the Thong Thu sub-border gate, to avoid the situation of illegally exploiting timber from Vietnam to Laos and legalizing its import to Vietnam...".

On the side of Que Phong district, after 5 illegal loggers who felled sa mu were arrested and prosecuted, the leaders of the district People's Committee requested the district police to coordinate with the Procuracy to speed up the handling of the case, agree with the district Court on a plan to handle the case's exhibits, promptly investigate and prosecute the subjects in accordance with the provisions of law. In addition, the Office of the People's Council - People's Committee of the district was assigned to contact the authorities of Sam To and Muong Quan districts to organize a working session to discuss solutions to coordinate in preventing illegal logging of forest timber in the border area between the two countries. On July 10, 2015, the People's Committee of Que Phong district issued Decision 317/QD-UBND on the establishment of an interdisciplinary team to inspect the management and protection of forests in Que Phong district, in which, special attention was paid to the border forest areas in the communes of Tri Le, Nam Giai, Hanh Dich and Thong Thu. The interdisciplinary inspection team will carry out the following tasks: organizing forest inspections in key areas at risk of illegal logging in the area; organizing propaganda, dissemination and education of laws in communes with large forest areas; proposing solutions to increase the effectiveness of forest management and protection in the coming time...

It can be seen that relevant levels and sectors have paid great attention to the incident of 3 hundred-year-old sa mu trees in the primary forest area of ​​Pu Hoat Nature Reserve being cut down by illegal loggers, and have proposed specific measures to better protect the forest. However, from reality, it is necessary to propose effective solutions to strictly control the import of wood through border gates, to prevent the situation of "Vietnamese wood" being confused with "Lao wood" from happening. Only then can we avoid the situation of greedy and reckless people organizing illegal exploitation of forest resources.

Nhat Lan