At Dakrong Nature Reserve (Dakrong District, Quang Tri Province), there is a community forest protection team in Ta Lao village with 10 members participating in receiving forest protection contracts and enjoying benefits from forest environmental service funding sources. Forest protection is not simple, but the team leader is a woman named Ho Thi Men.
Ms. Men is Head of the Front Working Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Ta Lao Village Party Cell. In 2019, she was elected as the Head of the Ta Lao Village Community Forest Protection Team.
The team's job is to protect 1,150 hectares of forest, a fairly large area and requires regular patrolling and supervision, not only in the dry season but also in difficult weather conditions.
To protect the assigned forest area, Ms. Men's forest protection team often organizes long patrols. In addition, all information and work reports are updated via a smartphone application, helping the forest protection team promptly update the situation and coordinate with Dakrong Nature Reserve officials when there is an incident.
Participating in a forest protection session, Ms. Men, two women and 7 men in the group had to carry food on their stomachs, then follow the trails to check locations at risk of encroachment and forest destruction.
"As women, participating in long forest trips will face many difficulties, but we are used to it and ready to set off when needed" - Ms. Men shared.
Not only Ms. Men, the community forest protection team also has Ms. Ho Thi The and Le Thi Hai Tang. Ms. The said that living near the forest, every tree, every leaf is associated with the life and soul of each ethnic minority in Van Kieu and Pa Co, so the responsibility of forest protection belongs to the whole community. Therefore, 6 years ago, she joined the forest protection team and has been fighting with the members of the team to this day.
Mr. Ho Viet Thang, Deputy Director of the Dakrong Nature Reserve Management Board, said that ethnic minorities live closely and depend on forests, so in recent years, many households and individuals in the Van Kieu community have participated in forest protection teams, united and preserved valuable forest areas. The special thing about the reserve is that there are women participating in the forest protection team. "Forest protection is difficult, even dangerous, but the women at the Ta Lao Village Community Forest Protection Team do a very good job. In addition to patrolling to protect the forest, the women have a very convenient time in the process of propagating forest protection policies and guidelines to the villagers" - Mr. Ho Viet Thang said.
In the reserve, there are nearly 37,500 hectares of forest, a large area of managed forest, difficult work, and not always favorable conditions, but with the active participation of the community, especially female paints such as Ms. Men, Ms. The... the green color of Dakrong forest is continuing to be protected.
