DTiNews went undercover to expose illegal loggers that are destroying Thuong Hoa Forest in Quang Binh Province.
Nothing left but the stump
We disguised ourselves and went to report on timber smuggling activities in Thuong Hoa Forest, Thuong Hoa Commune.
Thanks to the help of an informant (who was previously an experienced logger in Minh Hoa District), we were taken into Thuong Hoa Forest to find answers.
Two major cases have been cracked in the commune’s vicinity in the past two years. One of those involved logging in 2008 and the other involved attacking officers in 2009.
Despite these cases, loggers have continued illegal activities largely undeterred in Thuong Hoa Forest, Thuong Hoa Commune.
At the edge of the forest, we saw clear evidence of timber scattered on the ground and waiting to be collected.
Surprisingly, the pathway through the forest was quite easy to navigate. We found stumps about every 10 metres, signs of trees that had been chopped down. Some trees were still leaking resin, evidence that they were only recently cut.
According to the informant, there are 4 groups of loggers operating here. They mark tree trunks or saw parts of trees to show others that those trees belong to them.
After being exposed in 2008 by the police, loggers have now changed their operation methods. They chop down trees only when they receive orders and do so in a manner that isn’t as excessive as they once were.
It would be dangerous for us to move further into the forest as loggers were chopping down trees with chain saws as we investigated.
Leaving the forest, we came across a smuggler who was taking his buffalo into the jungle. We told him that we were just searching for bees in the jungle and he spared several minutes to talk with us. He said, “The wood you saw at the entrance of the jungle will be transported tonight. After the arrest by the police in 2008, the logging transportation process has to be conducted in the evenings.”
Exactly as he said, at 6pm a truck arrived at the entrance of the jungle and after about 15 minutes, all the wood logs were loaded onto the truck. Then it went past 4 forest protection stations without cover.
The informant who took us into the jungle provided some additional information. He said that depending on demand from Hoan Lao Town, Bo Trach District and Dong Hoi City, wood traders would transport logs there 2 or 3 times per week. They carry only limited amounts of wood in their trucks so that if they were caught by police, they would not lose much money.
The informant was asked why forest guards and forest protection forces could not stop these illegal activities which appear to be operating in the wide open. He said, “Don’t you know why 4 forest guards drove away when they saw us at the entrance of the jungle?”
*** Next in the series, DTiNews reporters confronted forest protection officers to find answers regarding obvious illegal activities of loggers in Thuong Hoa Forest. Read the second part here:
Illegal loggers operating right under the nose of authorities
The pathway to Thuong Hoa Forest
Timber logs waiting to be taken away
A tree waits to be chopped into pieces
A DTiNews reporter stands by a tree which was just chopped and cut into pieces