Lost in the "territory" of ancient rosewood trees

Decades ago, the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people of many villages along the Se Pon River entrusted their poor lives to evergreen forests. Only when those forests gradually moved away from their villages did they suddenly realize the value of the forests. The Van Kieu and Pa Ko people in the communes of Thuan, Thanh, Huong Loc, Lia, A Doi (Huong Hoa district)... hurriedly went to find many precious timber species such as rosewood (the Van Kieu people often call it "xa rui", while the Pa Ko people call it "trui"), Hue, Trac... that were left to plant around their houses and on their fields.

" Thousand gold" not for sale

The legacy that her late husband left to Mrs. Ho Thi But in Ban 7, Thuan Commune, Huong Hoa District, was 6 ancient rosewood trees over 30 years old. Each tree is tens of meters tall, spreading its green canopy to shade Mrs. But's stilt house, which has been faded by several seasons of rain in the forest and sun in the mountains.

Lost in the

Ancient rosewood trees of Mrs. Ho Thi But - Photo: SH

For nearly ten years, many people have come to ask to buy 6 ancient rosewood trees but only received a decisive shake of the head from her. Looking far away at the undulating hills covered with green coffee, rubber, cassava, banana and many other crops, Mrs. But said that in the past, those places used to be old forests with countless precious wood species, especially rosewood, ebony, black muong... Rosewood is present in the "ghost forest", on the fields, in the home garden.

But then, the miserable life in poverty and backwardness led the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic people into the forests to cut down trees to build stilt houses and clear forests for slash-and-burn cultivation over several seasons.

Evergreen forests have also gradually receded from the village. As if sensing the thinning of forests in the near future, more than 30 years ago, Mrs. But’s husband and many people in Village 7, Thuan Commune went into the forest to find and select rosewood trees as tall as a person’s head to dig up and bring back to plant around the house and on the fields.

Now, her husband has gone to "Giang", only 6 ancient rosewood trees remain to continue to shade and keep her company in her old age.

The house of village elder Am Moan (78 years old) in A Quan village, Lia commune, Huong Hoa district, lies peacefully under the shade of an ancient rosewood tree.

Seeing that the visitors to his house seemed interested in the ancient rosewood trees, the village elder Äm Moan smiled warmly and proudly showed them that surrounding his stilt house were dozens of ancient rosewood trees. In addition, he also owned a rosewood garden with an area of over 2 hectares.

The reason why village elder Âm Moan owns an ancient rosewood garden is simply that about 30 years ago (1994), every time he went to the fields or into the forest, he would come across wild rosewood trees and dig them up to plant around his garden to make a bed for pepper plants.

Gradually over time, the pepper plants could not survive, could not cling to the rosewood tree to produce pepper seasons with heavy fruits and seeds, so only the rosewood garden remained with deep roots in the ground.

And those rosewood trees have been taken care of by old man Äm Moan until now. Over the years, dozens of people have come to the house of village elder Äm Moan to express their desire to buy the garden of ancient rosewood trees, ebony trees... for tens of millions of VND/tree, but the old man refused to sell.

“Selling a few old rosewood and ebony trees for money could have improved my family’s poor life. But then, every time someone came to ask to buy them, I took them to the garden to see the old rosewood trees, and I felt regretful. So I decided not to sell them to the surprise of the customers who asked to buy the trees. It was such a pity. In the past, spending effort digging and bringing them back to plant around the house, in addition to making choai tieu, was also a way to bring the forest closer to home, to preserve precious wood species for future generations,” shared village elder Âm Moan.

At that time, around A Quan village were sparse forests but there were many precious woods. When people in A Quan village as well as other villages of the Pa Ko ethnic group wanted to build houses and household items, they only needed to bring hammers and machetes to the forest to cut down a few rosewood trees to build houses and items.

If you want to make a big “dung put”, you have to cut down about 10-15 old rosewood trees. In Pa Ko language, “dung put” means a big house, a communal house. People in the lowlands call it a traditional long house. “Dung put” is the place where many generations and many families of the Pa Ko ethnic group live. That was a story from decades ago.

And now, in many villages of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups in the communes of the Lia region, there are still many ancient rosewood trees, especially in the "ghost forests", on the fields and around people's gardens. The Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups in the communes of the Lia region all share the determination to preserve and pass on ancient rosewood and trac trees... to future generations.

Preserve for future

Having devoted his entire life to forest protection, Head of Lao Bao Regional Forest Protection Station (Huong Hoa District Forest Protection Department) Nguyen Minh Hien said that for the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups, when carrying out propaganda on forest protection, they must be flexible and adaptable to be effective in practice.

Lost in the

Ancient rosewood trees are planted by people in their home gardens - Photo: SH

The forest rangers had to go to each house to propagate and explain to the people that if they wanted to exploit the ancient rosewood trees in their gardens, they had to get permission from the competent authority and could not cut them down arbitrarily. If they arbitrarily exploited this rare tree species without the consent of the competent authority, it would be a violation of the law.

And absolutely do not exploit ancient rosewood trees as well as other forest trees in natural forests, "ghost forests"... Because rosewood belongs to group IIA of rare and precious wood, exploitation is prohibited. Propaganda must be carried out in a "slow and steady" manner to bring about practical results.

As a result, more than 1,000 hectares of natural forests in 7 communes of Lia region have always been strictly protected by forest rangers together with the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic people in recent years. Especially the "ghost forests" such as the "ghost forests" of Tang Quan 1 village, Ky Tang (Lia commune); Xa Doan village (A Doi commune) and Up Ly village (Thuan commune)... with many precious wood species such as ancient rosewood, trac, muong den, with trees as big as 3 people hugging, tens of meters high.

Drenched in sweat from the long, narrow path through the forest, crossing streams and creeks and climbing up the hill, I and Mr. Ho Van Com (47 years old) from Ky Tang village, Lia commune, Huong Hoa district, arrived at a field area with more than 60 ancient rosewood trees growing naturally.

Mr. Com said: “I don’t know where else, but in the communes of the Lia region around October every year, the ancient rosewood trees begin to bloom with tiny yellow flowers, their fragrance spreading throughout the villages and forests. The ancient rosewood trees in the Lia region are of the large fruit variety, the older the tree, the redder and more durable the wood. Currently, there are hundreds of households of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups in the Lia region who own at least a few trees, and at most 30-40 ancient rosewood trees, so many people often compare themselves to being lost in the “territory” of ancient rosewood trees when setting foot on this land.”

Sy Hoang

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