Customs and Beliefs Related to Forest Resource Management and Protection

A cup of light wine. Offer to our ancestors, Bless us. May we prosper,

The stream has many fish, The forest has many flowers, Strong roots and strong branches, Peaceful life.

- Children's nursery rhyme: Calling the moon. Mixed pots and pans,

The stretcher is on. The Cuoi is on the other side, and the storm is on the other side.

Love is love.

Translation: (The moon pierces the rice fields, The kite chases the chicken, Cuoi holds a toad in his mouth, The banyan tree stands there,

The youngest brother climbed up.

- Choosing a place to build a house. Lying face down on the bed,

Lying on the side of the bee, Lying on the side of the bee.

Translation: (Lying on your stomach, you see fish. Lying on your back, you see bees.

Lying on one side, seeing the curse) [1, p. 75].

Through the prayers, folk songs, and folk songs of the Dan Lai people, we can see that their content all express simple wishes in people's lives. If the prayer on the 30th of Tet speaks of the difficult history of the Dan Lai people and their wish for a more fulfilling life, then the folk song on choosing a place to build a house expresses the wish for a place to build a house that has everything to serve life such as fish, honey, and khựa...

Although the Dan Lai people's artistic culture is not as rich and diverse as that of the Kinh or Thai people, through their prayers, folk songs, and folk songs, they have fully expressed the ups and downs of life and expressed their desire to become masters of their own lives.

3.2.2. Customs and beliefs related to forest resource management and protection

According to the social concept of the Dan Lai people, forests are the common property of the village community, used and protected by all members. Forests are understood as areas with many large trees and large and small animals. People have many place names to refer to specific forests and distinguish between forests with practical use value and sacred forests - places where common rituals of the community are held.

While the State's forest management agencies determine the space of forests by using landmarks on maps to delineate the locations of lots and sections,

While the management of forests is limited to the areas allocated to households, the Dan Lai community demarcates the boundaries of forests based on traditional management customs. In these cases, the boundaries of forests are spiritual boundaries.

In the local way, all boundary conventions are agreed upon orally, passed down to the next generation through instructions and through daily life activities. According to the traditional classification, there are usually the following types of forests:

Headwater forests: are primeval forests with dense vegetation. The characteristic of these forests is that they have many ancient trees, and the villagers are not allowed to cut down or exploit wood. If they do, they must have the consent of the village. These forests are often the source of streams that provide water mainly for the villagers' daily life and production. Therefore, this type of forest is strictly protected by the people and indiscriminate exploitation is prohibited.

Regenerating forest or production forest: is the type of forest used for logging and hunting as well as slash-and-burn farming.

Ghost forests: are cemetery forests, chosen by people as a place to bury the dead, also known as forbidden forests. Usually these forests are far from residential areas, far from water sources and are isolated. Due to the concept of ghosts and gods, people in the village rarely come here and almost no one dares to cut down or hunt, so these forests are often very dense and have many ancient trees.

Thus, thanks to the beliefs and customs of the indigenous communities here, a part of the forest has been protected from generation to generation. The conservation awareness of the people can be raised if we respect their traditional concepts and know how to encourage them appropriately.

3.2.3. Indigenous knowledge of the Dan Lai people in exploiting and using forest products

a ) Indigenous knowledge of the Dan Lai people in wood exploitation and use

Because their lives are closely linked to the forest, the Dan Lai people know how to use good types of wood such as chestnut, khao, jackfruit, tau... to build houses. The characteristics of this type of wood are that it is easy to construct and can be used as pillars for stilt houses for hundreds of years without being eaten by termites. However, the ancient Dan Lai people only exploited a limited amount of wood (mainly using wood cut down during farming) to build houses and barns. Wood was not considered a commodity and was almost never used for exchange or sale. During the years 1975 - 1988, the demand for wood for construction and export increased. Con Cuong Forestry Enterprise is a typical example of organizing wood exploitation. In each village, there is a forest exploitation team, these teams attract most of the main workers, and secondary workers are also attracted.

to help with the exploitation. The logging target for each worker is 5 - 6m3

wood/month. After being cut down and cut into pieces according to the prescribed size, the forest department accepted the wood and in return, the people were given everything: rice, fabric, fish sauce, salt, MSG, household utensils... and cash. The consequence of that period was that the Dan Lai people depended too much on forest exploitation and their income depended on forest exploitation. After the cooperatives were dissolved, the exploitation teams were also dissolved, and the exploitation of wood continued to take place even more strongly under the contract of the brokers. The Dan Lai people in Khe Bu area did not have capital, so they borrowed money from the brokers to exploit. Households with buffaloes could participate in hiring to haul wood. Many people still remember this period as a golden age, when households with a lot of money bought cassettes and radios, and some households had money saved to build houses in the style of the Thai and Kinh people.

