On April 4, leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai province said that functional agencies are investigating and handling the case of Mr. Bui Van Thang - former Director of the Protection Forest Management Board (QLRPH) of Phu My district, former Binh Dinh province (now Phu My BQLRPH, Gia Lai) - arbitrarily exploiting protection forest.
At the end of March 2026, Mr. Thang arbitrarily brought people and machinery to exploit acacia hybrid in plot 1a, sub-zone 166, Phu My Tay commune.
At the scene, the entire 1,000m2 of forest was cut down to the base, many trees with a diameter of 30-50cm. The incident was discovered after the timber was transported away from the scene.
Phu My Park Management Board has made a record, invited Mr. Thang to work, requested to immediately stop exploitation in the vicinity and not to arbitrarily replant on the exploited area.
Through investigation, Mr. Thang said that this forest area was planted by him himself and is currently within the land clearance area of the West-East Connecting Road project, connecting the North-South expressway with Phu My Industrial Park (Phu My Dong commune), so he proceeded to exploit it.
However, Phu My Forest Protection Management Board said that this area of more than 1,000m2 is located in a total of 3.6ha of protection forest planted in plot 1a, sub-zone 166.
In 2012, the Phu My District Forest Protection Management Board signed a contract to contract this forest area to Mr. Dinh Ba Trang (Phu My Nam commune) for management, protection and care. In 2020, Mr. Trang handed over the entire area to Mr. Thang when he was holding the position of Director of the Phu My District Forest Protection Management Board.
Phu My Forest Protection Management Board affirmed that arbitrarily exploiting protection forest planting is against regulations. Even if individuals spend money to plant forests, when exploiting, they still have to complete procedures such as surveying, designing, applying for permission from competent authorities and complying with the benefit mechanism according to regulations.
Phu My Park Management Board is working with relevant parties, including the compensation and site clearance unit of the West-East Connecting Road project, to identify the management entity and beneficiaries of benefits for the 3.6ha area, thereby handling it in accordance with legal regulations.
