VietNamNet Bridge - The struggle to protect Chu Yang Sin National Park and Chu Yang Sin Mount at the height of 2,442 meters above sea water is getting more difficult. The park is home to 876 plants, 203 birds and 46 mammal species. 

 

 

With a 200 kilometer-long border, contiguous with the ethnic minority people’s rice fields, through the buffer zone, the park can easily be entered.

People from neighboring communes can enter the park to clear land for cultivation, burn wood for charcoal and fell ancient trees for timber.

A report on biodiversity protection in Chu Yang Sin in 2011-2014 said the biggest problem for foreign rangers was that they had to deal with ethnic minority people who had limited knowledge about laws and living conditions. 

Those who visit communes of Krong Bong and H Lac districts may see smouldering hillsides, where people set forests on fire to get land to cultivate short-term crops such as maize, cassava and sweet potatoes. 

Local people also try to hunt for mammals for food, causing problems for local authorities. 

According to Luong Huu Thanh, deputy director of Chu Yang Sin National Park, in the first six months of 2015, 18 illegal hunting cases were discovered.

“They live in poverty, which prompts them to hunt for animals,” he said. “They do anything they can for money.”

Chu Yang Sin National Park has many times sent its staff to residential quarters to show locals how to grow crops for money. 

The locals were told not to go to the forest to kill animals and fell trees once they could grow crops for daily food. The local authorities tried to explain to locals about the importance of the forests to people’s lives. 

However, despite measures taken, the trees are cut down every day, while the struggle to protect the forests continues.

Thanh said there were about 130 officers working for Chu Yang Sin who have to struggle with illegal loggers and hunters every day.

The officers all have to work hard. In the remote area with high mountains and abysses, it takes them at least one day to reach to Chung Yang Sin Mount.

“In general, they (illegal loggers and hunters) are usually very aggressive. They might understand that we have limited rights, especially the right to use weapons,” Thanh said.

Forest rangers have many accidents during work. A forest ranger was scalded by boiling water dropped by an illegal logger. Criminals make threats against foreign rangers and their family members.

Thien Nhien