Binh Phuoc (VNS/VNA) - Dieu Long used tobe one of the most notorious illegal loggers in the southern province ofBinh Phuoc.

He joined a gang of illegal loggers at the ageof 15 to hunt wild animals or chop down trees in Bu Gia Map National Park.

But now, ironically, Long is one of the mostdedicated rangers in the park. His years of experience as an illegal logger hascontributed to forest protection efforts.

20 years of deforestation

Long, who is now 49, said he spent 20 yearsworking as an illegal logger, so he had memorised every path and corner ofthe national park.

Long was born into a poor family in Bu Gia Mapcommune. He quit school when he was in second grade, and spent most of hischildhood at home helping with family chores.

When he was 15, he joined a local logginggang with the promise of earning good money.

Long said he could not remember how many days heand his gang swept through the forest, even in the core and buffer zones.

The forest had become so familiar he knewexactly where to find monkeys, elephants and bison, and where preciousrare trees grew.

“I was hired to destroy forests so cropscould be planted to start with, but then I saw people buying rare trees tobuild houses. That's when I switched to logging precious trees to getmore money,” he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Trees such as rosewood, sandalwood andredwood earned him a lot of money, which he spent mostly on drinking.

Long said he might have been the luckiest illegallogger alive as was never been caught by the police.

This was all thanks to his knowledge of theforest.

“There were many times when I was just metresaway from the rangers, but I managed to escape. I even observedtheir patrols for weeks to avoid getting caught.”

“Many people from my gang were arrested,”he said.

Long recalled the day he avoidedcapture years ago. He had to stay in the forest for a whole day andnight, suffering from cold and hunger to avoid being detected.

Atoning for his sins

Long said he remembered how diversified theforest was when he was small. That same forest has since been destroyedand the number of wild animals has become fewer and fewer.

The days of running and hiding from police, andwitnessing his fellow gang members being put in jail, made him decideto stop in 2006.

Long wanted another job, but he found that beingin the forest was his only desire.

Six months later, Long took a risk andmet Dieu Han, a ranger at Bu Gia Map National Park, to ask for ajob as a ranger.

With help from Han, Long was given a job.He was assigned to patrol the forest every ten days to stop deforestation.He was paid between 8-10 million VNA (345-432 USD) every three months.

Now, Long has a stable job with a stable life.He has six children, a house, and one hectare of cashew nuts.

Vung Duc Hoa, director of the national park,said Long had contributed to forest protection efforts and encouragedlocal people to get involved.

Currently, more than 25,600 hectares of foresthas been assigned to local people to protect.

Bu Gia Map covers more than 25,600 hectares withmany rare plants and animals.

In the past ten years, the number ofdeforestation cases has reportedly decreased. In 2018 and 2019, only 20 smallcases were uncovered./.