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| Apr 27, 2002 |
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn |
KIEN GIANG — Chan Van Ty has given his cajeput forest over to a rowdy flock of storks. Residents of Kien Giang Province’s Tan Khanh Hoa began calling him Ty "Co" or stork, when the birds started settling on his cajeput grove seven years ago. In 1990, his now-fertile bird sanctuary was an over cultivated field. "It took me six years to build an irrigation system around the grove; I moved a thousand cubic metres of dirt and my wife had to earn enough to support our seven children and I," Ty said. When the cajeput forest became green and fishes filled the irrigation ditches, a flock of storks alighted on his trees. They have stayed ever since. Ty says that about 100,000 egrets settled into his grove at first – mainly white egrets, herons, night herons, white herons and spot-billed ducks. "Not only do I not earn any money from the cajeputs, but I spend about VND8 million each year fixing the irrigation channels and clearing grass," Ty said. He loves the birds, but complains that they are untidy guests. They have damaged many trees, breaking off branches to build nests and covering the cajeputs with their droppings. To create more room for his flock, Ty plans to plant 20,000 young cajeput trees this year. On the market, an egret goes for VND3,000 – Ty could potentially earn about VND50 million per year from his flock. But he has not considered selling the forest guests. A man from HCM City offered Ty VND300 million for the forest. Ty turned him down. "I am a poor man; my family and I need money. But the forest is a gift from heaven and earth. I have to keep it," Ty says. "My forest is too crowded for the egrets and some locals want to hunt them. So it’s not easy. But I’m over fifty and I own my greatest pleasure. I want to be close to nature." — VNS
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