VietNamNet Bridge - Forest areas in Luc Yen District in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai have suffered significant damage due to illegal foraging for the local speciality - bitter bamboo sprouts.

Covering about 1,600ha, the forest in An Lac Commune is the biggest in the district. During the season from January to April, bitter bamboo sprouts grow over 80 per cent of the area.

To dig up the bamboo sprouts, people had to turn over a great amount of soil, leaving a path of uprooted and dead trees in their wake, said deputy chairman of the An Lac People’s Committee Luong Van Nguy.

Luong Thuy Van, owner of Thuy Van Restaurant in Yen Bai Town, said after the Lunar New Year she needed about 100-120kg of bitter bamboo sprouts per day to meet the 20 per cent increase in customer demand.

Hundreds of kilogrammes of the speciality have been also transported to neighbouring provinces and Ha Noi. Business from restaurants in the capital has been significant in the past 10 years, said chairman of the district People’s Committee Nong Van Linh.

Tonnes of bamboo sprouts were dug up by hundreds of people in the forest each day, including Luong Thi Linh, from Village 6 in An Lac Commune, who said: “Digging bamboo sprouts is the highest income earner here.”

Each person could generally dig 15-20kg for nearly VND200,000 (US$10) in profit, she said.

People here depended on the forest for income, especially in between harvests. More than 80 per cent of local residents were ethnic minorities, and 35 per cent of them were poor, said Nguy.

“We banned residents from digging for bamboo sprouts, but the forest is too large for the few forest rangers we have to manage the problem,” he said.

Luc Yen District has 21 communes but only 24 forest rangers. The forest areas in An Lac Commune only have two forest rangers.

Chairman of the district People’s Committee Nong Van Linh said the committee would ask local residents to sign a letter of commitment promising not to dig for bamboo sprouts. “If residents violate their commitments, blame will fall on the chairman of the commune People’s Committee”.

A convention on forest protection would soon be set up and include administrative punishments for people who violated bamboo sprout regulations.

Under the convention, violators could face fines up to VND2 million ($100), said Linh.

“We will consider the option of giving an allowance to poor households, especially in between harvests,” he said.

If approved, the expected allowance of VND300,000 ($15) per household each month would come from the district budget.

The district also has planned to establish a team of forest rangers made up of local residents who would earn a monthly salary.

“If the forest rangers violate the convention, they will be fined double the normal amount,” said Linh.

Source: VNS