Does the cultivation of medicinal herbs by Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group have a negative impact on the Puxailaileng upstream protection forest?

Complaint about the encroachment of upstream forests

In mid-October 2024, Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from citizens regarding a number of issues related to the implementation of the project to plant medicinal plants under the forest canopy of Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company at plot 8, sub-area 490, Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district. According to the application, from October 24, 2023, Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company will hire people to clear the ground, dig the soil into beds to plant Ngoc Linh ginseng and other medicinal herbs under the forest canopy.

Regarding the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area, it is a headwater protection forest.Ky Son Protective Forest Management Boardmanagement. Here, being a mountainous area with high slopes, the plan and design documents require that medicinal plant cultivation must be associated with forest protection, no large trees must be cut; no digging or cutting of tree roots; no negative impact on the forest ecosystem... However, to implement Ngoc Linh ginseng planting, Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company directed the cutting of forest trees to build shelters for workers, the area for building the shelters had to cut down trees and clear all bamboo and rattan.

At the same time, Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Corporation asked workers to cut down trees, cut down tree roots, dig up bamboo stumps, dig and hoe the ground to create a surface for planting Ngoc Linh ginseng, and during the process of making ginseng planting beds, also directed the cutting and trimming of surrounding trees to use as stakes for the beds. These actions negatively affected the forest ecosystem, causing soil erosion and even landslides during the rainy season.

On November 6, 2023, the inspection team of the Na Ngoi Commune People's Committee, together with local forest rangers and the Na Ngoi Protective Forest Management Station, made a surprise inspection at the site where Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company was growing ginseng. At this time, local forest rangers requested to provide documents on growing medicinal plants under the forest canopy, but Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company could not present the documents.

After checking the current status of the forest, local forest rangers announced that the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area is an upstream protection forest, the current status of the forest is a mixed forest of wood and bamboo; at the same time, they concluded that the actions of Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company were encroachments on the upstream protection forest.

“After that, the inspection team of the Na Ngoi Commune People's Committee suspended all activities and asked the Company's representative to come to the Commune People's Committee headquarters to make a record. However, since then, Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company has continued to expand its area, causing more negative impacts on the upstream protective forest…”- Citizens reflect in the petition.

Along with the petition, citizens also sent Nghe An Newspaper some images, audio tapes, and clips. The images and clips show that some people are cutting down bamboo, reeds, bushes, digging, clearing natural forest land; using wooden branches to make beds and camps in the forest. The audio tapes also contain information showing an inspection by local authorities, confirming that the act of clearing bamboo to plant Ngoc Linh ginseng is illegal logging, a violation of the forest.

Based on citizens' feedback, initial verification shows that in sub-area 490, Buoc Mu village, Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district, there is a project to grow medicinal herbs under the forest canopy of Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company.

From November to December 2023, the inspection team of the People's Committee of Na Ngoi commune and local forest rangers twice inspected the medicinal plant growing activities under the forest canopy of Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company. And because both times they discovered that the medicinal plant growing activities under the forest canopy negatively affected the upstream protective forest, the inspection team of the People's Committee of Na Ngoi commune and local forest rangers made a record, requesting the cessation of related activities.

Verifying that the upstream forest is "hollow"

To enter the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area of ​​Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Corporation, on Puxailaileng range, Na Ngoi commune is very difficult.

From Muong Xen town, down to Chieu Luu commune, turn southwest at Khe Nan section, from here through a steep road with one side rugged cliffs, the other side deep abyss with a length of about 20 km to enter Phu Kha intersection, the center of Na Ngoi commune. Then, another few dozen minutes over Phuxailaileng slope, to reach the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area fenced with B40 mesh with a lock blocking the entrance.

Being the highest mountain of the Northern Truong Son range, Puxailaileng is covered in clouds all year round, so when we arrived at exactly 3pm, the temperature had dropped, and we could feel the cold. Thanks to the cooperation of the staff of Ky Son Forest Protection Department, the forest rangers of Na Ngoi Ho Ba Xenh commune and the staff of Na Ngoi Protective Forest Management Station, the entrance to the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area was opened.

The camp area of ​​Ngoc Linh ginseng growers is located on a fairly large, flat piece of land adjacent to the border patrol road. With two rows of huts, this is both the living place of Ngoc Linh ginseng growers and the storage of materials. One row is for cooking, storing firewood and other items; the other row is covered with a fairly solid corrugated iron roof, used as a place to live. From here, following the path downhill through the forest for a few dozen meters, is the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area.

Looking at the area as a whole, the density of ginseng huts has been quite high. In some places, huts are close together, the forest floor is white with plastic tarpaulin. The Ngoc Linh ginseng huts have an average width of about 2.5 - 3m; the length depends on the space created under the forest trees, some huts are 8m - 10m long, some huts are 40 - 50m long.

Looking closely at the sheds, many are built with iron frames, but there are also quite a few sheds made of bamboo. Each shed has two beds of soil for growing Ngoc Linh ginseng, with a path of about 35-40cm between the beds. Surrounding the beds is a mesh support, supported by many round pieces of wood about 50cm long and 4-5cm in diameter.

