A series of posts by an animal rights group on Facebook revealing patches of forest illegally felled without rangers’ knowledge in Son Tra Peninsula, part of Da Nang City on the central Vietnamese coast, caught local authorities’ attention earlier this week.

Vo Dinh Cong, chairman of the People’s Committee of Tho Quang Ward in Son Tra district, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday that several relevant administrative bodies of the city had inspected the scene.

The damaged area was production forest, Cong said, adding that it was formerly under the management of the Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Son Forest Protection Unit (FPU) and had been handed over to the authorities of Tho Quang Ward since late 2015.

Up until now, the ward has taken over 1,027ha of forest from the FPU and assigned its residents to look over the area.

The patch of forest destroyed recently was under the supervision of Nguyen Van Tam, a resident of Tho Quang Ward.

“As stated in the laws,” Cong said, “residents who wish to use the assigned land for production or anything have to inform ward officials so that we can ask the FPU for permission.”

But as the delegation inspected the scene, Cong said, a group of residents had already set up camps in the middle of the forest.

“They even chopped off some small trees and vines, and expanded the trail into a 300m-long road,” he added.

All the camps in the area had been uprooted by Thursday afternoon, as observed by Tuoi Tre reporters, while the cleared area had been afforested with 300 saplings.

The camps in Son Tra peninsula were being removed on February 25, 2016. Photo: Facebook/danangvui

Present at the scene to oversee the activities, Nguyen Dieu, director of Da Nang’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, agreed that the clearing of this path must have been done for at least one month.

“The camps were not discovered despite being close to the main road because they left the front bushes and trees untouched to hide their wrongdoing, along with using only noiseless tools in the building process,” Dieu said.

The Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Son FPU held a meeting on Thursday, during which they took responsibility for the incident, citing a lack of inspection and supervision.

Cong, the Tho Quang Ward chairman, also discredited reports that the destroyed forest was home to the douc population native to Son Tra Peninsula.

“Doucs are known to move very often to wherever there is food available, especially to fruit gardens grown by our residents,” he said.

The red-shanked douc native to Son Tra Peninsula, Da Nang. Photo: Facebook/danangvui

Da Nang authorities have promised not to let similar incidents recur.

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