In late 2013, local residents asked for help when the Hoang Lien forest was attacked by illegal loggers looking for Fokienia, a precious wood. The illegal logging was then stopped by Lai Chau provincial authorities.


However, the forest is once again in danger, as illegal loggers are aiming their sights at Hua Than Hamlet in Muong Than Commune, an area between two neighboring districts Van Ban (Lao Cai) and Than Uyen (Lai Chau).

Local residents whom reporters met in Muong Than Commune in early December said dozens of people were rushing to the forest every day to fell trees to get precious wood to sell to wood processing workshops or to build houses of their own.

“They (illegal loggers) came back to the forest last month,” said Trang Mai D, a H’Mong ethnic minority woman in Hua Than Hamlet.

“Many groups of people can be seen carrying wood from the deep forest to the hamlet, where the wood is carried away by motorbikes,” she said. “You can see the trail behind the hamlet and you can imagine how frequently the illegal loggers go in and out of the forests.”

Sung A Vang, head of Hua Than Hamlet, whose house is located at the end of the “wood road”, confirmed that large amounts of illegally logged wood are carried away from the forest every day.

“The illegal logging has become even more serious,” Vang said. “Men and women, adults and children go to the forest to fell trees. Men bring food to stay overnight in the forests, while women, who have to come back home in the afternoon, have to leave home at 5 am.”

“They (illegal loggers and traders) usually transport wood at noon or late afternoon in order to escape the forest rangers’ eyes,” he added.

Pointing to the trail behind the hamlet, Vang said the trails lead to the Hoang Lien forest. In the past, the way was opened by locals who had to go to their fields. But it has been enlarged by illegal loggers for easier carrying of wood.

A local authority official noted that the high season for illegal loggers to operate are the months just before Tet, when Vietnamese families spend more money to decorate their houses and the demand for wood increases.