Deforestation rampant as authorities dither

People flock to a protective forest in Bac Lieu to dig up a type of worm believed to be an aphrodisiac for males, destroying a vast area of forest land. Those assigned to protect forests turn a blind eye, or worse still, abet illegal logging.

One report said a 0.2-hectare portion of the Dac Ha forest had been destroyed last December. A month later, a report said trees on another 0.75 hectares of the forest had felled. But a recent inspection by Dac Nong Province forest wardens found the forest had in fact lost a total of 6.3 hectares in those two cases, Lao Dong newspaper reported. The report said further that authorities in Dac Nong Province in the Central Highlands had authorized the Dac Ha forestry enterprise to protect around 11,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land in Dac Nong District. Rumors had spread recently that the enterprise would be closed, prompting a rush to fell trees by people bidding to pick up a land plot in the area that the enterprise was charged with protecting. But wardens and local authorities said such big loss of forest land was “unusual.” Several people hired to work at a section of the forest said they had no idea who had logged the trees at the forest. But one thing they knew for sure was “they [the loggers] must not be ordinary people who will be detained once they enter a protected area.” The Dac Ha forestry enterprise management said though its personnel had staked out deforestation-prone areas, they had failed to catch the loggers. But this defense appears to be weak. Last December, the wardens caught two people felling trees at a section of the protected forest area, but their director, Nguyen Trung Hieu, had instructed them to release the loggers. Hieu then told Dac Nong authorities that he had let the two people go because a provincial official had phoned him and asked for the release. Last week, Do Ngoc Duyen, the Dac Nong provincial forest protection agency chief, said his agency had proposed that the provincial government investigate the matter further to find out if Hieu had abetted the loggers or hushed up their crime. The provincial police have also been asked to investigate the logging as a criminal action, Duyen said. Elsewhere, in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, Vietnam News Agency reported the provincial forest protection agency said Monday that action would be taken against Nong Van An, head of a team tasked with controlling a protective forest area in Vo Nhai District. Since last month, An had hired several locals to fell and burn around 12 hectares of the area in Vo Nhai’s Lien Minh Commune, the Thai Nguyen forest protection agency said. An, deputed to protect the forest since 1997, said he had chopped the trees to implement another afforestation project in the same area which could “deliver higher economic results.” Vo Nhai District forest wardens discovered the illegal logging earlier this month. The district is home to many protective forest areas. Mekong Delta forests in peril Forest reserves in Bac Lieu Province have been destroyed in recent days as people thronged coastal districts to dig up the land for sam dat (Sipunculus nudus), an aquatic worm. Sam dat is popular food at major restaurants in Vietnam as it is touted to be an aphrodisiac for men. Its nutrients, especially amino acids and mineral elements, are yet to be identified. In recent days, many people from Ho Chi Minh City have been visiting Bac Lieu to buy the worm and sell them to restaurants in Vietnam and China. “Every day hundreds of people flock to the forests and dig the land up, killing scores of trees,” said Tran Van Thong, chairman of the Vinh Hau A Commune People’s Committee. A kilogram of sam dat fetches between VND8,000-10,000, which is a considerable income for poor people in the province who can get between five to 10 kilograms a day, local authorities said. Chairman Thong said local authorities have failed to prevent people scouring the area for the worm, saying they did not have enough manpower for the task. A local forest warden also said his staff faced many difficulties in dealing with people who are very poor. Nguyen Van Phuc, head of the Bac Lieu forest protection agency, warned that the practice of digging for the worms would kill off large areas of forests if left unchecked. Source: TN, Agencies