VietNamNet Bridge – More and more precious teak wood forests, including the ones located in the core area of the Ba Be National Park in Ba Be district, and the ones in the Kim Hy natural reserve area in Na Ri district, have been devastated by illegal lumberjacks, with the support of modern engine petrol-run saws.

All trees will fall flat under petrol-run saws

The small, portable saws running on petrol, first appeared in the northern province of Bac Kan in 2001. They are called by local residents as “vortex saws” because they give noisy ear-splitting sounds when running. The made-in-China product has been available at the kermises in the mountainous northern areas.

In 2005, the next-generation of vortex saws hit the market. An illegal lumberjack who has just left his career said that the saws are very strong which can chop down all kinds of hard wood just within a very short time.

“We liked these saws most, because they are light and portable. It takes 10 minutes only to break down a tree with a diameter of one meter,” he said.

“Foreign rangers could not catch illegal lumberjacks red handed, because they could only reach to the area after the wood was carried away,” he added.

According to Nong The Dien, Director of the Ba Be National Park, who has been working there for the last 20 years, previously, it took several days to cut a teak tree with the diameter of one meters, and it took some more days to get timber blanks. Therefore, illegal lumberjacks had to stay in the forests for many days until they finished their works. It was really dangerous for them, because they might be discovered by the foreign rangers or the police.

However, things have become quite different. Illegal lumberjacks have been lent a hand by the modern technology. “Forest rangers flock to the sites right after they hear noisy sounds. But they cannot find anything on the sites, because illegal lumberjacks have enough time to carry the wood away,” he explained.

The “illegal lumberjacks’ villages”

According to the Bac Kan provincial authorities, the teak forests have been devastated rapidly over the last few years, since the day the petrol-run saws appeared.

Dien said that some “illegal lumberjacks’ villages” have been set up there. Just several engine saws would be enough to split timber in less than no time.

The provincial authorities have requested commune and district authorities to check the number of engine saws the local families are possessing.

The inspection tour has found 308 saws in seven communes in the areas near the Ba Be National Park. Meanwhile, local residents in the areas near the Kim Hy natural reserve have reported that they have 320 saws.

Nearly all the families there have this kind of dangerous saws, including the ones with no forest works. They said that the saws are useful in their daily life and that no one has the right to prohibit them to have the saws.

The families have been asked by the local authorities to commit to not use the saws for devastating forests. An engine saw is priced at VND5 million only.

However, observers think this could not be the measure which can help settle the problem to the every root. Local authorities can only control the saws just on paper, while in fact, the saws have still been serving illegal lumberjacks.

Thien Nhien