Authorities uncover illegal timber trade

Police in Thua Thien – Hue Province have uncovered cases of illegal logging of rare trees that are listed in Vietnamese Red Book of Endangered Species.

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The trees included Burma padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), cho (Dipterocarpus retusus) son huyet (Melanorrhea laccifera), doi and chua. Exploitation, purchasing and transportation of these species are prohibited in Viet Nam.

Last Friday night, traffic police stopped a bus in the province's Huong Thuy District and found 1.6 cu.m of Burma padauk.


The bus driver said he was hired to transport the wood from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to Nghe An Province.

The previous day, environmental police in the province's A Luoi District seized 2.5 cu.m of wood that the truck driver could not provide proof of origin for.

Environmental police also stopped two trucks in Phong Dien District and found 8.3 cu.m of cho and chua.

Similar cases have been discovered in the adjacent central provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Quang Tri.

Quang Ngai police found 4.3 cu.m on a truck travelling from Khanh Hoa Province to the north, while Quang Nam police seized 10.3 cu.m of son huyet (Melanorrhea laccifera) from the Song Bung hydro-electronic plant.

In Quang Tri, police found 5.5 cu.m of Burma padauk being transported from Laos to Dong Ha Town.

Experts said consumption of rare wood would remain high as Vietnamese preferred forest timber for construction and furniture, and very few consumers wanted industrial wood.