Forest protection experience of Tay people in Lang Son

Sacred forest protects the village

Dong Dang is located in the southeast of Bac Son district, about 3km from the district center, surrounded by mountains, hills, and endless fields. The road to the village is cleanly concreted, on both sides of the road are ancient traditional stilt houses.

Dong Dang village has about 140 households, more than 600 people, mainly Duong family, Tay ethnic group living around the Bac Son limestone mountain range. According to the elders here, the ancient nghien forest right next to the village is a sacred forest, worshiping three gods: Ong Doi, Ong Voi, and Bo Ba Mo.

A corner of the Dong Dang primeval ironwood forest

Villagers believe that the forest god will protect the village, bless it with good crops, good health, many children and grandchildren, and a harmonious and united village.

And the biggest wish of the villagers is that there will be no natural disasters or epidemics. To do that, the forest where the forest gods reside must be truly quiet. All plants, birds and animals under their control must be free to grow naturally. People are not allowed to go in to collect firewood or hunt animals. If a tree falls, it must be left in the forest to rot naturally, to be used as fertilizer for other young trees, and it is absolutely not allowed to take it home.

According to Chairman of Bac Son District People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Thieu, this is a primeval ironwood forest (a precious wood species belonging to group 1) about 13 hectares wide, with hundreds of ironwood trees with diameters of more than 2 meters. As a community forest, every year, people receive forest environmental service fees to protect the forest.

This is also a rare natural ironwood forest remaining in Lang Son and is preserved by the local community as a treasure. In 2018, the Dong Dang primeval ironwood forest was recognized as a planned and protected Bac Son species-habitat conservation area.

Protect the forest by village covenant

Ironwood is a rare and expensive tree species that only grows on rocky mountains at an altitude of about 400m. Ironwood is often used to make furniture and handicrafts because of its durability and aesthetic value. Therefore, this vast primeval ironwood forest is like an "open-air gold mine" in the middle of the forest, making many illegal loggers "desire".

So, what has helped the Dong Dang ironwood forest to be preserved so intact? According to Dong Dang village chief Duong Huu Chung, it is all thanks to a few short regulations in the village's covenant.

Dong Dang village covenant has 9 chapters and 29 articles, with detailed regulations on funerals, weddings, residential area construction, ensuring security and order, environmental protection, forest protection, etc. In which, in chapter VI, article 25 clearly stipulates: All people have the responsibility to protect the forest, not to cut down, burn, or exploit illegally; not to trap, hunt, or capture animals in the forest; each household must have proactive measures to prevent forest fires during the dry season; not to clear forests for farming, etc.

The ironwood trees grow and develop well thanks to the "protective" village covenant.

Next, Chapter VIII of the village covenant also clearly states the forms of rewards for households with achievements in forest preservation and protection; and the strict forms of punishment for violators. Specifically, the first violation will result in an administrative fine and a warning to the entire village; the second violation will result in disciplinary action against the community and organizations of the violator; the third violation will result in expulsion from the "village faction, filial piety association", and all rights of the household in the village will be taken away.

Explaining more clearly, the head of Dong Dang village said that if anyone goes to the forest to get wood or firewood, they will be expelled from the funeral. That means if a family has a funeral, no one in the village will come to help, no one will send the deceased family member back to their ancestors. If there is a wedding, the villagers will also boycott, not come to celebrate, not help prepare the feast.

Thanks to that, for hundreds of years, no one in Dong Dang has dared to violate the law on forest protection. Not only that, the awareness of forest protection among the people has also been increasingly raised. To protect the forest, the village government has established groups and teams to patrol and protect the forest every day.

Anyone who wants to go into the forest must be led by someone in the group and must not take anything out of the forest, not even a dry branch. These are the most basic rules that every villager knows by heart and strictly follows.

Not only that, all the ironwood trees are numbered at the base. Every 2 or 3 days, the number of ironwood trees is counted. The village has only 2 entrances, so the villagers know who comes in and out, and what they bring with them. In addition, the village has a "quick response force", including village officials, youth union, and militia, ready to respond to fires, "forest bandits", landslides, and rock falls.

Dong Dang village has also established groups and teams to regularly patrol and protect the forest.

In the minds of the Dong Dang people, preserving and protecting the forest is the common task of all the villagers. Protecting the forest is also protecting the peaceful life of the village, protecting nature and the ecological environment. The Tay people in Dong Dang love the forest and have protected it in the most simple and ordinary ways.

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