It's so heartbreaking, Sa Mu...

(Baonghean) - Red fir trees, hundreds of years old, reaching heights of 30-40m and diameters of 2-5m, with trunks so large that a dozen people couldn't encircle them, are listed in the Vietnamese Red Book (currently found only in western Nghe An). However, since the end of June 2015, in Plot 11, Sub-area 59 - a rich primary forest area requiring strict protection - of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, three red fir trees have been felled by illegal loggers. Reporters from Nghe An Newspaper, along with relevant authorities, visited the area where the trees were cut down and felt the pain of losing such valuable forest resources.

The fir trees were cut down at the base by illegal loggers using chainsaws.

Tragedy in the heart of the forest

Information about the illegal logging of three red fir trees in Plot 11, Sub-area 59, reached us late on July 5th. We contacted the Pù Hoạt Nature Reserve Management Board to request access to the scene. Officials there said they would be willing, however, it was raining heavily in the afternoon, and the access road was remote, with many ravines, streams, and steep slopes, making it very difficult to reach the forest area where the three fir trees had been cut down.

At dawn on July 13th, our group, consisting of officials and forest rangers from the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve; officers and soldiers from Border Guard Post 517 and the Que Phong District Military Command, set off for Sub-area 59. After traveling about 25 km, including over 14 km of the border ring road under construction and rough mountain terrain, we reached the edge of the forest. Mr. Le Phung Dieu, Deputy Director of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, reminded everyone to wear gaiters (a type of large, long sock made of stiff canvas), and to apply tobacco water and mosquito repellent to their clothes. "Prepare well. With this gloomy weather, the forest is full of leeches; if you get bitten, you won't be able to withstand it," Mr. Dieu said.

The scene shows fir trees that have been felled and cut down by illegal loggers...

The path to Plot 11, Sub-area 59, passes through successive areas of pristine forest with a dense concentration of trees of all sizes. It involves navigating numerous streams and ravines, many steep and slippery slopes, and areas teeming with leeches. Despite being equipped with everything necessary to protect against leeches, many members of the group had to stop frequently due to leeches attacking their hair or crawling through gaps in their clothing, causing bleeding. Starting from the edge of the forest at 7:30 AM, after wading through streams and climbing mountains for four hours, around 11:30 AM, when everyone was breathless, Le Van Nghia, a science officer from the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, said: "We're almost there. The scent of fir resin is strong and fragrant..."

After another 15 minutes of climbing the slope, the fir forest unfolded before our eyes, a truly magnificent sight. There were clusters of five fir trees, so large that it would take seven or eight people to encircle them, with wide canopies and straight trunks towering over other trees, creating an almost absolute dominance in the surrounding vegetation. And because we had witnessed such grandeur, when we came to the first fir tree that had been cut down at the base by illegal loggers using chainsaws, everyone was deeply saddened. This fir tree was about 35-40 meters tall, with a diameter of 2.7 meters, and a circumference so large it would take a dozen people to encircle it. Due to the steep slope and the large trunk, the loggers had erected scaffolding around the base to fell it. Standing on the scaffolding, they used large chainsaws to cut around the base, creating large holes big enough for a person to crawl through. At the cuts, white fir sap oozed out, clumping together. Mr. Le Phung Dieu said sadly, "In just a few more days, the tree will die from the sap. It's so painful."

Climbing another 20 meters uphill, we reached the spot where two more fir trees had been felled. Seeing this scene, we felt a pang of sorrow for the vast Pù Hoạt forest. Tree stumps, trunks, branches, wood chips, and sawdust lay scattered over a large area. One fir tree had been cut into four large sections by illegal loggers. Two sections had been partially sawn, yielding seven planks of wood measuring 1.1 meters wide, 3.3 meters long, and 0.15 meters thick. Witnessing this scene, all members of the group shared a feeling of anger towards those who had so cruelly attacked the forest.

Take strict action.offenders

Five individuals involved in felling fir trees were apprehended by coordinated efforts of authorities at 1 PM on July 3, 2015. They were identified as: Lu Van Duong (born 1976), Vi Van Hoai (born 1979), Vi Van Binh (born 1994), Luong Van Tam (born 1975), all residing in Muong Phu village, Thong Thu commune (Que Phong district); and Cao Minh Quyet (born 1986), residing in Muong Ham village, Chau Cuong commune (Quy Hop district). According to Mr. Manh Danh Ngoc, an officer at the Hanh Dich Forest Protection Station ( thuộc Ban Quản lý Khu Bảo tồn thiên nhiên Pù Hoạt - under the Management Board of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve), who directly participated in the raid, since August 2014, the station had conducted patrols and discovered an individual felling a fir tree in Sub-area 60. The individual subsequently abandoned the chainsaw and escaped, but the Hanh Dich commune militia identified him as a Hmong (Lao) national.

Until early 2015, based on information from the local population, the station learned that a group of illegal loggers had entered the primary forest area of ​​Hanh Dich to cut down fir trees. From that time until early June 2015, the Hanh Dich Forest Protection Station, along with officers and soldiers of Border Guard Post 517 (located in Hanh Dich commune), conducted 12 patrols. In early July, they received information from the public that illegal loggers had infiltrated Sub-area 59! The station reported this to the leadership, and subsequently, the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board planned a coordinated operation with Border Guard Post 517 and the Hanh Dich Commune People's Committee to conduct a raid, resulting in the arrest of 5 perpetrators who had killed the rare fir trees.

Anh Ngoc recounted: "Hanh Dich has 16km of border, making patrolling extremely difficult. Therefore, detecting the location where illegal loggers were felling cypress trees was not simple. When we arrived at the location, we determined that this was a large-scale, organized group, and they would surely have set up a camp to rest. A secret search revealed the camp high up in the mountains, about 200m from where they were felling the cypress trees. Waiting until they had their lunch break, the 13-person task force surrounded them. At over 1 PM, we raided the camp and arrested the entire group along with evidence including chainsaws, large-displacement motorcycle engines, and chain hoists..."

At the location where the illegal loggers had set up their camp, several large trees had been felled and cut into planks to make sleeping quarters. Looking at the way the loggers constructed their camp, the felled fir trees, and the large planks sawn in the forest, we concluded that these were professional, organized illegal loggers with a distribution network. Border Guard Post 517 and the Pù Hoạt Forest Ranger Station handed over all five suspects, along with the evidence and case files, to the Que Phong District Police Investigation Agency for processing according to the law. Currently, the Que Phong District Police Investigation Agency has initiated a criminal case, charged the suspects, and detained them.

The location where the fir trees were felled is close to the Vietnam-Laos border. This area is a rich, pristine forest designated for strict protection, far from Vietnamese villages but near residential areas and public roads in Laos (about 1,000 meters). How could these illegal loggers from Muong Phu and Thong Thu dare to act so recklessly? The suspicion is that there were other accomplices behind them. The five illegal loggers will certainly be severely punished according to the law, but the public hopes that the authorities will soon discover and strictly punish those behind them, contributing to the protection of the green forests of the Western Mekong Delta.

**A close-up view of the scene where the Sa Mu forest was cut down by illegal loggers.****

Nhat Lan - Viet Long