Over 200 pine trees in Lam Dong Province, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, have been poisoned with herbicide in the past three months.

The incident has happened since late June in Nam Ban Town, Lam Ha District, Truong Dai, head of the forest protection unit in Nam Ban, confirmed on Saturday.

Some people have been drilling holes in 210 pine trees in the area before pouring weedkiller into them, Dai stated.

About 170 out of 210 affected trees cannot recover, he continued, adding that most of the pine trees were planted before 1988.

“We first spotted some trees with withered leaves. The condition started to spread widely in early July,” the forest protection chief recounted.

An examination then showed that 160 pine trees were drilled and reeked of herbicide, he said. “We tried in vain to detoxify the plants.”

A hole is drilled on the trunk of a pine tree. Photo: Tuoi Tre

On September 7, competent agencies discovered another 50 pine trees in the locality being poisoned in the same way.

Thanks to early detection, 40 of them were given prompt treatment and had recovered since.

It is quite common for pine trees in Lam Dong Province to be poisoned with weedkiller.

Such acts will kill a tree within three weeks.

It is crucial to detoxify the plants in the first week; however, poisoned trees do not often show any abnormal signs during this phase.

Once their leaves start to change color, it is too late to save them.

According to authorities in Nam Ban Town, the 210 poinsoned pine trees are located near local roads and residential areas.

The poisoning may be part of the encroachment on forest land, they said.

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