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The 1,000 hectares Ba Kich ginseng area in Đăk Mi Preventive Forest is located on a mountainside 500 metres above sea level.

Ginseng has high value and sells for VND400,000-500,000 (US$19-24) per kilogram of fresh tuber.

Le Tri Thanh, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that this was the largest natural forest of Ba Kich ginseng in the province.

The province has asked agencies to protect the ginseng and turn it into a special original Ba Kich gene conservation area.

Ho Ngoc Vuong, official of Đăk Mi Preventive Forest’s Management Board, said the ginseng was found by a local resident, who was also a member of a community forest management team.

Vuong said the management board was surprised to see such a thick density of ginseng.

Huynh Duc Vu, ranger of Đăk Mi Preventive Forest said it was impossible to count the number of ginseng tubers in the area.

Around-the-clock protection

Since being informed of the rare find, Phuoc Son District’s People’s Committee has taken measures to protect the ginseng.

An inspection station, including a house for rangers, was set up in the forest. Four rangers have been mobilised to be on duty around-the-clock to protect the ginseng from illegal loggers.

Ranger Cao Van Long said his team was busier as they were patrolling the forest more often.

Nguyen Van Tinh, director of Đăk Mi Preventive Forest’s Management Board, said samples of Ba Kich ginseng were tested to have good quality.

The provincial Forest Protection Sub-department and Phuoc Son District’s People’s Committee have assigned the management board to manage and protect the ginseng.

Ginseng breeding

Tinh said the management board is building a plan to conserve and breed the ginseng for local residents to grow in other forests in the province.

The ginseng is a kind of vine that grows under the foot of big trees, so it wouldn’t have any impact on the forest ecology. This would help develop a medicinal area and protect the rare ginseng, he said.

Nguyen Quang, vice chairman of Phuoc Son District’s People’s Committee, said the district has selected an area of nearly 9,000ha in Đăk Mi Preventive Forest to conserve and breed the ginseng.

Ba Kich ginseng has long been used in traditional medicine in Vietnam as a tonic for nourishing the kidney, strengthening the bone and enhancing treatment of rheumatism, pain and high blood pressure.

VNS