Around the Ngoc Linh ginseng plantations, it is easy to see that many bamboo and reed bushes have been cut down or tilted; in many places, there are scattered bamboo and reed roots that have been dug up and turned upside down on the ground surface. At some points, there are also scattered trees cut close to the base along with some tree trunks that are in the process of decomposing, their bark rotting.

Interspersed in the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing hut system, there is also a tent built on a fairly large plot of land, serving as a resting place for ginseng growers. Here, there are also signs of cutting down and impacting forest trees to create a flat surface; the use of materials from natural forests such as wood, bamboo, meters, etc. Talking to a worker, he said that up to now, the ginseng growing area of ​​Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company in Na Ngoi commune has been deployed on an area of ​​about 5 - 6 hectares, with about more than 130 huts.

Reporting what was seen and heard from the Ngoc Linh ginseng growing area in Na Ngoi with the representative of the Ky Son District Forest Protection Department, it was discussed that the People's Committee of Na Ngoi commune and local forest rangers had inspected the area twice, on November 6, 2023, and December 5, 2023. In both inspections, negative impacts on the upstream protection forest were detected, and a record was drawn up to remind and request Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company to properly implement the design approved by the competent authority and stop all activities that affect the forest.

Approaching the two inspection records of the People's Committee of Na Ngoi commune, both inspections discovered the act of "Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company letting people rake some bamboo clumps to plant ginseng". Notably, in the inspection on December 5, 2023, it was also discovered that Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company planted ginseng outside the area permitted by the competent authority, encroaching on plot 5 of sub-area 490; and the design of the ginseng planting beds was different from reality. In response to these acts, in the two established records, the People's Committee of Na Ngoi commune requested: "Immediately stop letting people rake bamboo clumps to plant ginseng in plot 8, sub-area 490, Na Ngoi commune"; "From now on, plant Ngoc Linh ginseng under the forest canopy in plot 8, sub-area 490 in accordance with the original design documents...".

Do not trade the environment for economic development!

According to the documents we have updated, on August 10, 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the cooperation and association plan for growing medicinal plants under the forest canopy at the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board in Decision No. 512/QD-SNN-QLKTKHCN. Regarding the cooperation object, the investor is Sam Ngoc Linh Pharmaceutical Group Joint Stock Company, and the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board is the participating party. The association plan is implemented on an area of ​​19.83 hectares of protective forest (construction area of ​​16 hectares) assigned by the State to the Ky Son Protective Forest Management Board, in compartment 8, sub-area 490, Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district.

Regarding the current state of the forest, it is also clearly stated in Decision No. 512/QD-SNN-QLKTKHCN. Specifically, in 19.83 hectares, there are up to 17.94 hectares of natural forest, including mixed forests of bamboo, restored forests, and medium forests; only 0.57 hectares of bare land with scattered regenerated trees and 1.32 hectares of other land.

The Puxailaileng mountain area of ​​Ky Son border district, together with the Pu Hoat, Pu Mat, Pu Huong and Chung mountain areas of the province, are all included in the master plan for biodiversity conservation of the whole country until 2020, with a vision to 2030, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 45/QD-TTg dated January 8, 2014. In particular, Puxailaileng is identified as a "nature reserve" with a planned area of ​​50,000 hectares.

Therefore, in Decision No. 512/QD-SNN-QLKTKHCN, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An clearly informed this content; besides, it also affirmed that Na Ngoi commune is the core area of ​​Puxailaileng with biodiversity ranked at a rich level compared to 182 communes in the entire Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve.

Among the obligations that Ngoc Linh Ginseng Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company must perform, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An requires the performance of the obligation to "Organize plans to protect and develop forests, prevent and fight forest fires in accordance with the provisions of law".

In recent years, the border district of Ky Son, along with the mountainous areas of the province, has always suffered the negative impacts of natural disasters such as storms and floods. There have been floods, landslides, and mountain landslides that have caused very heavy damage, along with property loss and endangering people's lives. Just counting the flash flood on October 2, 2022, Ky Son district was adversely affected by 621 houses, of which 55 houses in Ta Ca commune and Muong Xen town were completely collapsed...; the total damage in the district amounted to 215 billion VND.

Natural disasters such as storms and floods are unpredictable dangers. However, if disaster prevention measures are strictly implemented, the risk of damage will certainly be minimized. And one of the most important disaster prevention measures pointed out for many years is to protect and develop forests, especially in the upstream border protection forests.

Given some information as above, to affirm, in any aspect, the Puxaillaileng border watershed protection forest area is especially valuable.

Regarding the provisions of the law, Point b, Article 19 - Protection of protective forests, Decree 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government strictly prohibits activities that change the natural landscape of the forest; illegal exploitation of biological resources and other natural resources. For Nghe An province, for many years, it has always been consistent with the viewpoint "Not trading the environment for economic development". This viewpoint has been affirmed by the most responsible people of the province at many forums.

Therefore, the border watershed protection forest in Puxaillaileng must be strictly protected and negative impacts must be absolutely prevented. It is thought that the authorities need to urgently inspect and strictly handle the negative impacts on the border watershed protection forest in section 8, sub-area 490, Na Ngoi commune as mentioned above.