People returning amidst the green of the Truong Son mountain range

There was a person who quietly went into the forest with an axe and a knife to cut down a tree trunk, set a trap for wild animals, and made a living in desperate days. Now, that same person is quietly going into the forests located in the East of the majestic Truong Son mountain range, but with a notebook, a map, a walkie-talkie, and his feet leaving footprints along the slopes, to protect the green from the roots, to keep each branch and leaf from forest fire, from the encroaching darkness...

In Dakrong Nature Reserve, now under the Quang Tri Province Special-Use Forest Management Board, there are people like that. Nearly half of the more than 260 members of the forest protection teams who once made mistakes are now quietly paying their debt to the forest in the most humane way, through the revival of conscience and love for the forest in their hearts.

Mr. Ho Van Ac and Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tuan, Head of the Hong Thuy Regional Forest Protection Station, returned after a patrol to protect the forest.

In the scorching early summer sun, I followed Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tuan, Head of the Hong Thuy Regional Forest Protection Station (under the Dakrong Nature Reserve Forest Protection Department), across rocky slopes and dry streams to find Cup village, Huc Nghi commune. There, Mr. Ho Van Ac's stilt house seemed to quietly nestle in the middle of the forest, witnessing a heartbreaking and awakening story. Four years ago, his wife, Mrs. Ho Thi N., was sentenced to 42 months in prison for "forest destruction". The day Mrs. N. was arrested, it rained heavily. Mr. Ac stayed in the village, raising seven children alone, struggling to work in the fields, catch fish, pick bamboo shoots, patch up the torn roof... without daring to complain. "I can't read, nor do I fully understand the law. But I know that the day my wife was taken away, it was an undeniable mistake," he said, his voice choking.

Then one day, Mr. Ac received an invitation to join the forest protection team. At first, he refused. “I used to be known as the husband of a forest destroyer, who would believe me?”. But then, the forest rangers themselves put their trust first. They did not ask about the past. They only asked: “Now that you want to do it again, do you dare to protect the forest with us?!”. And Mr. Ac nodded, nodded with shame, determination and remorse.

For over a year, Mr. Ac has been quietly patrolling the forest with his team members. Along the slopes of the Cup forest, his footprints have become deeper and deeper, the pain of the past has become a driving force. He knows each forest like the back of his hand. He has studied Forestry Law, learned how to look at the wind direction to prevent fires, learned how to recognize signs of deforestation through just a broken branch. And most of all, he has learned how to improve himself to set an example for the children growing up in the village.

“My wife is about to finish her prison term,” he said, his eyes shining with hope. “I want to welcome her with an intact forest season!”

Not only in Cup village, but also throughout the buffer zone of Dakrong Nature Reserve, from Ta Long, Huc Nghi to A Vao, A Bung, dozens of people who once made a living from forest products, who once faced prison sentences, are now attached to the forest protection team. They do not hide their past. They face it and move on. Some people used to burn fields, now they are the first to report the fire. Some people used to set traps for wild animals, now they carry hoes and machetes to destroy the traps. Some people used to hide from forest rangers, now they accompany forest rangers on patrols, set up checkpoints, and divide risk zones...

Mr. Truong Quang Trung, Director of the Quang Tri Province Special-Use Forest Management Board, could not hide his emotion when talking about the forest protection team: “They used to destroy the forest, now they protect the forest. They do not need to be honored. They just need to be trusted again, and they have done it!”

Dakrong Nature Reserve has more than 37,600 hectares, not to mention 5,200 hectares belonging to the Ho Chi Minh Trail landscape protection area. An area too large for 12 forest rangers to handle. But thanks to 16 forest protection teams, with more than 260 village members, the "forest eye" is no longer silent. Each team divides into groups, sets up posts, and takes turns patrolling hundreds of hectares of forest. Each person works two sessions a week, going to the forest all day and all night. Some people have swollen knees when they come back, some people walk dozens of kilometers of forest paths just to discover a suspicious trace. But everyone knows: if they don't do it, the forest will be lost.

“The forest once fed me, then I injured it. Now, I will pay it back with the rest of my life,” said a member of the forest protection team when night fell in the middle of the village. Those words were not only for the forest, but also for themselves, those who had gone astray but did not give up on their fate!

Source: https://cand.com.vn/doi-song/nhung-nguoi-tro-ve-giua-mau-xanh-cua-dai-ngan-truong-son-i769988/