The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong is rapidly losing large tracts of tropical forests, with rangers struggling to cope with increasing illegal loggers. Deforestation intensified during the last year, with 440 hectares lost – an increase of 55 percent from the previous year – according to the province’s Department of Forestry.
Sixty cases involving dozens of people have been prosecuted out of over 1,300 cases, mostly in the districts of Krong No, Dak Song, Tuy Duc, and Dak Glong.
But the deforestation is actually happening on a greater scale, not fully reflected by official statistics.
The most vulnerable areas are located on borders with other provinces where officials’ responsibilities are not clearly defined and forests are inhabited by migrant slash-and-burn farmers.
Even closely-guarded national parks and conservation areas like Nam Cat Tien, Ta Dung and Nam Nung are beginning to be violated.
Le Van Quang, deputy chairman of the Tuy Duc District People’s Committee, said conservation work is complicated by the vast areas and difficult terrains involved and massive migration by people in search of arable land.
Do Ngoc Duyen, head of Dak Nong’s Forestry Department, attributed the spreading illegal logging to a lack of staff and resources plaguing many companies that have leased the forests.
Some of them even closed down, leaving huge areas of forest to the mercy of illegal loggers.
Duyen said that while local communes are tasked with protecting forests, their rights and responsibilities are not spelled out, leaving authorities hesitant when it came to taking action.
The coordination between the police, forest guards, and army is fitful and usually ineffective, while penalties for offenders are not deterrent enough, he said.
He also said the rises in prices of coffee, rubber, pepper, corn, cassava, and other agricultural products prompted massive clearing of forests for farming those crops.
The Dak Nong People’s Committee has asked various agencies – including the military, police, and forest guards – to crack down on illegal loggers, especially along the border.
It said it is imperative to relocate illegal migrants living in forests and punish them for clearing forests.
The re-allocation of forests to communal authorities would be accelerated and deforested areas seized for re-greening, it added.
Dak Nong, 230 km to the north-west of HCM City, has a forest area of 325,000 ha, or 60 percent of its total area, making it one of the greenest provinces in the country.