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Large Swath of Pine Forest Near Đà Lạt Cut Down, Suspected Land Grabbing
🇻🇳 Vietnam /Environment & Climate

Large Swath of Pine Forest Near Đà Lạt Cut Down, Suspected Land Grabbing

From Tuổi Trẻ · (1h ago) Vietnamese Critical tone

Translated from Vietnamese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Authorities in Lạc Dương commune, near Đà Lạt, are investigating the illegal felling of approximately 248 pine trees.
  • The trees were cut down and left at the scene, with evidence suggesting the motive was to clear land for farming.
  • The incident is considered serious, and authorities are working to identify the perpetrators and gather evidence for potential prosecution.

A significant environmental crime has been uncovered in the picturesque region near Đà Lạt, where a large swathe of pine forest has been illegally cut down. Authorities in Lạc Dương commune, Lâm Đồng province, are now scrambling to investigate the felling of nearly 250 pine trees, an act suspected to be linked to land encroachment for agricultural purposes.

Authorities are urgently investigating the felling of about 250 three-needled pine trees, suspected to be related to forest land encroachment for farming.

— Lạc Dương Commune People's CommitteeInitial statement regarding the discovery of the deforested area.

The scale of the destruction is stark: hundreds of pine tree trunks, some with diameters up to 40cm, lie scattered across the hillside. Many show fresh cuts, with sap still oozing, indicating the trees were felled recently, likely before April 20th. The timber itself appears to have been abandoned, suggesting the primary goal was not logging but clearing the land.

This brazen act of deforestation is particularly concerning given the area's natural beauty and its importance to the local economy. The presence of iron stakes marking boundaries on the hill further suggests a planned encroachment. While the affected area is not part of the national forestry plan for 2021-2030, the destruction of a mature pine forest is a serious environmental offense.

This is a serious incident that requires concentrated and decisive action.

— Lạc Dương Commune People's Committee LeaderDescribing the gravity of the illegal logging case.

Local authorities have deemed the case urgent and are mobilizing police and forestry officials to gather evidence. The commune's People's Committee has instructed the police to collect evidence and, if signs of forest destruction are found, to propose initiating a criminal case. This incident, from a Vietnamese perspective, highlights the ongoing struggle to balance economic development, particularly agricultural expansion, with the critical need for environmental protection. It underscores the challenges faced in remote areas and the determination required to bring perpetrators of such environmental crimes to justice.

The felling of 248 pine trees may have occurred before April 20, but the perpetrators have not yet been identified.

— Lạc Dương Commune People's CommitteeProviding an estimated timeline and current status of the investigation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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