Keep the green forest

As a Mong ethnic, born and raised on the white plateau of Bac Ha, where there are vast green forests and majestic mountains, Giang Van Hai has had a special love for the forest since he was a child. While in school, during the time he was exposed to the forest rangers who came to propagate forest protection, he nurtured the dream of becoming a professional forest "soldier" from then on.

Graduated from university in 2007, through many job positions, in 2012, Mr. Hai worked at the Bac Ha District Forest Protection Department. After a period of striving, from 2015 to present, he is the Head of the Forest Protection Station of Ban Lien Commune, in charge of 5 communes: Ban Lien, Nam Khanh, Na Hoi, Ta Chai, Thai Giang Pho. This is an area with a large area of forest and forestry land with more than 7,500 hectares (accounting for 1/4 of the district's total forest area). Because people live near the forest and their lives depend on the forest, there was a time when the situation of hunting animals, illegal exploitation of forest products, and encroachment on forest land for farming was complicated. Mr. Hai always struggled to find solutions to overcome this situation.

He has coordinated with the staff in the unit to strengthen patrolling and guarding the forest, applying science and technology in monitoring the development of forest resources and early warning of forest fires. Outside of working hours, on weekends, he spends time going to the fields with the people, attending village meetings to understand the thoughts and aspirations of the people and promoting forest development and protection. Thanks to that, people increasingly understand the role and value of forests, and join hands to protect them.

Mr. Vang A Cheng, Head of Pac Ke Village, Ban Lien Commune, said: In the past, villagers rushed into the forest to cut trees and collect firewood for use or sale. At that time, the water for production was exhausted, and the rice and corn crops were harvested one year and failed the next. In the dry season, there was little water for daily use, and people had to go into the mountain stream to get water by the can. Later, after the commune officials and then Hai forest rangers propagated the benefits of forest protection as protecting the water source and the living environment, villagers stopped cutting down trees.

Pac Ke village has more than 200 hectares of protective forest. This is a natural protective forest with a rich flora and fauna. The village forest protection team with 25 members is divided into 4 groups that take turns patrolling the forest. According to the plan, each group patrols 4 times a month, and when there is an emergency, they will patrol with local forest rangers. Thanks to that, the forests here are always green...

Coming to Nam Xe commune (Van Ban district), we felt the majestic beauty of the special-use mountains and forests of Hoang Lien - Van Ban Nature Reserve. Surprisingly, whenever someone asked about Mr. Lo Van Toan, Head of the Nam Mu Forest Ranger Station, Khau Co, the locals enthusiastically introduced, "Officer Toan is a son of Nam Xe!"

If you meet him for the first time, everyone will think that Toan is a native of this place. His gestures, voice and lifestyle are exactly like the locals. Looking towards the forest, Toan confided: When I first arrived, I spent a month going to the villages, staying at people's houses, contributing rice to cook and climbing hills to plant corn and rice with the host to learn the local language, thereby promoting forest protection...

Mr. Toan is a Thai ethnic, born and raised in Lai Chau province. After graduating from university, he was assigned to the Bat Xat District Forest Protection Department, then transferred to the Provincial Forest Protection Department. In 2019, he was assigned to Hoang Lien - Van Ban Nature Reserve and was given the important responsibility of Head of the Nam Mu Forest Protection Station, Khau Co.

This is a special-use forest area of Van Ban as well as the province, where many rare and precious endemic animal and plant genetic resources are preserved, with many precious trees hundreds of years old. Ancient forests surround the village and hamlet. The deeper you go into the forest, the more you see the preciousness and beauty of the forest, but it is a difficult problem for people to understand why it is necessary to preserve the forest, because many people's awareness is still limited. Many years ago, Nam Xe was a "hot spot" for timber exploitation, at that time people had to live off the forest.

Another difficulty in protecting forests in Nam Xe is that the forest area here is very large, with 15,341 hectares, adjacent to many communes of the district such as Nam Xay, Minh Luong and localities of neighboring provinces such as Muong Than commune, Than Uyen district (Lai Chau), Che Cu Nha commune, Mu Cang Chai district (Yen Bai), posing many potential risks of unsafety in terms of forest fire prevention and fighting and conservation of precious timber trees and wildlife. To make forest protection more convenient and effective, since mid-2021, the station has set up 4 checkpoints at prime locations on the forest and cardamom cultivation routes of people in Nam Xe commune and Than Uyen district (Lai Chau), thereby controlling almost all people entering and leaving the forest.

Mr. Toan said: After a period of working in Nam Xe commune, I realized that the villages near the forest have many poor and near-poor households. Some people's awareness of forest protection is limited, making it easy for bad people to take advantage of and incite them to illegally exploit timber in the forest. The forest area is not concentrated but spread out, bordering many communes in the district and communes in Lai Chau and Yen Bai provinces, making forest management and protection very difficult. To preserve the forest, the indigenous people are the most important force, so we must find a way to get people to volunteer to participate in forest protection. But to promote that strength, we must first help people have a prosperous life.

Practicing his words, Mr. Toan persistently went to each household to persuade people to put hybrid corn and hybrid rice into production. He also encouraged people to convert ineffective corn fields into production forests. He guided people in land preparation, bought cinnamon seedlings to plant forests, and instructed them on how to care for, prevent, and control pests and diseases... Up to now, people in the commune have planted more than 100 hectares of cinnamon, promising to bring sustainable income.

Talking to us, Mr. Trieu Trung Phau, former Chairman of Nam Xe Commune People's Committee, a prestigious person in the locality, said: Nam Xe is changing every day, people have learned to preserve and protect the forest as a common home. The images of people going into the forest to cut trees, collect firewood, and burn fields are almost gone. These changes have a great contribution from forest ranger Lo Van Toan.