Once he was threatened with death by loggers. His family was poor, he couldn’t eat enough, someone told him to cut a few stumps to sell, but he still decided to keep the green ironwood forest so that now, after more than 30 years, the ancient forest stands tall like the village mascot. .
Mr. Lam and a hundred-year-old ironwood tree in the middle of a thousand years Born in the border area of Huong Son district (Ha Tinh), Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam’s childhood (SN 1960, living in Khe Nam village, Son Kim commune 1) was attached to the forest. In 1990, when the State had a policy to mobilize people to receive forests for care and protection, Mr. Lam volunteered to receive more than 26 hectares of forests, including more than 20 hectares of natural forests and 6 hectares of planted forests. In order to protect the forest, he sought to restore the hill behind the house that was destroyed, badly damaged for many years. Mr. Lam recalled, the whole forest at that time was cut down, there were no trees with a circumference of more than 100cm. “Watching the trees grow up day by day, I am very happy. Protecting the forest is very difficult, because the forest is large, the people are few, while the people have no rights, so when they detect the loggers, they can only chase them out of their land. Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam During the period from 1990 to 1992, this forest was affected by the bluff exploitation, which affected the water source. In the summer, the wells in the village were dry at the bottom, some households dug more than 20m deep but still there was not a drop of water. Life is turned upside down, all activities rely on water from heaven and streams. Realizing that the harmful effects of deforestation are too serious, in addition to strictly protecting the existing forest tree area, Mr. Lam’s family borrowed a loan to plant acacia on the area of production forest and enrich the natural forest area with tree species. Indigenous people such as green lim, doi, kien Kien… on average, he plants 3,000 trees a year. 
“After many years of eating and sleeping in the forest, looking back, the value of each tree is really precious,” said Mr. Lam, recalling the more than 30 years he spent in the forest. In order to admire the ancient ironwood trees, we were led into the forest by Mr. Lam and local ranger Doan Doanh Tuyen (Huong Son Ranger District). After climbing the pass, wading streams, the ironwood forest gradually opened up in front of our eyes, the higher we went, the dense forest, many big trees that 2 people couldn’t hug. As he walked, Mr. Lam pointed at the big tree stumps and read the name: “This tree is green ironwood, over a hundred years old, like this one two people can’t even hug; On the other side is the dot, the circumference is over 100cm. I have to go up here often, I’m very tired, but if I’m negligent, I’ll be the bad guy to cut it right away,” Lam said. The sixty-year-old man shared that, over the past 30 years, he has not had a single night of sleep because many loggers are trying to steal wood to sell. He was even threatened with death by a logger. Forest protection is not easy, eat the forest, sleep in the forest. There were times when family life was difficult, not eating enough, some people suggested that he cut down some wood to sell, but he still decided to keep the green ironwood forest, so that today the forest will pay back. Thank you for the old man with ancient iron roots over a hundred years old. Lam’s ironwood forest is like a “green lung” to develop ecosystems, prevent erosion, and prevent floods.
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