Illegal logging in protective forests in the Central Highlands and a biosphere reserve in the southern province of Ca Mau have increased, park rangers said. Several cases of illegal logging in protective forests were detected last month in Krong Buk District, park rangers from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak said.
Rangers said that the illegal logging and clearing had increased since the district’s boundaries were changed to create a separate area for Buon Ho Town.
Many local people have chopped down and killed trees to try and claim the land illegally because they believed new residential areas would be created, the rangers said.
On May 5, Krong Buk park rangers discovered seven people felling trees in a pine forest near National Road 14 in Cu Ne Commune, they said, adding the seven escaped leaving about 80 thirty-year-old trees lying on the ground.
Two days later, they caught 10 people illegally logging the same pine forest and took them to the Cu Ne Commune People’s Committee office, but they were forced to release all the members of the group when a 30- strong mob armed with axes and knives arrived to free them, rangers said.
The loggers had cut down over 80 pine trees, with diameters of 40-50 centimeters each and drilled into the trunks to kill another 400 trees to clear the land for occupation.
Blatant attacks on forests
On May 20 in Cu K’ty Commune, a group of about 70 locals tried to claim areas of land illegally next to the district’s Party Unit office.
They used tractors, knives and hoes to clear the forest that stretched between the district office and Cu Leo Pass and had begun to mark the land plots before being stopped by local authorities.
“The pine trees were often cut down shortly after park rangers left the area,” said Y Bier Nie, chairman of Krong Buk District People’s Committee.
“We have not had a moment’s rest because of the illegal deforestation. But it is difficult to protect a vast forest,” he said.
Nie said the trees had already been cut to extract their pine resin, making it easier for people to cut deeper into the trees to kill them and clear the land for settlement.
The protective forests in Krong Buk and Ea H’leo districts have been drastically reduced by deforestation in recent years, the official said.
The forest, which was planted nearly 30 years ago on an area of 2,047 hectares, was considered the most beautiful protective forest in Dak Lak.
However, the area was reduced to 754 hectares in 1998 and 521 hectares in 2002.
According to the latest survey in 2004 only 432 hectares remained, but authorities said that figure was now much less.
Thanh Nien visited the protective forest in Pong Drang and Cu Ne communes in Krong Buk District to find much of the land had already been cleared.
Biosphere reserve under attack
Meanwhile, illegal logging and fishing has stepped up in the newly declared biosphere reserve area of the southern tip of Vietnam.
“Thousands of people come to the reserve every day to illegally cut down forest trees and hunt for fish, oysters and shrimp,” said Tran Quoc Tuan, director of the Ca Mau Cape biosphere reserve.
Over 371,000 hectares of the Ca Mau Cape area including the U Minh Ha national park was last month recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world biosphere reserve.
Tuan said the number of poachers had increased since the area was recognized for its ecological significance and he didn’t have enough staff to deal with the influx.
“There have been several cases when park rangers have been attacked by illegal loggers and fishermen,” he said.
The illegal logging was especially rampant on two islets at Ong Trang estuary in Ngoc Hien District, Tuan said.
The loggers cut the trees and tie them to floating buoys to tow them down stream behind their boats, a park ranger said, adding that when authorities arrived they cut away the buoys and let the logs sink.