Melaleuca trees on Long An land

From within the resistance

Melaleuca is a tree that is suitable for acidic, alum, flooded soil and is considered a characteristic of the Dong Nai River Delta. Hundreds of years ago, Melaleuca trees were present in Dong Nai River Delta, surviving and developing until today. Long An's local history has a passage that says: "Traces of pristine Melaleuca forests buried deep under layers of mud and alluvium due to natural disasters and floods were discovered in Dong Nai River Delta, which local people often call "flooded Melaleuca", proving that this place, many centuries ago, was a large forest".

Students learn about the distribution of Melaleuca forests in the Dong Thap Muoi Biodiversity and Medicinal Plant Conservation Area

During the years of resistance, the immense cajuput forest in DTM was a shelter for our revolutionary soldiers. In the 8 topics recreating part of the living and fighting conditions of cadres, people and armed forces of Long An during the resistance war against the US, saving the country in the basement of the Long An Monument Park, 4 topics describe the living and fighting conditions of our revolutionary cadres under the cajuput forest canopy: People using boats to transport soldiers across the river to fight the enemy; Producing weapons at the Engineering Workshop; Cadres, soldiers and people living and fighting during the flood season and Long An frontline laborers acting as "human bridges" to transport wounded soldiers.

The Southern Resistance and Administrative Committee Base and Binh Thanh Base were all important bases of ours, protected by the cajuput forest canopy. Even the Southern Resistance Radio Station and the entire Vietnamese Revolutionary Cinema industry were born under the cajuput canopy of the DTM region, creating a legend called the "Marine Cinema".

Come build the homeland

After the war ended, cajuput trees still stubbornly clung to the ground, helping people build their lives. After the liberation, the remaining forest area in Dong Nai (part of Long An) was about 3,000 hectares, mainly cajuput trees and wind cajuput trees. The straight trunk of the cajuput tree, tens of meters high, is often used as handrails, rafters, house columns and pile driving in construction. The wind cajuput tree has a thin trunk, and leaves containing a lot of essential oils. Wind cajuput trees are the raw material for extracting cajuput essential oil, which is being effectively exploited by many businesses, manufacturing many types of quality products, favored by the market.

In addition to providing wood and essential oils, cajuput forests also act as windbreaks, flood control, and environmental improvement. Cajuput forests are home to snakes, turtles, birds, etc. Cajuput mushrooms and cajuput honey are also specialties found only in the Mekong Delta.

Ecotourism under the cajuput forest canopy is a prominent feature of Long An.

In the new period, cajuput trees have accompanied Long An people in the journey of tourism development. Eco-tourism in the Mekong Delta is the highlight of Long An tourism with Tan Lap Floating Village and Endless Field. In addition to taking advantage of the landscape under the cool cajuput canopy, Endless Field also combines health care tourism and provides products made from cajuput essential oil.

Today, Long An still has about 22,000 hectares of forest, with Melaleuca trees still occupying the majority of the area. About half of the forest area is owned by households and used for production purposes, with the main type of Melaleuca being Melaleuca. Thanh Hoa and Duc Hue are the two localities with the largest Melaleuca acreage today. However, Melaleuca prices have dropped dramatically at times, affecting people's incomes, leading to farmers switching crops.

In recent years, the area of Melaleuca forests has shown signs of decreasing due to exploitation without replanting and special-use forests dying. In March 2023, the Provincial People's Committee issued a Project on Sustainable Forestry Development in Long An Province in 2023 to protect the ecological environment, mitigate natural disasters, effectively respond to climate change; increase coverage, conserve biodiversity; conserve gene sources of animals and plants; contribute to economic growth; create more jobs, increase income for people and contribute to ensuring national defense and security. Accordingly, the project sets a goal of planting an additional 650 hectares of concentrated forests in 2023.

Melaleuca trees are still closely associated with the land and people of Long An, becoming an indispensable characteristic of the province./.

Moc Chau

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