Heavy heart for green forest

Mr. Dang Dinh Ninh (first) and specialized forest protection forces of Tan Phu Protective Forest Management Board patrol the forest. Photo: An Nhon

Durable over time

In recent days, Mr. Ninh has spent a lot of time in the forest, actively working with his teammates to cover bare land and hills with greenery. Mr. Ninh said: The rainy season is the "golden" time for forest trees to grow and develop. Taking advantage of this, he and his teammates in the unit have been actively planting forests so that trees can grow and develop best.

Sharing about his fate in working as a forest ranger, Mr. Ninh said: He was born and raised in a poor rural area of Ha Tinh province. Like many other young people of the same age, in 1982, he volunteered to join the army and became a soldier of Regiment 977, Division 31, Corps 3. The unit's mission was to protect the border of Vi Xuyen area ( Ha Giang province). In 1986, after 4 years of military service, Mr. Ninh decided to return to his hometown due to family circumstances. Once, when he heard that Tan Phu Forestry Enterprise (later converted to Tan Phu Protective Forest Management Board) was recruiting personnel, he decided to apply and was accepted to work steadily since then.

“The job of a forest ranger is like that of a border guard, very hard and tiring. No longer guarding the border, I join in protecting the life of the old forests. The job makes me love the forest more and more and I am determined to stick with this job for the rest of my life,” Mr. Ninh shared.

And then Mr. Ninh's footprints were imprinted all over the forests of more than 18 thousand hectares, working side by side with his colleagues to patrol, guard and prevent illegal forest intrusions day and night.

Forest protection work is extremely difficult and arduous. The management area is mountainous, steep hills, divided by ravines and streams, some places with very steep slopes. Moreover, illegal forest invaders are often reckless and ready to fight back against the authorities when performing their duties. That makes the forest protection work even more stressful.

Recalling the period 2014-2017, when the rosewood consumption market in Vietnam was "hot", Mr. Ninh said: Private traders bought rosewood by the kilogram, tempting many people and finding ways to illegally enter the forest to exploit. At that time, Dong Nai province in general and Tan Phu Protective Forest Management Board in particular proactively implemented a "campaign to protect rosewood trees" with many synchronous measures.

Upon receiving the assigned task, Mr. Ninh actively worked with his colleagues to lie in wait day and night at key locations and forest entrances to prevent illegal forest intrusion. In addition to independent patrols, the unit also coordinated with the local police, army, and forest rangers to conduct high-point sweeps to close the area; actively promoted propaganda to raise public awareness... Thanks to the close coordination between units and the perseverance of cadres like Mr. Ninh in sticking to the forest, the campaign to protect rosewood was successful, minimizing the exploitation of valuable forest resources.

“During my work, my teammates and I have repeatedly directly arrested people who illegally entered the forest to hand them over to the authorities for handling according to regulations. Therefore, I became a “thorn” in the eyes of the loggers and was often “troubled”. Many times, they brought weapons to the unit to threaten me, but as a soldier, I did not allow myself to back down. Moreover, my love for the forest and the timely encouragement of leaders and colleagues… helped me overcome all difficulties and challenges,” Mr. Ninh confided.

Over the past 39 years, veteran Dang Dinh Ninh has always been a shining example in his unit. He has shown the true qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers: steadfast, responsible, always taking the lead in work, ready to accept difficult tasks and determined to do well the assigned work. He is also a spiritual support for young cadres and civil servants to learn from and follow.
Director of Tan Phu Protective Forest Management Board NGUYEN LE ANH TUAN

The biggest reward for the forest keeper

His brave and resilient spirit has helped Mr. Ninh always complete all assigned tasks excellently. He was trusted by the unit leaders to be the Team Leader and was assigned to be in charge of all sub-areas in the area. In his assigned position, he always strives to fulfill his responsibility of protecting the forest.

Currently, Mr. Ninh is in charge of Sub-area 178 with an area of over 1,100 hectares, belonging to Sub-school 3 (Dinh Quan commune, Dong Nai province). This is a "hot" area of Tan Phu Protective Forest Management Board, because there is still a large area of natural forest, containing many precious wood species (rosewood, rosewood, red wood, rosewood...) and wild animals (wild boar, weasel, cheo, monitor lizard...). There are also more than 30 households with about 100 people living in the area.

To effectively protect the forest, in addition to patrolling, Mr. Ninh also chose to stick with the people. He regularly went to each household to propagate and mobilize people to sign a commitment to protect the forest, not exploit forest products, not hunt wild animals, not encroach on forest land... The motto "slow and steady wins the race" has helped people increasingly raise their awareness of law enforcement. In particular, in the past, some people often went into the forest to trap animals and illegally cut trees, but now they have given up their "job" and switched to farming , working as workers...

“I often listen to people’s thoughts and wishes as well as find ways to resolve difficulties and obstacles for them. I help people realize that forest protection is not only the responsibility of the specialized forest protection force, but also of the whole community. From then on, whenever there are suspicious strangers entering the forest, people always proactively report them so that the authorities can monitor and prevent them in time,” Mr. Ninh confided.

In early 2026, Mr. Ninh will retire after 40 years of forest protection. He said: “During my working days, during patrols or law dissemination trips, I will take the opportunity to pass on my passion and experience to younger colleagues. Forest protection is not only a job, it is also a strong love for nature. I hope that the younger generation will continue to keep the fire burning, inheriting it so that Dong Nai forest will always be the “green lung” of the Southeast region.”

An Nhon

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/tin-moi/202508/nang-long-voi-rung-xanh-f6f2532/