Dak Uy special-use forest (Quang Ngai province) is more than 500ha wide, famous for its complex of rare rosewood trees. Every traditional Tet holiday, when many families gather to welcome spring, forest protection officials and staff here are tentedly on duty at 17 camps in the deep forest, determined to protect each precious tree.
When Tet comes, when the atmosphere of reunion spreads everywhere, forest protection forces in western Quang Ngai province still take turns patrolling overnight, preventing bad guys from taking advantage of holidays and Tet to encroach on Dak Uy special-use forest.
For them, celebrating Tet in the forest is not a strange thing. The greatest joy is keeping the green color of the forest, protecting the safety of each Trac tree.
Mr. Tran Thanh Tan - Deputy Director of Dak Uy Special-Use Forest Management Board - said that just a little carelessness, illegal loggers can recklessly cut and steal precious wood. Previously, officials and employees often hung hammocks to sleep right next to the trees to guard 24/24 hours. Currently, the unit builds camps close to the tree to avoid rain and wind and to be more convenient in protection work.
Attached to the forest for 8 years, Mr. A Thoa - a forest protection worker has also celebrated Tet in the great forest for those years. His house is in Duc Nong commune, about 50km from his workplace, but he only returns home for about 48 days each year.
During Tet days, he is almost always on duty in the forest. Some days when he catches the phone signal, he calls home, seeing his child wearing new clothes preparing to welcome spring, his heart cannot help but feel sad.
According to functional forces, bad actors often take advantage of holidays and Tet to commit forest encroachment acts. Therefore, at this time, forest protection officials and staff always raise their vigilance.
The Dak Uy Special-Use Forest Management Board coordinates with reinforced forces, divided into many inner and outer patrol teams, operating continuously to strictly control the area of forest assigned to management.
Currently, the Management Board has 40 officials and employees; on average, each person is in charge of more than 10 hectares of forest. Dozens of camps are built in the forest to protect key areas. Even dead, fallen agarwood trees or remaining agarwood stumps are strictly guarded.
A forest protection worker said that old rosewood roots or fallen dry trees are still of high value in the market, often being exploited and transported out of the forest by loggers. Therefore, the protection force must strictly control trails and entrances to the forest 24/24 hours.
For some trắc trees of special value, the Management Board also wrapped barbed wire around the tree trunk, installed electrical systems, and cameras to support protection at night. The forestry sector also mobilized additional forces from the Forest Protection Departments, Forest Management Boards and local authorities to strengthen protection, making Đăk Uy special-use forest a strictly controlled area.
According to statistics from functional agencies, there are currently more than 60 Trac trees standing dead, falling (due to storms, lightning strikes...) and about 100 old Trac trees that cannot be exploited and harvested according to the provisions of the Forestry Law. Because of that special value, forest protection work in Dak Uy is always placed at the highest level, especially during Tet days.
