People still try to chop down trees for money.

Regenerating forests in Thua Thien-Hue chopped down completely

September 24, 2011  about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - Nearly 100 hectares of the artificial forests in A Luoi
district have been chopped down by local residents for timber and farming, while
local authorities have been powerless. The deforestation has made drinking water
of hundreds of households severely polluted.

Forest devastated

One of the “hottest points” of the deforestation in A Luoi district is the 321
ward, somewhere between Huong Nguyen and Hong Tien communes. The red earth road
linking the 49A highway to the ward 321 has been ploughed up by the trucks which
carry timber on the road every day.
What Lao dong’s reporters could see in the ward 321 after one hour of walking on
a track through the forest, was the wild land plots.
Big timber boards had been carried away before the reporters arrived. The forest
did not have trees. It only had burnt tree roots and the piles of small timber
planks which were put on the ground, waiting to be carried away.
Tien, a local resident, who was seen collecting the timber planks, said that big
timber boards have been taken by other people. “We just try to pick up small
planks to sell to brick kilns. A cubic meter can be sold for 500,000-800,000
dong,” he said. “If I work hard, I can earn 150,000-200,000 dong a day.”
Also according to Tien, the forest areas all have their “owners” already who
have the right to collect timber on their land, and no once can encroach on
others’ “territories”.
Ho Xuan Kho, Chair of the Huong Nguyen Commune People’s Committee, has admitted
that local residents began chopping down trees and burning the forest in late
2010. To date, more than 30 hectares of the forest have been burnt. Timber has
been exploited and carried away for sale, while people have brought new cajuputs
to plant on the devastated area.
Kho said that the commune people’s committee has set up a taskforce in charge of
preventing forest crimes. However, to date, the taskforce has just captured
several buffalos which were used to carry timber. The taskforce cannot seize
timber and punish the violators, because this is beyond its power.
In fact, the people, who chopped down trees and burnt the forest, are from other
localities. Rangers and policemen also tried to block the people to illegally
exploit the forest, but the people still return to exploit timber underhand.
“We have also worked out with the Hong Tien commune People’s Committee, asking
them to instruct the residents in the commune not to try to illegally exploit
the forest. However, no improvement has been made,” he said.
Not only 321
In fact, Lao dong’s reporters have found out that the deforestation for timber
and cultivating land not only occurs in the ward 321, but also in many locations
of the A Luoi district.
For the last six months, since a new road was open to serve the border
patrolling and people’s welfare, people have been rushing to the A Bia area in
Hong Bac commune to chop down trees to get timber for sale and land for
cultivation. The A Bia hill is an important historical site of the Thua Thien-Hue
province, which once witnessed the days of the resistance against the US
imperialist.
There one can see the forest areas along the tourism route to the A Bia hill
which have been burnt to the ground, and a lot of people growing corn and rice.
According to the Hong Bac People’s Committee, to date, more than 20 hectares of
forests have disappeared. The local authorities have caught red-handed violators
in 95 cases. However, people have not paid the fines because they do not have
money. With the limited knowledge and the high demand for earning for living,
people still try to chop down trees for money.
Source: Lao dong