Ex-illegal logger joins forest protection fight
POOR decision making when trying to make a fast dollar can have serious consequences, as John Bunthoeun from Oddar Meanchey discovered. Formally an illegal logger, he gave it up after a series of near fatal accidents.
After too many near misses, he has turned to an honest living, fabricating doors, windows, porches and stainless steel banisters for a living. He has also consecrated trees to help preserve the forest and apologised to the spirits who protect it.
A tall strong man in his 50s told The Post that his father had been a logger since the Pol Pot era, and he had learned from him. In 2002, he started felling trees and selling timber – mostly in Banteay Meanchey province.
He said that while he was logging he had suffered several serious mishaps. Once, he was hit across the throat by a falling tree and was lucky to survive. Another time, his was seriously cut and he lost a lot of blood. He believes that the series of accidents he encountered may have been caused by spirits protecting the trees. The people in his village convinced him that this was true, so in order to protect his karma, he stopped felling trees.
“In 2003 I was hit by a tree across my neck but did not die. I was cutting ‘beng’ [Afzelia xylocarpa] in a village and was told that there was a spirit protecting that tree – that’s why I had the accident. In 20007, I had another near miss where my hand was very badly cut. I believe that the accidents were a result of the karma I had accrued for felling illegal timber. I don’t think I would have survived my third accident,” he said.
He said that he had previously been involved in deforestation in the Dangrek Mountains and had crossed illegally into Thailand to fell trees there, too. In order to sell it, he had to haul it down from the mountains and transport it to Thma Puok district, Banteay Meanchey province.
Sometimes when he was taking food and fuel to his logging gangs in Thailand, he would encounter Thai soldiers on patrol. He said he was almost caught many times. He explained that at that time dude to the number of bribes that he had to pay, the operations were often not that profitable.
“On the way home, we sometimes spent up to five million riel [$1,250] to bribe any journalists or police who saw us. This was on top of the costs of petrol, transport and wages – it was sometimes hard to even break even,” he added.
After quitted logging, he turned to performing forest rituals which help to protect the environment. He said he is less stressed and has far fewer doubts about his own character. His new business is running well, and he urged all other illegal loggers to learn a new skill run a legitimate business.
“All illegal loggers, if you can, put down your chainsaws! Destroying forests has no real benefit and is a sin. Please, create new businesses and stop logging. The money is not good, and the karma is terrible,” he said.
Venerable Tho Thou Ros, the head of the Sorng Rukhavorn forest community, said that Bunthoeun had had a spiritual awakening and understood that he needed to cease felling trees. He had consecrated some trees in the community forest, often took part in activities related to forest protection and continuously planted trees.
“I think he became aware that what he was doing before was wrong – and that takes courage. He has asked for forgiveness and is always working on ways to protect the forest,” he said.
He added that there was currently no illegal forestry taking place in the forest, although there were still some wild animals being trapped.
He said the cessation of logging was due to a combination of enforcement by the authorities and also the work of the community. The community patrols had seized both logging tools and perpetrators, and handed them to the authorities.
Local perpetrators were easily identified by the community and were usually forced to flee, he added.
“From what I have heard, those who have not been arrested fled to Preah Sihanouk or Thailand. They could not remain comfortably at home, because the village authorities, communes and police chiefs cooperate to arrest them and deliver them to court,” he said.
Deputy governor and spokesman for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration Di Rado said this was a clear example of how most people had moved away from logging towards forest conservation.
“I call on people who are engaged in illegal logging to stop their activities.
They should return to farming, collect non-timber products from the forest or seek work in the towns and cities,” he said.
He said people who did not have transferable skills should apply to the provincial Department of Labour
and Vocational Training, which has a free vocational training centre.
“They will provide you with the skills you will need to make an honest living. There is no charge for the service, and they even offer accommodation,” he said.