"Green dance" on the sand

QTO - Along the coastal route from the North to the South of Quang Tri province, throughout the Dai Truong Sa range in the past (the sandy area from Nhat Le estuary to Cua Tung according to Duong Van An's O Chau Can Luc), where there were only "the sun-drenched sand dunes...", has now been replaced by a green coat of casuarina, acacia, and cajuput trees covering the bare land and sand dunes. Every beautiful morning, when the sun rises, the early rays of sunlight spread evenly over the forest on the white sand, I imagine a green dance full of vitality. And then one day, I decided to go find the people who silently weave that green color.

Catching white sand to revive

Born in the Thanh My sand area, Cam Hong commune, Mr. Phan Van Ly witnessed flying sand, running sand, rising sand, sinking sand... during his childhood, affecting the lives and production of the people. In 1975, Mr. Phan Van Ly joined the army and became a soldier of the Border Guard Command.

During his military service, Mr. Ly had the opportunity to visit many southern provinces and cities with harsh natural conditions similar to Quang Tri such as Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Phu Yen , Tay Ninh... In these localities, people live in harmony with the sun, wind and sand, facing and conquering white sand by planting forests. Experiencing and learning, he determined that when he returned to his homeland, he would renovate the sand area and revive the white sand.

In 1986, Mr. Phan Van Ly was discharged from the army and sent to university. He chose to study forestry. In 1990, he graduated with a degree in forestry engineering. Returning to his hometown, in 1999, he started his business on the white sand area covered with wild grass and cypress trees, by opening a casuarina nursery and planting forests on the sand.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hop's casuarina nursery - Photo: T.Long

“Seeing me burying my face in the sand every day, planting as many casuarinas as I could, I would bring them up to the sand dunes and plant them on both sides of the sand ravine. People said I was crazy, “breaking my crutches to fight the sand”. No matter what people said, I just did my job. Until one day, the casuarinas did not disappoint people, taking root deep in the sand, growing from barrenness and growing up, creating a canopy. The problems of flying sand, running sand, and sinking sand gradually decreased,” Mr. Ly recalled.

Starting his business in 1999, 26 years have passed, Mr. Phan Van Ly has created a stable asset, worth billions of dong in the white sand area of ​​Cam Hong. He founded Cat Xanh Agricultural and Forestry Seed Company Limited and holds the role of director. In addition to 30 hectares of planted forest covering white sand and 1 hectare of water surface for raising snakehead fish on sand, each year exporting about 70 tons of commercial fish to the market, all of Mr. Ly's enthusiasm is devoted to 6 hectares of nursery garden, in which casuarina trees are the mainstay.

Mr. Phan Van Ly shared: “My nursery includes varieties of ornamental plants, shade trees and timber trees, such as: Casuarina, Indian almond, Cassia, Lagerstroemia, Rosewood, Japanese Osaka, Taiwanese Indian almond... Each year, the company supplies the market with more than 1 million casuarina trees and 2 to 3 thousand ornamental plants and shade trees. The main customers are the Ministry of National Defense, which orders them to be planted on the islands; some customers are in the South, companies in India, Japan. The company has created stable jobs for 30 local workers, with an average income of 250,000 VND/day”.

Greening the sand

Following the introduction of the Director of Cat Xanh Agricultural and Forestry Seed Company Limited, I met Mr. Nguyen Van Hop in Thanh Tan village, Cam Hong commune, who also contributed to creating the "green dance" on the sand. Like Mr. Ly, Mr. Hop started his business as a forest planter to green sand dunes, then switched to growing casuarinas, providing seeds to the protection forest management boards (BQLRPH) in the province.

Director of Cat Xanh Agricultural and Forestry Seed Company, Phan Van Ly (far right) is introducing casuarina varieties to customers - Photo: T.Long

Born in 1979, in 1998, Nguyen Van Hop enlisted in Battalion 42, Provincial Military Command, and was discharged in 2001. Officially participating in sand forest planting since 2001, up to now, Hop still maintains a forest planting, care and protection team under his leadership with about 100 people. Every sand forest planting season, Nguyen Van Hop directly contracts with the Forest Protection Management Boards and then "pulls troops" to participate.

After nearly 25 years of planting forests on sand, Mr. Hop's footprints are thickly imprinted on the Dai Truong Sa range, from Bo Trach district (old) to the border of Quang Tri province (old). With the sweat and efforts of Mr. Hop and the members of the forest planting, care and protection team seeping into the white sand, the casuarina trees grow up, contributing to the greening and revitalization of the sand area.

Evaluating the economic model of war veterans Phan Van Ly and Nguyen Van Hop, Mr. Duong Van Truong, Chairman of the War Veterans Association of Cam Hong commune proudly said: “They are Uncle Ho’s soldiers, always keeping in their hearts the spirit of a soldier. Their whole lives are attached to the land of “sand dunes”, understanding what white sand needs from people. From the seeds on the white sand, they build a sustainable forest ecosystem, creating a solid green shield, changing the appearance of an entire sand area, contributing to bringing a peaceful and happy life to everyone”.

“During the process of planting forests to cover the white sand, I realized that the casuarina species imported from other localities were not guaranteed, and had a low survival rate, so in 2001, I decided to organize my own nursery. If Mr. Ly had a stable source of supply from the Ministry of National Defense, my casuarina species would mainly be supplied to the forest management boards in the province. Thanks to that, my forest planting team ensured a complete closed process of seeds, planting, caring for, and protecting the forest, thereby increasing the survival rate of casuarina trees, and helping them grow and develop better,” said Mr. Hop.

In addition to planting forests to cover white sand, taking care of 2 casuarina nurseries with an area of ​​3,000 m2, providing the market with 300,000 to 500,000 seedlings each year; Mr. Nguyen Van Hop's economic model also has an additional 10,000 m2 of land to grow sweet potatoes on sand, which is the raw material for the famous dried sweet potato brand of Quang Binh province (old). Each year, the average total income of Mr. Nguyen Van Hop's family is about 1 billion VND, creating stable jobs for many local workers with a salary of 9 million VND/person/month.

Ngo Thanh Long

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/kinh-te/202508/vu-dieu-xanhtren-cat-8623c39/