Follow the people to patrol the forest
For generations, forests have been the place that nurtured and attached to the lives of the Tay, Mong, Dao ethnic groups... bringing them a prosperous life, many families have escaped poverty and have gradually improved their lives thanks to the forests. For Giang A Cho, 31 years old, in Nam Tha, Van Ban (Lao Cai), if he only relied on a few terraced fields, his family would probably be in perpetual poverty. But everything has changed since Giang A Cho became involved in the profession of forest protection and care.
Giang A Cho only stays at home with his wife and children for about 10 days a month, while his children stay in the forest to protect the forest hills that his family and village have been assigned to. Cho shares the assignment to take care of and protect with the village team over 500 hectares of forest, so for over 10 years Cho has been going back and forth like that. The job of protecting and taking care of the forest is very hard, sometimes he gets bitten by snakes, sometimes he suffers from malaria, but A Cho still perseveres in staying in the forest to protect it. Because Giang A Cho thinks "if you want to have money to raise your children to study, to help your family be less poor, then a little hardship is not worth it". Perhaps understanding the hardships of his husband, wife and 2 children, it is no wonder that when Cho is not at home, his wife takes care of his elderly mother and 2 children. Cho's children are also more mature than their age, when their father goes to the forest, they both voluntarily go to school and do housework without having to be reminded.
Following Giang A Cho and his brothers in the protection team along the mountain trail to patrol the forest. After the rain the night before, the whole mountain and forest, the trees were wet, on the ground there were occasionally a few caterpillars crawling around, sometimes they swung together on the grass. I was suddenly "shocked" and shouted loudly when I saw a leech suddenly appear on Giang A Cho's hair, he quickly used his hand to remove the animal and threw it on the ground, stomped on it with his foot and then turned back to reassure: It's okay, don't worry, just wrap the towel tightly and you won't be afraid of leeches and worms attacking... Even though climbing the mountain was hot and sweaty, I still didn't dare take off the towel wrapped around my head for fear that the animals would accidentally crawl into me. A Cho carried a bag, in which there was water, tools for the forest and a bottle of wine. "This wine is for if it rains in the forest or if it's too cold at night in the forest, I can take it out to drink to keep warm," A Cho explained.
The road got higher and more deserted, the slope seemed steeper with each step, it was 12 o'clock before we reached the hut where everyone stopped to rest for lunch. While busy getting food, A Cho confided: "Forest patrollers are often in the "deep mountains and valleys" every day, so life is lacking in many ways. Food is usually prepared for 3-4 days after a round of patrol. On rainy days, the patrolling will be slower than on dry days. We usually patrol in a team of about 5-6 people, helping each other and being able to rescue when encountering illegal loggers, forest fires...
Protecting forests is like protecting the livelihood of the poor.
Following Giang A Cho’s forest patrol deep into the forest, we encountered vast numbers of old bamboo trees with a diameter of 16cm. A Cho confided: “Bamboo is a precious forest tree that nature has bestowed upon us, the people of Van Ban. The entire Van Ban district currently has more than 2,500 hectares of mixed natural forests with bamboo trees. Bamboo is not only a forest tree, but it is also a tree that creates a livelihood to help us, the people of Van Ban, escape poverty.
Every year from November to March, we farmers go into the bamboo forest to harvest bamboo shoots to sell. Each person can dig up a few dozen kilograms a day, earning 200-300 thousand VND. 1 hectare of bamboo cane will dig up about 500 kg of bamboo shoots in a year. With more than 2,500 hectares, people will harvest about 1,880 tons of bamboo shoots, with an average price of about 7,000 VND/kg, the amount earned is about 13 billion VND. This is a significant source of income, contributing to increasing income and stabilizing the lives of people living in and near the forest.
“Our Nam Tha commune has the largest bamboo forest area in Van Ban district. Previously, people mainly exploited bamboo shoots for food and sale in the district, so the economic value was not high. In recent years, Van Ban bamboo shoots have been known as a specialty plant, crispy, sweet, cool and especially very clean, growing in natural forests without human care. Therefore, every bamboo shoot season, traders from everywhere come to collect, the price of bamboo shoots also increases, bringing a significant source of income to the people in the village”. Therefore, in recent years, the poverty rate of Nam Tha has decreased significantly, and people are also more aware of preserving the forest to escape poverty.
Joining us in the forest patrol was Mr. Hoang Cong Tuong, a district forest ranger. Mr. Tuong said that in recent years, because bamboo shoots bring high economic value, people have exploited them quite indiscriminately. The reckless digging without awareness has cut off many main roots, making the bamboo shoots unable to continue to germinate and also destroying the vitality of the mother tree. Meanwhile, Van Ban currently has no bamboo growing area but all natural forest area. To protect and preserve the forest, the People's Committee of Van Ban district has developed a plan to manage bamboo shoot exploitation. People are allowed to exploit bamboo shoots in bamboo forests, and sell them commercially from November of the previous year to the end of March of the following year.
The remaining months are for the bamboo shoots to grow again, creating a secondary layer for the bamboo forest to grow and generate income for the following year.
To effectively manage and protect forests, the Forest Protection Management Board has established 7 forest protection posts/2 semi-professional forest protection teams, Van Ban Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. has 3 posts, maintaining 24/7 forces at the posts and regularly patrolling assigned forest areas, thanks to which, violations of forestry laws are always detected, prevented and handled promptly. Therefore, up to now, the forest area in the area has been maintained, there are no more hot spots for illegal exploitation, hunting, logging, deforestation... "Mr. Tuong added.
For the people of Van Ban district, Lao Cai, the forest is truly a golden forest as it creates income for the people, helping them escape poverty sustainably. As for me, on this trip to the forest, I witnessed and experienced the hardships of the forest protection and care profession, and heard many memories that the forest patrollers experienced. This was truly an unforgettable trip for me in the mountainous region of Lao Cai.
Bamboo forests are secondary species, formed after slash-and-burn cultivation or after primary forests have been exploited. The trees grow mainly by underground stem systems located 20-30cm below the ground, sometimes underground stems sprout above the ground. The growing season is from December of the previous year to May of the following year, bamboo shoots develop underground, then grow above the ground. According to agricultural engineers, the best time to harvest bamboo shoots is in the morning, when the bamboo shoots begin to protrude 10-20cm above the ground. The cutting position is the junction between the underground stem and the bamboo shoot body.
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