According to the report of the Hue City Forest Protection Department, the scene of the exploited forest is located at lot 152, 161, compartment 1, sub-compartment 89, with a total area of 3.1416 hectares, including 2.5843 hectares of protective forest and 0.5573 hectares of production forest. A total of 1,461 tongue-shaped acacia trees were cut down. Immediately after the discovery, the authorities suspended the exploitation, protected the scene and investigated the relevant parties.
The deforested forest was originally planted in 2008 under the Sand Protection Forest Planting Project (project 661). Before 2020, the forest was protected by Mr. Le Nguyen Si's group under a contract.
After that, the People's Committee of Quang Cong commune took over but the management was not strict. It is worth mentioning that before the merger of communes (early 2025), the People's Committee of the commune had arbitrarily organized the liquidation of this forest area for Mr. Nguyen Van Quoc with the reason of "forest damage caused by storm".
Although in the meeting on February 18, 2025, the Executive Committee of the Commune Party Committee only agreed on the policy of liquidating fallen production forests, the Commune People's Committee later sold the entire area with the function of protective forests. The amount of 85 million VND from the deal was transferred by Mr. Quoc to the cashier of the Commune People's Committee. When the exploitation was not completed, Mr. Quoc withdrew the money and transferred 65 million VND directly to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee.
Through investigation, Mr. Nguyen Van Quoc admitted to hiring a group of people in Quang Tri to exploit from the end of April to the beginning of May 2025. He clearly stated that Mr. Le Nguyen An (commune land officer) showed the location for exploitation, monitoring the scene and instructing on bringing wood for sale to businesses in Phu Bai Industrial Park. The wood was transported by about 10 trucks, sold for 900,000 VND/ton.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Cong commune (now Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phong Quang ward), admitted that he had agreed to sell 8 hectares of production forest to Mr. Quoc. However, the deforestation has exceeded the production forest area and violated the protective forest.
The People's Committee of Hue City has directed the City Police to investigate and strictly handle violations. At the same time, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is requested to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to urgently complete the case file before July 22, 2025. Related individuals and organizations, especially the leaders of Quang Cong commune at the time of the incident, will be held accountable.
As Lao Dong reported, on July 13, the Forest Protection Department of the Northern Area of Hue City confirmed that more than 3.1 hectares of coastal forest in An Loc village, Phong Quang ward had been cut down, of which nearly 2.6 hectares belonged to the protective forest - an area that plays the role of wind blocking, salinity prevention, and environmental protection.
A total of 1,461 cajuput trees were cut close to the base, only 20 - 40cm high, almost unlikely to be reborn. The wood has been transported for consumption, at the scene there are only dry branches and bare roots.
It is worth mentioning that on April 23, 2025, the forest rangers and the People's Committee of the old Quang Cong commune inspected the current status and confirmed that the forest was not affected, and at the same time requested increased protection.
However, just a few weeks later, the entire area was exploited. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thong - Vice Chairman of Phong Quang Ward People's Committee, admitted that the old commune sold the forest for 20 million VND, used to pay for care and buy new varieties. This decision was agreed upon by the Standing Committee of the Commune Party Committee.
