VietNamNet Bridge – Vast areas of hardwood forestland in Moc Chau of Son La province have been lost in the northwestern part of the country because the wood is being used to make nghien  (Burretiodendron hsienmu) chopping boards.

Chopping boards have become local specialties hunted by travelers, providing huge incomes for the sellers.  

The so called “chopping board metropolis” is situated in Ward 14 of the Moc Chau Plateau. The signboards with the words “thot dep” (high quality chopping boards available) are seen hung over all the shops in the areas.

A woman, aged 35-37, warmly greeted reporters, who pretended to be travelers, and offered the guests some cups of tea and said she had nghien chopping boards for sale.

When the guests said they wanted to see the products, the woman showed a big bag with more than 10 chopping boards inside.

“These are the small ones, with the diameter of 20-25 cm,” she said. Then she pointed to another bag, said: “These are the bigger ones. I have all kinds for you guys to choose”.

When the reporters said they wanted to buy chopping boards in large quantity as gifts for relatives in the lowlands, the woman said that she could satisfy all the requirements of the guests, if the guests pay VND50,000 per small chopping board and VND100,000 for bigger ones.

However, a man, an owner of a neighboring shop, was cautious when meeting reporters. He said he did not have products at the shop because he feared the shop may be inspected by the police.

However, if the guest wanted to buy chopping boards in large quantity, he would lead them to “the storehouse” where they could select the best products.

The man said that he sold several chopping boards a day on average.

“Nghien is a kind of hardwood. Nghien chopping boards are favored,” he explained. “On special occasions, especially Tet holiday, tens of products can be sold everyday”.

The good sale of nghien chopping boards can explain why many hectares of nghien forests have been cleared, and why the “chopping board metropolis”, though being not far from the Moc Chau forest rangers’ unit, is noisy all day.

Dao Manh Phong, head of the Moc Chau forest rangers’ unit, admitted that the trade of nghien chopping boards occurs in the locality, which is a headache for the local authorities.

Phong said forest rangers last year discovered many illegal chopping board trade deals and seized 2,000 chopping boards worth VND150 million.

According to Phong, there are 98,000 hectares of forest in Moc Chau, half of which is nghien forest.

There are 26 forest rangers, which means that each of them needs to take care of 4,000 hectares.

“It is really hard work for us,” he said.

ANTD