About 2 kilometers away from the locations where the trees were cut down were two forest ranger stations and a border guard station of Ha Tinh.
The management board is currently managing 31,000 ha of forest, in which 2,900 ha have been handed over to more than 200 families to protect and exploit them.
On March 19, the management board sent personnel to mark the trees that were illegally cut down, as well as to report Hat's actions to the rangers and authorities.
Around 20 trees, with diameters as wide as 40 cm, were cut down.
Several tree trunks are left behind in the forest.
Nguyen Thuong Hai, head of the management committee, said Hat cutting down the trees was a violation of the law. After being fined, Hat's family was no longer allowed to exploit the forest. The board plans to either send new trees to the destroyed patch of forest to replant it, or to let it regrow naturally.
Hai said certain individuals are allowed to repurpose the land to plant acacia trees, but are not allowed to cut down large trees due to their protective effects.
"As we have too few personnel, with each ranger station only having three people," said Hai, "we only discovered what happened around 10 days ago."
The area where large trees were illegally cut down in a protective forest in Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh. Video by VnExpress/Duc Hung
In Binh Dinh Province down south, the local forest protection department also found 15 trees, with diameters of 15-50 centimeters, that had been illegally cut down. The trees, some as old as 100 years old, had been cut earlier this month, the department said.
The patch of forest where the trees were found is in Canh Lien Commune, managed by the Management Board of the Van Canh District Protective Forest.
Wooden planks are produced from the illegally cut down trees. Forest rangers of Van Canh District are cooperating with the authorities to further investigate the incident.
A large tree trunk is found lying in the forest.
Le Duc Sau, deputy head of the Binh Dinh Department for Forest Protection, said the ones who cut down the trees were mostly locals, who use the wood to build houses and make caskets. They transport the wood on lesser-known roads, making it difficult for the authorities to detect them.
"The department will cooperate with the provincial Center for Agricultural and Rural Planning to determine the amount of wood that was lost," Sau said. "If over 7 m3 worth of round wood is lost, a criminal investigation will follow."
Remnants of tents, firewood, clothing and bottles used to contain fuel for chainsaws were found at the scene.
In 2017, 60 ha of forest area in Binh Dinh's An Lao District were also damaged, and several people were arrested.
Vietnam has 4.64 million ha of protective forests according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Over 330,000 ha are managed by the community, families, armed forces and other parties.
