Illegal deforestation in Van Canh protection forest to be handled urgently

Hundreds of years old ancient trees are being cut down in the midst of Van Canh protective forest. (Photo: SGGP)

On March 21, Mr. Tran Van Phuc, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Dinh Province, announced that the People's Committee of Binh Dinh Province had issued a document ordering an investigation and response to the illegal deforestation and logging activities, which were allegedly carried out in the protection forest bordering Tay Xuan Commune (Tay Son District) and Canh Lien Commune (Van Canh District), as previously reported by SGGP Newspaper.

On March 19, there is still a tent, suspected to belong to loggers at the Co stream. (Photo: SGGP)

The document, signed by Mr. Nguyen Tuan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Dinh Province, conveyed the direction of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, to take action on the issue. Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will coordinate with Tay Son and Van Canh districts to urgently investigate and address the situation. A report on the matter must be submitted to the provincial People's Committee by March 27.

During an inspection, the authorities discovered that 15 protective forest trees, with diameters from 15cm to 50cm, were chopped down in Sub-zone 136 in Canh Lien Commune in Van Canh District. The illegal logging activities mainly took place in March 2023. According to the leader of the Binh Dinh Provincial Forest Protection Department, the initial assessment suggests that people in Tay Son District were involved in illegal logging.

The Provincial Forest Protection Department stated that, according to Directive No.13-CT/TW dated January 12, 2017, of the Central Government and the Law on Forestry, the forest owner, the Protection Forest Management Board of Van Canh District under the People's Committee of Van Canh District in this case, is responsible for allowing objects to bring machinery and tools into the protection forest for illegal exploitation.

Furthermore, the Provincial Forest Protection Department determined that the forest owner was aware of the illegal logging in the protection forest from the beginning but did not promptly stop it. Despite checking and marking the harvested wood, the forest owner was slow to report it to their superiors for timely handling.

The ancient tree that was destroyed still bears very fresh marks. (Photo: SGGP)

Regarding the issue of forest owners not reporting illegal deforestation, Mr. Phan Van Cuong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Canh District, who is in charge of the Protection Forest Management Board of Van Canh District, stated that a quick report was made to the District Party Committee, the People's Committee of Van Canh District, and the Provincial Forest Protection Department to direct functional units to investigate and clarify the incident.

Despite having painted over the evidence, the forest owner still has not reported the incident to the provincial authorities for handling. (Photo: SGGP)

However, when contacted by the SGGP Newspaper, both the Forest Protection Department of Binh Dinh Province and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that until then, the Protection Forest Management Board of Van Canh District had not yet reported on the illegal exploitation of protection forest.

Regarding the responsibility of the forest owner, Mr. Cuong said that after protective forest trees were discovered to be illegally cut down after the Lunar New Year, the forest owner issued three plans to sweep the area, mobilize forces, and raise awareness to prevent further deforestation.