VietNamNet Bridge – Many areas in the northern provinces have become stripped bare with plants plucked to be sold to Chinese merchants who have been collecting nearly all kinds of plants in Vietnam.

Mat gau plants now can be found only in Thai Phin Tung commune in Ha Giang province

A flora conservation project has been implemented since 2000 by the Center for Biological Diversity and Safety under the Vietnam Union of science and technique associations (VUSTA), which aims to preserve the genetic resources of 17 rare plants on the limestone plateau of Dong Van in Ha Giang province.

However, the project cannot help much amid the overexploitation by the local people, which has been threatening the precious genetic resources.

“Mat gau” (Nauclea purpurea Roxb), found in the Vietnam 2007 Red Book as the EN (endangered) variety has been overexploited in Thai Phin Tung commune in Ha Giang province for commercial purpose recently. This is a rare and precious kind of herbs used to treat the digestive-system relating diseases.

“In fact, picking mat gau is not a profitable job, because the plants are very cheap. However, local people, who live in poverty, still rush to pick up the plants for sale to earn some extra money,” said Phung My Co, Deputy Chair of Thai Phin Tung commune people’s committee.

One would see several shops selling dried mat gau on the way from Quan Ba to Dong Van district. A pack of 0.5 kilos of dried mat gau is priced at VND50,000—80,000.

According to Dr. Le Tran Chan, Director of the Center for Biological Diversity and Safety, mat gau plants are now in the danger. It is now very difficult to find mat gau on the rugged mountains of Thai Phin Tung and neighboring communes.

Co, who led reporters to the plants conservation area developed by Dr. Chan, said: “Mat gau has been collected continuously over the last year. No more mat gau here. You just can see mat gau here in the conservation area.”

It’s quite a surprise that even nameless plants have been collected by Chinese. Co said that there is a “border market” located just 35 kilometers far away from Thai Phin Tung commune.

H’mong ethnic minority people in the border areas said that when they cross the border to China to do trade, they usually meet Chinese merchants, who show the pictures of some certain kinds of plants and say they want to buy these.

Not only plants, but many kinds of tubers grown in rocks have also been purchased by Chinese merchants at low prices.
The communes of Dong Van district contain many kinds of rare and precious plants, including the ones named in the Vietnam Red Book and the IUCN’s red book.

The government issued the Decree No. 32 in March 2006 on the management of the forests and endangered species.

For example, thong Pa Co (Pinus kwangtungensis) has been put into A group, which is prohibited to be exploited for commercial purpose.

However, the legal documents on ecosystem protection still have low enforcement. Local authorities admitted that what they can do is just persuade people not to exploit plants to sell to Chinese, while they cannot prevent people from doing that.

“As Vietnamese are still very poor, they would sell anything they can for money,” Co said.

Dr. Dang Huy Huynh, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Association for Nature and Environment Protection, has warned that if the overexploitation cannot be stopped, Vietnam would lose invaluable resources.

“I am afraid that the number of endangered species would be much higher than 461 as announced in the Vietnam Red book,” Huynh said.

Tien Phong