Complex situation of overlapping land in Tam Dao National Park

Overlapping land in the national park

Over the past time, Lao Dong Newspaper has received many reflections on the situation of construction works overlapping on the planned land of Tam Dao National Park (NP). This has greatly affected the ecosystem and caused difficulties and complexities for forest management and protection.

This situation occurs in many areas belonging to planning land or planning boundaries of Tam Dao NP in Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho provinces (formerly merged as Vinh Phuc province).

In Thai Ba hamlet, Son Thuy commune (formerly Thien Ke commune) of Tuyen Quang province, a large-scale resort is being built for nearly 2 years. In the middle of the hill, stilt houses, swimming pools and construction projects have sprung up.

Recorded at the end of March 2026, the resort is a few kilometers from the center of Son Thuy commune and is nestled, interspersed with the old forest right at the foot of Tam Dao National Park.

The resort area is up to thousands of m2, with 6-7 imposing stilt houses along with a system of swimming pools and auxiliary works. On the ground, many workers are still continuing to construct and expand the resort.

According to local people, this resort used to be a large acacia hill. In the past two years, some people from other localities have come to buy back land from people and proceed to build it.

Mr. Ban Van Hung (Son Thuy commune, Tuyen Quang province) said that this area used to be mainly acacia hills, interspersed with a part of the natural forest. Now the solid resort project has blocked a large area on the edge of the forest.

“About 2 years ago, after someone came to buy back the land, this area began to change significantly.

In just a very short time, the appearance of the area has been completely changed. From a hill covered with green trees, it has now turned into items such as stilt houses, swimming pools, and internal roads," Mr. Hung said.

Faced with the prolonged rampant construction at the resort, in July 2024, the People's Committee of Thien Ke commune (old) inspected and once issued a decision to administratively sanction the land owner for the act of destroying land.

Part of the land for building stilt houses at the resort is identified as being in the planning of Tam Dao National Park. Meanwhile, most of the remaining land area has been granted certificates of land use rights for residential land and perennial crop land for local people.

However, the issue becomes complicated when land plots granted land use right certificates to households are then included in the planning of Tam Dao NP, leading to difficulties in management as well as handling violations.

Ambiguous boundaries

Similarly, a pig farm with an area of thousands of square meters in Dong Phu village (Quan Chu commune, Thai Nguyen province) has been reflected by local people about the situation of overlapping some construction items with the boundaries and planning of Tam Dao National Park.

Directly taking reporters to the field, Mr. Vu Van Vui (Dong Phu village, Quan Chu commune) - a person with decades of seniority working as a security guard at Tam Dao National Park - said that he knows all landmarks and land areas belonging to the national park.

The pig farm buildings at the farm are not located in the forest land area of Tam Dao NP. However, part of the waste tanks have certainly encroached on the national park land.

I have worked for many years in the garden, so I know very well. Although there have been many petitions and resolutions before, I do not agree," Mr. Vui affirmed.

According to Mr. Vui, the area of waste tanks at the pig farm encroaching on the national park land has an area of thousands of square meters. When he was still guarding the garden, this area was once marked. When the pig farm was built and went into operation, the boundary markers were removed.

Mr. Vui said: "The pig farm area used to belong to local people, the farm owner, after buying back the land, proceeded to build and raise pigs. The ambiguous boundary between people's land and planned national park land is the cause of encroachment.

Regarding this issue, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Duong Van Hinh - Vice Chairman of Quan Chu Commune People's Committee said that the pig farm that people reflected was built before the 2020s.

The area of farm land is very large, mainly bought from local people. If people have complaints, the locality will organize inspections on this content.

The area for building barns is located below, so it cannot encroach on national forest land. If there is overlap, there are only some vacant land and planting land located in the entire farm," the leader added.

Also according to the Vice Chairman of Quan Chu Commune People's Committee, in fact, there is a situation of overlap between people's land and Tam Dao National Park land in the area.

Before the national park was established, people cultivated and used it. Even now, there are still many areas of tea fields planted by people within the garden.

At the time of establishment of Tam Dao National Park, it was cordoned off, so it overlapped with people's land. Many people even have red books because they were issued before the park was established. This overlapping situation is not only in Quan Chu commune but also in neighboring communes of the national park," Mr. Hinh said.