(NLDO) - When people gather with their families and wish each other good things at the beginning of the year, it is also the time when forest rangers prepare their luggage to patrol and protect the forest.
17 years of celebrating Tet in a hurry
In the last days of the year of the Dragon, the staff of the Klong Klanh Forest Ranger Station under the Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park Forest Ranger Department (Lac Duong District, Lam Dong) were busy with households contracted to protect the forest to repaint the station to welcome the new year of the Snake 2025. Welcoming us, Mr. Pham Do Ni, Deputy Head of the Klong Klanh Forest Ranger Station immediately explained: "We have to take advantage of our free time to do it right away, otherwise we will have to go to the forest near Tet, and we will not have time to decorate to welcome spring".
A checkpoint of forest rangers and people assigned to protect Bidoup - Nui Ba forest.
It is called decoration but in fact it is just repainting the station house which has become old after many years, repairing some damaged areas, preparing some items and food for everyone to use during the Tet duty days. Mr. Ni confided that for forest rangers, there will be no full week of Tet holiday because the more holidays and festivals, the more time they have to be on duty to protect the forest.
On the first day of Tet (January 29), Mr. Ni said he was able to arrange time to go home to celebrate Tet with his family, but the next day he had to prepare his luggage to return to the station to prepare for Tet duty, and those were the few days he could reunite with his relatives in the new year.
On this trip, he was assigned to coordinate with contracted households to inspect the forest area bordering the three provinces of Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa. Of which, Klong Klanh Forest Ranger Station has 5 officers coordinating with contracted households to manage and protect the 4.2 thousand hectare forest area, which is home to many precious wood species and rare animals.
Mr. Pham Do Ni, Deputy Head of Klong Klanh Forest Ranger Station.
Forest destroyers or those who intend to encroach on the forest often take advantage of the holidays, so forest protection during these days must be paid more attention, and forest rangers must continuously patrol. At the Klong Klanh Forest Ranger Station, people with many years of experience like Mr. Ni have celebrated Tet in the forest for 17 years, while those with less experience have spent 10 years or 5 years. Some officers have not returned home for Tet for many years because their hometowns are too far away and the task of protecting the forest must be carried out continuously.
"For many years, we have celebrated Tet like this. In this profession, we have to accept it. Luckily, our relatives sympathize and support us to complete our tasks well," Ni shared.
More in the forest than at home
Not only Mr. Ni, to protect the forest, the officers at Hon Giao Forest Ranger Station, Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park Forest Ranger Department also choose to celebrate Tet under the trees, streams or hammocks in the middle of the forest. Some patrol routes are carried out during the day, but there are routes where the brothers have to travel for many days. Everyone will bring rice, fish sauce, salt, dried fish; there are many vegetables in the forest, they can buy them on the patrol route.
Forest rangers and people receive contracts during a forest protection patrol trip.
"During Tet, the temperature in Bidoup - Nui Ba forest sometimes drops below 10 degrees Celsius, but we still have to sleep in the forest. After eating and drinking, everyone will hang hammocks or make tents to sleep overnight to continue patrolling the next day" - said Mr. Pang Tiang Min, an officer of Hon Giao Forest Ranger Station, Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park Forest Ranger Department.
Mr. Min shared that although his hometown is in Don Duong district - only about 100 km from the ranger station where he works, he only comes home once every 2 weeks. On holidays, he has to arrange to leave early or late depending on the assignment of patrolling and protecting the forest.
A break time for the patrol team in the middle of Bidoup - Nui Ba forest.
This forest ranger confided that everyone wants to be happy and joyful with their family during Tet, but the demands of the job require them to try to arrange things and their relatives to understand. "For several years now, my colleagues and I have celebrated Tet in the forest, both to prevent intruders and prevent forest fires. There are many days when we finish patrolling and leave the forest, Tet is over," Min said with a smile.
Although the work is hard and dangerous, with the possibility of facing illegal loggers or insects and snakes, Mr. Ni, Mr. Min and the staff of the Forest Ranger Station always feel happy and excited when protecting the safety of Lam Dong's primeval forests.
Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park has a total area of over 70,000 hectares, bordering the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, and Dak Lak. Currently, the Bidoup - Nui Ba National Park Forest Protection Department has 10 ranger stations and 1 mobile patrol team with a total of 53 staff members. According to statistics from the functional sector, the Park has about 2,077 species of plants, 131 species of animals, 304 species of birds, 15 species of gymnosperms, 302 species of orchids, etc.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/nhung-nguoi-an-tet-voi-va-don-xuan-giua-rung-gia-196250130095011105.htm
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