Persevering with his work for the last 20 years, the man who was considered foolish when spending all of his fortune to grow pomu (fokienia) on a bare hill has successfully developed a forest with precious wood in the middle of high mountains and thick forest.

The pomu forest of Vu Va Chong, 56, from Huoi Tu commune in Ky Son district, is located at the height of 1,000 meters above the sea water level. It is always very cool there, despite the summer heat in June. The forest is a rare green part amid the bare mountains.

In a small house surrounded by the immense green color of tea, pomu, samu (Cunninghamia lanceolata) and ginger plants, the H’mong ethnic minority man related the story about his startup.

Chong said in the past, this was the land of pomu and samu. These plants gave very good and even precious wood, with no termites, and had a mild fragrance, so H’mong people used the wood to build houses.

However, in the 1980s, many pomu and samu forests, which were part of the life and culture of H’mong people, were chopped down. Local people, because of poverty and hunger, and because of limited awareness, rushed to chop down trees to get land to till rice.

Chong, who regretted the deforestation, decided to re-plant the forests. In 2000, after finishing military service, applied for a tender for 10 hectares of land to plant forests. After that, he sold all of his cows to get money, left the hamlet, and sought to purchase pomu seedlings.

“I had to go to Tay Son commune, 40 kilometers from my home, to learn from the locals,” he recalled.

“At that time, when seeing me emptying my fortune into the afforestation project, people believed that I was crazy,” he said.

In 2003, when Shan Tuyet tea was introduced in Huoi Tu, Chong pioneered the tea on 2.5 hectares of land. He realized that pomu and samu not only created shade, but also could make the soil porous, thus helping tea plants grow rapidly.

Now, after 20 years, Chong owns a forest with precious wood with more than 7,000 plants, including big plants with the diameter of half a meter. Tea and bobo (Coix lacryma-jobi) alone can bring revenue of VND100 million a year.

Chong said many wood traders came to see him as they wanted to buy the forest at VND3 million per plant, but he refused to sell, saying that he raises children and funds their study with the forest. Chong plans to develop local tourism and change locals’ awareness about forests.

Tran Tuyen