Forest protection associated with ecotourism development in Khun village

BHG - Over the past 10 years, thanks to the effective implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services (PFES), people in Khun village, Bang Lang commune (Quang Binh) have benefited from the forest. The Tay and Dao ethnic groups here consider the forest an extremely valuable resource and proactively participate in preserving, protecting and developing the forest to create sustainable livelihoods.

Early in the morning, when the fog was still covering the mountainside, the forest protection, fire prevention and fighting team associated with the development of the Khun village community cultural tourism village gathered in full force. The team has 15 people, divided into small groups, taking turns patrolling all the forest routes in the village. In the dry season, facing the increased risk of forest fires, each week the team has at least 5 people assigned to patrol the forest for 2-3 consecutive days. The forest patrol route is divided into 4 different routes, with a total length of about 15 km. Although the work is very hard, climbing mountains, wading streams, difficult and dangerous, the members determined that this is a common task of the whole village and all promoted the highest spirit and responsibility.

Quang Binh district forest rangers propagate and raise awareness of forest protection for people in Khun village, Bang Lang commune.

As one of the people who have been involved in patrolling the forest in Khun village for many years, Nong Van Tuyen shared: “I am used to staying in the forest for a few days, sleeping in temporary huts overnight. Because I often go to the forest, I know every stream, hill, and forest trail by heart. I join the forest patrol to check with the members for signs of logging, hunting animals, and clearing firebreaks at places where forest fires are likely to occur. We do this task to keep the forest green, for the villagers, our children, and for future generations.”

Khun village is currently managing more than 1,026 hectares of forest, where the primary upstream forest still has ancient precious trees of the Tro chi, Sen, Tau, Khao families, many of which are hundreds of years old, with trunks so large that a person cannot hug them. Under the forest canopy is a rich vegetation, with medicinal herbs such as blood grass, Thien nien kien, Sam xuyen da, Gam, Hoang tinh, and a variety of wild animals. Thanks to good forest protection, the forest still has 7 main water sources and 8 secondary water sources, ensuring enough water for daily life and agricultural production for 185 households in the village and neighboring areas.

Forest protection team of Khun village, Bang Lang commune (Quang Binh) participates in forest patrol.

Linking rights with responsibilities, the forest protection contract for the Khun village community has been organized systematically. The revenue from forest protection services paid to the village in recent years has reached about 350 million VND/year. This amount of money is public, transparent, discussed and decided by the people, a part is spent on patrol activities, each forest patrol trip, members are supported with 300,000 VND/person, the rest is spent on social welfare projects. In the past 2 years, the village has used the money to build roads, help poor households improve their housing, install solar power and build drainage systems. The village is also expanding the road from hamlet 1 to the village gate, 2 km long and 5 m wide. This year, the village is expected to continue to build 1 km more road connecting to the commune center, with a total estimated cost of more than 1 billion VND, creating favorable conditions for travel, production, trading goods and tourism development of local people.

Mr. Nong Van Duoc, head of Khun village, said: “Along with forest protection, villagers actively reinvest in planting production forests. After each exploitation period, some households earn over 100 million VND. Not stopping there, we are starting to exploit the potential of forest experience tourism. Initially, the village welcomed a number of domestic and foreign tourist groups to explore Na Lang bamboo forest, experience Khau Kheo hill and places with majestic and mysterious landscapes. Such trips not only create additional income for members of the forest protection team, but also introduce, promote and spread the image of the village as a sustainable eco-tourism destination.”

The community forest protection model in Khun village is showing clear effectiveness, preventing forest encroachment. With good and creative methods, the model is the basis for propaganda and replication to other localities with similar conditions, helping people to become more attached to the forest so that the forest is always green and vast, protecting the peaceful village.

Article and photos: MOC LAN

Source: https://baohagiang.vn/kinh-te/202505/bao-ve-rung-gan-voi-phat-trien-du-lich-sinh-thai-o-thon-khun-d647f61/