At a meeting on Tuesday with the leaders of the Da Nang Forest Protection Department, 5 officials from the Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Son Forest Protection Unit (FPU) were placed under suspension for 15 days for their irresponsibility relating to recent illegal deforestation on the Son Tra Peninsula.  The 5 are FPU’s Head Tran Van Thanh and Deputy Head Le Phuoc Bay, and forest rangers Phan Van Khoa, Nguyen Hai Chau and Le Van Hai.  They have been required to send self-criticism reports to the local authorities during their suspension period.  

Also at the meeting, an inspection team was set up by the Department to check and tackle the deforestation on the peninsula.  In addition, the Department’s Deputy Head, Mr Le Van Nhi, was given the authorisation to take over the management of the FPU, with Mr Nguyen Duc Dung, Deputy Head of the Organisation and Building Office of the Department, becoming the FPU’s Deputy Head.  Two new officials were appointed as members of the FPU.   

A camp in the sub-region 62 being removed on 25 February

Late last year, dozens of residents had set up camps in sub-region 62 of the peninsula to carry out illegal deforestation.  They even chopped down some small trees and vines to expand the access trail into a 300m-long road.  After the activity was detected on 25 February, local authorities asked relevant agencies to remove all the camps.

According to the initial investigation, a 7ha area of forest in the sub-region was allocated to Mr Nguyen Van Tam from Son Tra District’s Tho Quang Ward under Government Decree No 01.  Then, Tam gave Mr Le Viet Hong the right to use 1.5ha of that total.  Next, Hong arbitrarily hired people to set up camps in the sub-region to open up a road, cut down native trees, and plant fruit trees like apple, mango and grapefruit.  It is thought that, in total, around 2.3ha of forest was cut down illegally.

According to reports from local residents on Tuesday, yet more of the forest has been found cut down, this time in sub-region 54.  The damaged area belongs to Mr Pham Hung Manh from the same ward.

In 1997, the Management Board of the Son Tra Nature Reserve allocated 10.8ha of forested land to Mr Manh.  On 13 January 2016, he asked permission from the Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Son FPU to clear the forest grass.  However, instead of just clearing the grass, he cut down the forest trees. 

Leaders of the Son Tra District People’s Committee urged Mr Manh to stop his illegal deforestation as soon as they received the reports, and they are working closely with relevant agencies to address the incident.