VietNamNet Bridge – The people of Ea Bar Commune in the Buon Don District of the central province of Dak Lak are very busy these days: they chop down trees and collect the lumber to make charcoal for sale.

Members of the charcoal village

The locals live next to the forest, but the air they breathe can hardly be called fresh: the smell of burning wood is pervasive. Faces are always spattered with coal ash mixed with profuse sweat. Both phenomena can be attributed to the numerous braziers around the small houses.

Each brazier is about 1.2 meters high, 2 meters wide and long, capable of containing 2 cubic meters of lumber. A number of logs, short and long, lie on the ground, next to the smoldering braziers.

Hung, a local resident, said trees have been chopped down en masse recently because the charcoal price has increased.

“We know it is illegal to deforest and that the deforestation will damage the ecosystem and affect the water sources, but…” Hung did not finish his sentence, wiping his sweat away.

A local resident revealed that he bought wood, including precious wood, to make charcoal, from the neighboring Cui village. Residents in the village have become infamous, thanks to their “achievement” of significantly narrowing the Buon Don forest area. However, it is still unclear how the logs can pass through the checkpoints to make their way to the charcoal village.

Tens of vehicles are seen parading towards the forest from the Cui village every day, and then returning with a load of logs.

The paradox is that wood carriers are subject to arrest and punishment, but charcoal carriers can go everywhere with the charcoal made of the precious wood, without any such fears.

Another paradox is that, while they live alongside forests with precious trees, they remain very poor. And now they lack even the blessing of a pristine environment. They must constantly breathe air infused with the smoke from the braziers.

All nine children of Hai Qua, a local man, have suffered from respiratory diseases because of the smoke, and none of them can go to school.

“All of us in the village are very poor. We wish we could have just two meals per day,” Qua said, adding that the money he makes from selling charcoal is just enough to buy medicine to treat his children’s diseases.

Earning a living on illegal jobs

When asked why they did not remove the charcoal village and stop the deforestation, local authorities said they have not yet found a solution for the 1,200 people there.

If they gave up making charcoal, the people would have to take other jobs to earn their livings. However, they don’t know what they can do with just 20 hectares of land, according to the local authorities, both for living and production.

Bay Nhon, a local resident said the braziers have been providing money to feed the seven members of his families. “We will die of starvation if we cannot make charcoal any more,” he said.

“We just strive to earn enough money to put food in our mouths. It is too luxurious for us to bring our children to school,” he said.

DNSG