VietNamNet Bridge - While the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) believes opening a new road to serve the forest patrol and protection is necessary, residents of Dong Nai province think it is dangerous.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ( believes opening a new road to serve the forest patrol and protection is necessary

According to Tran Le Lien from MARD’s Forestry Directorate General, the 18.2 kilometer road is expected to go through a 7 kilometer area of a secondary shrub plot, 3 kilometers of bamboo forest with scarce timber, a 1 kilometer area of middle-class forest and only 0.9 kilometer area of rich forest.

In general, the biodiversity value of the areas which the road would go through is not high and does not bear the typical value of Cat Tien National Park. 

“This is a special use forest (SUF) and therefore, all types of forests have their own value and have the same importance,” Tran Van Mui, director of the Dong Nai Natural & Cultural Sanctuary

The forest, which would be cleared to make room for the road, is a secondary bamboo forest with no wood which has been exploited. He also said that the typical animals of the Cat Tien National Park look for food in other areas, not in areas to be cleared for the road.

As such, Lien believes that the poor forest areas can be sacrificed for a road which serves the patrol and protection of other forestland areas which have precious timber and biodiversity, affirming that this is a ‘necessary exchange’.

However, Tran Van Mui, director of the Dong Nai Natural & Cultural Sanctuary, disagreed with Lien. 

“This is a special use forest (SUF) and therefore, all types of forests have their own value and have the same importance,” he said.

“If you say only timber is valuable, you mean that su (Aegiceras corniculatum) and vet (Bruguiera) trees in mangrove forests have no value?” he said.

According to Mui, the farther the roads go, the more forest is lost. “Roads can be compared with a two-edged knife which should be opened only when it is necessary, while there should be a small and narrow path rather than a big road,” he said.

Mui, who has been working as the director of the Cat Tien National Park, said he has never thought it was necessary to build a road in the forest.

“You can better protect the forest if the road is small and difficult to travel on. But I have been told that we would have a road six meters in width,” he said.

“If the transport conditions are poor, illegal loggers would find it difficult to carry wood. Meanwhile, wide roads will help them chop down trees and steal precious wood,” he explained.

Nguyen Hoang Hao, deputy director of the Dong Nai Natural and Cultural Sanctuary, said there was no need to raise questions about the type of forest. The forests in the core areas and on river banks have high biodiversity value.


NLD