A rare species of tree, the red sua, is being targeted by midnight lumberjacks across Hanoi. Local police were asked to investigate recent cases of illegal felling.

The remaining of a red sua, which was chopped down on August 17.

The latest incident was reported on September 15 when a 20-year-old red sua tree in Cau Giay district was cut down by a group of men.

According to the Police, Hanoi had 717 red sua as of September 9, including 509 trees along the streets and 208 in local parks. Sua timber is rare and valuable, used for spiritual purposes and for disease treatment in China. In Vietnam, sua is considered a first-class timber, as it is hard, durable, easy to work with and resistant to insects.

The trees are better known internationally as Alstonia.

A teak or rosewood bed is priced at 7.5 million dong ($460). The same bed made of red sua costs 75 million dong ($4,600).

Chinese merchants buy sua wood at $80 per kilogram and Vietnamese traders pay 700,000 to one million dong ($43-62) per kilogram. Chinese buyers also purchase sua timber sawdust at a high price. That’s why the unauthorized harvest of sua trees has developed across Vietnam, particularly in the central and Central Highlands provinces.

Now the problem has arrived in Hanoi.

Major General Nhanh has instructed police to take immediate action to protect these precious trees, including patrols and stake-outs of areas that have red sua trees.

PV