VietNamNet Bridge –Farmers in many central provinces have been destroying protective forests in order to grow cassava, the price of which has doubled, ever since the end of last year.

Local authorities are still scratching their heads in finding a solution to the problem, aware of the importance of protective forests in preventing land erosion and thus, protecting humans from natural calamities.

Pine trees have been cut down or whittled in order to make them die gradually, according to Ta Tien, acting director of the Son Ha District Forest Management Unit in central Quang Ngai Province.

"The farmers often damage pine trees in the evening, hiding them under leaves which makes it difficult to catch them," he said.

At present, the price for fresh cassava is VND2,200 (US$0.11) a kilo while the price for dried cassava is VND4,800-5,000 ($0.24-0.25) a kilo, an increase by two fold compared to last year. Dinh Thi Hong, from Son Cao Commune in Son Ha District, said that growing cassava cost little in terms of money and time, taking around half a year to harvest while each hectare of cassava is capable of reaping VND15-35 million ($750-1,750) in profit.

"Because of such great profits, we flocked into the forest to widen the areas available for cassava planting," she said.

The director of the Quang Ngai Province Forest Management Department, Nguyen Van Han, said that more than 200 cases of forest destruction had been detected so far this year, translating into 66ha of damaged forest.

Last month alone, forest rangers uncovered 19ha of forest that had been destroyed by farmers.

"Because there are only one to two forest rangers to keep watch over the forest, catching violators is especially difficult," Han said.

When caught red-handed, local farmers often run away, or say that they were hired by others to plant cassava in order that forest rangers cannot punish them.

While apprehending violators was a cause for concern, the department had little manpower for destroying cassava crops, Han said.

In central Phu Yen Province, forest rangers uncovered 15-20 cases of forest destruction for cassava growing purposes.

More than 5,100ha of forest have been destroyed in order to grow cassava according to statistics from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In central Ha Tinh Province, more than 40ha of forest have been destroyed.

Though violators were fined VND500,000 ($25) each, "regulated fines were too light to stop perpetrators from violating the law," according to the director of the South Ha Tinh Protective Forest Mangement Board, Vo Xuan Son.

Son said that the forest management board would call on the provincial People's Committee to increase the level of administrative punishment for violators.

Meanwhile, the director of the Quang Ngai Forest Management Department, Nguyen Van Han, confirmed that local authorities would begin legal proceedings against those destroying forests.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News