Three weeks after the news that “sua” logs worth three hundred billion dong were found in Hung Tri, people have been pouring into Phong Nha-Ke Bang national forest in the central province Quang Binh with the dream of getting extremely rich through “sua”.

Each day, hundreds have scoured the forest for “sua” which was thought not to have been removed yet by 11 forest destroyers. Sua wood, or dalbergia tonkinensis, is a species of the Fabaceae family found in China and Vietnam. It has good aroma like aloe wood and is insect-resistant.

The sua trees have been listed as an endangered species in Vietnam.

Searching for the treasure

After hearing about others luckily getting the remaining “sua” and thus becoming extremely rich, people are frantically scouring the forest to find more, regardless of their own safety while destroying the forest.

Three “sua” trees that were cut down were left in a dense area surrounded by rugged mountains. Recently, people have shown up in this 500 m2 area to search for the pieces that were left behind, severely damaging other trees in the process.

People have even collected sawdust from the cut-down trees in the hope of selling it to get money. Others used blasting powder to break rocks to ease the search.. Some people have gone to the forest multiple times in their quest.

The core of Hung Tri is full of camps of people looking for “sua”. They have divided themselves to look for the trees in different places such as Hung Trung, Hung Tri, and Cội Height. Along the way to Hung Trung, many trees as wide a man’s arm were cut down. Since the day the news of the “sua” trees broke, forest destroyers have searched for them, ignoring other precious trees.

At Cội Height we met two men searching for “sua” in rocky holes. They said, “The amount of wood moved out of the forest showed that people lucky enough to find “sua” hid some of it in holes in the forest, so we have struggled to go get it”.

Along the way up to the cliffs of Hung Trung and Hung Tri, there are people applying the same method in hope of finding some “sua” hidden by forest destroyers. At Coi Height, on the dangerous cliff, a man insisted on hanging on to the ledge to climb up and find “sua”.

A group of lumberers relax in forest wile hunting for the precious “sua” wood in Phong Nha-Ke Bang national forest (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Fear of thieves

The “sua” seekers also face the threat of thieves taking everything they have found.

We finally reached the Nuoc Vang height in between Hung Tri and the centre of Phuc Trach. Suddenly, we were stopped by three locals, each with a weapon in hand and sharpness in voice, threatening us to give them the “sua” we had found. After safely crossing Nuoc Vang, we encountered other groups of youth who have been robbed of “sua”.

Others have fought back, and thanks to the large number of members and their weapons they successfully protected their “sua”. One of them, Mr Mao, said: “For many people traveling to Hung Tri to look for “sua”, Nuoc Vang is a common fear. We have to gather many people to cross this point. Each is equipped with a weapon to protect what we have.”

It is said that about one week ago, Nuoc Vang was the sua-robbing zone of underworld gangs originated from Nghe An and Hai Phong. After the majority of the sua was brought out of the woods, they left, taking their weapons with them, allowing other small, spontaneous local gangs to move in.

Lumberers are collecting small pieces of “sua” wood scattered around while chopping the trees (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

A man is preparing explosive to blow up a large rock to search for the roots of a fallen “sua” tree left beneath (Photo: Tuoi Tre)