Storm No. 3 passed, leaving behind streets lined with long rows of broken or uprooted urban trees. In the forests that were once green, now only broken tree trunks remain. Foresters are heartbroken, because behind the devastation of nature are the businesses of many families. Forestry is truly one of the industries that suffered the most damage after the storm.
As one of the localities most severely affected by super typhoon Yagi, the damage to Van Don district was not only in aquatic products, but also in devastated forests, many of which were completely wiped out; significantly affecting the livelihoods of the people.
In the incessant rain on the morning of September 11, Mr. Le Dinh Hiu (Xuyen Hung village, Dai Xuyen commune, Van Don district) stood there, stunned, looking at his family's 4th year of lush green forest, now just stumps broken in half and collapsed. "My family has 14 hectares of forest, which should have yielded about 600-700 million VND next year. My wife and I had many plans with this money. However, the whole family's business is now gone. The whole district's forest has been damaged, and we don't know where to find someone to clean it up. I don't have any money to hire anyone anymore" - Mr. Hiu said sadly.
As of 5 p.m. on September 10, Van Don district had over 16,100 hectares of forest affected, accounting for one-third of the total damaged forest area in the province. This is also the locality with the most severe forest damage in the province. The forestry sector’s post-storm recovery requires a lot of time, effort and investment.
Ms. Tu Hong Minh, General Director of Van Don Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., said: The total forest area owned by the Company and its member households is nearly 6,000 hectares, including acacia, pine, and larch. However, up to now, nearly 5,900 hectares of forest have been broken, fallen, and uprooted, with a total damage value of about 250 billion VND. Now, the biggest difficulty for us is capital, human resources, and equipment to clean up and prepare the ground for the next crop. In the long term, the issue of job arrangement and income for the Company's workers is also a big challenge.
The same situation also occurs for forest growers in Ha Long City. The city has over 86,000 hectares of forest and forest land, however, according to statistics as of 5 p.m. on September 10, 8,370 hectares were destroyed. Many forest owners are left empty-handed when after many years of planting and caring, in only 2-3 years, the forests will yield hundreds of millions of dong. Because, according to records, acacia forests from the 4th year onwards are almost completely "erased". Forests from the 5th year onwards are mostly broken in half. Due to difficulties in hiring workers, forest owners are currently mobilizing relatives to try to collect all the wood to get capital for regeneration, however, the amount of wood collected is only about 40%. Meanwhile, the quality of the wood is not guaranteed, the purchase price will only be about 20% compared to normal.
Taking the opportunity to load the acacia trees that had just been cleared onto the truck, Mr. Duong The Son (Mo Dong village, Son Duong commune, Ha Long city) sadly said: My family has 8 hectares of acacia trees, now they are all broken and fallen; now we have to mobilize relatives to try to salvage all the 4-6 year old forests, even though the purchase price is only 450-500 VND/kg, but every penny is worth it.
As one of the businesses that suffered heavy losses, Mr. Nguyen Ba Truong, Chairman and Director of Hoanh Bo Forestry One Member Co., Ltd., said: There are forests that the unit has planted and cared for for 30 months, using tissue culture and high-yield planting processes. The investment phase will end by the end of 2024, and it will take 4 years to start harvesting for reinvestment. However, storm No. 3 has destroyed 85% of the total area of 3,600 hectares of production forest of the company, with a total investment of about 80 billion VND. Currently, the unit has arranged human resources to each forest to count, calculate the damage and develop a plan to handle the vegetation. The unit hopes that the province will have a mechanism to reduce taxes, creating conditions for businesses, especially in the forestry sector, to recover after the severe impact of storm No. 3.
According to a quick report from the Provincial Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue and Civil Defense, as of 5:00 p.m. on September 10, the entire province had about 45,489 hectares of planted forests affected by super typhoon Yagi, of which the most severely affected were Van Don with 16,161 hectares; Ba Che with 10,000 hectares; Ha Long with 8,370 hectares; Tien Yen with 6,393 hectares. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development assessed that the number of forest areas damaged by typhoon No. 3 will increase when localities in the province have accurate statistics. Along with that, the reforestation of forests by people after the storm damage will increase the investment rate, due to the additional cost of clearing fallen trees to prepare for the planting area. And importantly, in the next 4-5 years, the source of wood materials for production will be seriously lacking.
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