Loggers in Vietnam's Lush Jungle

In early March 2016, I travelled 2,500km (1,500 miles) by road from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh.  It was a memorable experience as I spent ample time with Vietnam's wondrous nature.

The most lush and unbounded jungle I've ever seen in-person was in a national park called Phong Nha Ke Bang, which is where King Kong Skull Island was being filmed at the time.

Being of the adventurous sort, I took the longer, bum-breaking, 3.5-hour, 150km mountainous ring route (see below) from my hotel in Dong Hoi city to the Paradise Cave and Dark Cave, located in the National Park.

https://goo.gl/maps/TSFSeRnXtUN2

On the way, I was rewarded with views that words alone cannot portray.  The shades of green were vibrant and more in number than military camouflage.  The magnificent depth of field created by the vast, jagged hills and valleys, carved out by crystal clear boulder-burdened streams, made me feel like an microbe in the company of elephants.  This place is spectacular!

However, as governed by the laws of supply and demand, this jungle is being scraped and scarred by logging (see the photo below).  Vietnam has earned the position of being one the largest furniture exporters in Asia, exporting high-end wood products to the US, the EU, and Australia, according to Deutsche Welle (DW).

I only saw one such vast clearing of an otherwise carpet-like forest from the road that I took

Vietnamese wood products accounted for 1.2% of the value of all Vietnamese exports (Observatory of Economic Complexity) and 0.7% of all global exports (World Bank) in 2013.  

--- Vietnam plug for business leaders ---

Vietnam is a primary commodity powerhouse, the 2nd largest exporter of coffee (mainly Robusta) in the world and 5th largest in rice in 2014.

In 2013, Vietnam ranked 3rd globally in footwear exports and 8th in terms of textile and clothing (World Bank).

A US Geological Survey report in 2015 notes that Vietnam had the world's 15th largest reserve of bauxite in 2014.

Vietnam came in 9th in terms of tourist arrivals (7.6 million) to East Asia in 2013, which grew at a remarkable 11% compared to 2012, making it the 2nd fastest growing tourist destination in East Asia after Thailand (Calculations based on World Bank data).  TripAdvisor has ranked Hanoi city as 8th in the Top 10 destinations in 2016 (4th in 2015), ahead on New York city.

Vietnam's even outperforming in the tertiary sector; FPT Group made it to 57th place in the IAOP Global Outsourcing ranking in 2014.

Livelihood story continued...

As I journeyed on, I found that the majority of the ring road was unpopulated until I came across remote, makeshift, roadside loggers camps.  The dwellings were primitive, made up of tarpaulin, wooden poles, and hammocks (like the one in the photo below).  

Two rather casually-dressed men inspect the logs (They did have hard-hats... They surely must be legit)

Logs being slid down channels cut into hillside, allowing road access

I saw several of such camps scattered along the route and should explicitly mention that all of the logging operations that I observed were outside Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, which is how it should be.

Around 30 people sleep in this particular dwelling

Unattended log stools and firewood outside the kitchen await loggers after a long days work

Time was pressing on and needing to complete the route safely, I wasn't able to stop and talk to any of the loggers themselves.

As I pressed on, I reached the low-point of my journey.  I climbed altitude and a thick and cold fog enveloped me.  Visibility dropped from several hundred metres to 15 metres in the space of a minute and I was quickly drenching wet.

It was then that I stumbled upon 3 loggers in the road who, having completed their work, were about to head back to Dong Hoi city in a flat-bed truck.  I asked them how far it was to the National Park and they said another 80km.

Well aware of the rather treacherous driving conditions, they offered to put my motorbike in the back of their truck and give me a ride back to civilisation.  However, determined to see the caves in the National Park, I thanked them and continued on my way.

I did eventually reach the caves, which were spectacular, a must-see for any nature-lover visiting Vietnam.

Are these logging activities legal?

I suspect that the logging activities are legal for 2 reasons.  The first is that the government has established several manned checkpoints (such as the one below) along the entire route that I took.  Okay, so maybe that's not sufficient proof...

A remote checkpoint in the hills

The second reason that I think that these logging operations are likely to be legit is because of strict import restrictions in the key export markets (e.g. US Lacey Act).  Vietnam has also been negotiating a timber trade agreement with the EU to mitigate against illegal logging.  These build on the 1991 Forest Protection and Development decisions issued by the Prime Minister of Vietnam.

In addition, research by Chatham House suggests that there's a high-level of on-the-ground awareness of the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation among private firms in Vietnam.  Furthermore, certifications have increased significantly over the past decade.  

However, efforts to mitigate illegally-sourced timber continue to be tainted by sketchy 3rd party-verification of timber.

I did see several dirt tracks heading away from the paved roads that I was on, which could possibly be used to bypass the checkpoints or smuggle illegal timber over land into Vietnam from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, as highlighted by UKaid-funded DFID project, the Illegal Logging Portal.

Illegal timber imports happen despite agreements having been signed between Laos and Cambodia.  The Chatham House report also suggests that Vietnamese customs authorities are not yet responsible for checking the legality of timber imports and exports.  

Positively, the same report noted that the Vietnamese government is working towards setting up a reporting mechanism to communicate sending and receiving enforcement alerts about illegal shipments en route to their destinations.

In other words, progress is being made but is calling for patience.