The hard work of 'acacia wood workers' in the mountainous region of Ha Tinh

TPO - Exploiting and transporting acacia wood for hire is a hard and dangerous job, but for people in the highlands of Ha Tinh, it is a job that has been with them for many years. Every day, they go to work from 5am and finish in the late afternoon to earn 400,000 - 600,000 VND/day.

03/16/2025 | 06:00

TPO - Exploiting and transporting acacia wood for hire is a hard and dangerous job, but for people in the highlands of Ha Tinh, it is a job that has been with them for many years. Every day, they go to work from 5am and finish in the late afternoon to earn 400,000 - 600,000 VND/day.

Acacia exploitation in the mountainous region of Ha Tinh. Video: Pham Truong.

Acacia hills in Ky Anh, Cam Xuyen, Huong Khe districts... (Ha Tinh) are in harvest season after 5-7 years of planting.

To harvest acacia wood, in addition to hiring machinery to clear the way, traders also have to hire groups of local people to saw, peel the bark and transport it onto trucks. Their work starts from 5am to late afternoon.

When exploited, acacia trees will be divided into two types: wood acacia and mixed acacia. The wood part is the large diameter tree stump, which traders will collect to sell to paper mills. The mixed wood part will be cut into small pieces and sold to coal burning sites at a cheaper price.

Mr. Canh (Ky Anh district) said that acacia harvesting is not seasonal, but only when the acacia trees are old enough to be exploited, will the owners of the acacia gardens call to sell. "Acacia harvesting is very hard work. If you can buy acacia hills close to the road, easy to access, it will reduce labor and transportation costs. As for acacia gardens in areas with difficult access, if you want to exploit them, you have to open a road for transport vehicles to the nearest place and hire about 10 workers to saw, cut, and carry," he said.

The job of exploiting acacia deep in the forest is hard and dangerous, only suitable for men, but for women in Ky Phong commune (Ky Anh district), this has become a profession they have been attached to for many years.

In addition to farming, most of the women in this area work as hired laborers to carry acacia wood to earn extra income. Each acacia logging group usually has 1-2 sawmill operators and 10 people to peel, load, and transport the acacia to the truck.

When harvested, acacia trees are cut into 1-2 meter long pieces for easy transportation and loading onto trucks. The women use iron hooks about 20cm long to manually peel the bark.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung (44 years old, residing in Ky Phong commune) said that because she did not have much land, she worked as a hired acacia wood porter. "My husband and I have 4 children, so in addition to farming, my husband and I have to find extra work. Although peeling and loading acacia wood for hire is hard work, the daily income of about 400,000 VND also helps to cover our living expenses," Ms. Dung said.

For those who work as acacia harvesters, it is common to have scratches on their hands and shoulders, or to step on thorns, or fall and bleed. Sometimes, when loading logs onto trucks, it is not uncommon for logs to fall on people or feet.

Although it is hard, with extra income to raise their children and educate them, they clearly show joy on their lips.

Even though I wear several layers of gloves, the continuous work and sweat make my hands calloused and torn.

Logging acacia wood takes place all day, sometimes until night, so for these "acacia workers" resting and eating on the hill is a familiar thing. Although the job is hard, the income of 400,000 - 600,000 VND for each job also helps them to have extra money to cover their expenses.

Pham Truong

Source: https://tienphong.vn/vat-va-nghe-phu-go-keo-o-vung-nui-ha-tinh-post1725244.tpo