When Pu Mat Nature Reserve was planned, forest product control measures were strengthened. Faced with the essential need for logging to build houses, Pu Mat National Park Management Board and Forest Protection Department together with the commune government have made efforts to harmonize the needs of the people and the task of managing and protecting special-use forests. Therefore, any family wishing to build a house must have the consent of the villagers after a group meeting and discussion, the government confirms the family's need to build a house, which is the basis for the forest rangers to agree to log logging. To build a house

Traditional floors need 16 columns, including 8 main columns and 8 sub-columns. If the walls and floors are made of wooden planks, about 15-16 m3 of wood is needed.

b) Indigenous knowledge of the Dan Lai people in exploiting and using trees as construction materials and household items

According to the survey, this group is currently exploited with about 13 species shown in Table 3.4, mainly Song and May trees. The average value is estimated to contribute about 16.5% to the total income from NTFP sources of farmers.

Table 3.4. Statistics on the composition of NTFP plants used as construction materials and household items

Species name LSNG	How to use	Time exploit	Place of declaration waterfall
1	Bamboo	Make water pipes, make fences, floor, hoe handle	Year round	Rt, V
2	Meter	As above	Year round	Rt
3	Giang	House tie	Year round	R
4	Powder Song	House tie, wicker	Year round	R
5	Double honey	House tie, wicker	Year round	R
6	Clouds	House tie, wicker	Year round	R
7	Water Clouds	House tie, wicker	Year round	R
8	Powder clouds	House tie, wicker	Year round	R
9	Bamboo	Weaving, fencing, weaving	Year round	R
10	fire	Deny	January-March	R
11	Brush	Roofing	Year round	R
12	Leaves	Make cakes or food	December-February	R, V
13	Cogon grass	Roofing	March-July	R, Nr

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“Source : [2014 Interview Survey] ”

Note: R: Natural forest, Rt: Planted forest, V: Home garden, Nr: Slash and burn

The Dan Lai people's houses are mainly stilt houses, in addition to wood for pillars and trusses (house frames), most of the remaining detailed structures are made from NTFPs such as: using bamboo, reed, Giang, and rattan as blinds, palm leaves, and woven charcoal sheets for roofing. With this house structure, people are arranged on the floor to avoid wild animals, while the lower part is arranged to store production tools, agricultural products, or combined with a buffalo and cattle pen and a poultry pen. The materials used to make the house are of natural origin, so they are very good at keeping warm in winter and regulating cool air in summer.

With the tradition of depending mainly on the forest for a living, the weaving materials used in daily life and agricultural production are mainly made of wood and NTFPs. Rattan, bamboo, reed, and reed are often used by people to create items for production and household use such as tables, chairs, baskets, brooms, fish traps, etc. Currently, the only relatively popular craft of the Dan Lai people is weaving. Weaving does not directly generate income for households, because each family makes its own items to serve the daily needs of that family. They do not know how to make a living from this craft, which is to exchange and trade. The Dan Lai people are very skillful, they make very beautiful products. Most families with elderly people make their own household items. Therefore, when visiting Dan Lai families, it is easy to see that everyday items are made by their skillful hands.

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Here are some household items made by the Dan Lai people.

- The sieve

Material: bamboo and rattan

Structure: Woven from bamboo and rattan (see photo in Appendix 16). Uses: Similar to the Kinh people's sieve.

- The basket

Material: bamboo or rattan

Structure: Completely woven from bamboo or rattan (see photo in Appendix 16). Uses: Used to store vegetables or rice.

- The filter

Material: bamboo or rattan

Structure: round, flared mouth, filter body with small waist, the closer to the bottom the more bulging the body.

Uses: Used for many different things, but mainly used to store seeds such as corn and rice (see photo in Appendix 14).

- The tank

Material: The tank is woven from bamboo.

Structure: The tank is in the shape of a vertical prism, about 40 - 50cm in diameter, tightly woven together, the mouth is larger than the bottom of the tank. There are two straps to wear on the shoulders (see photo in Appendix 16).

Tools: The tank is a multi-purpose item. Other ethnic groups often use tanks to carry heavy objects over long distances. It can be used to fetch water (the tank only acts as a backpack, while the tank has a can or a jar to hold water), pick bamboo shoots, harvest rice, collect firewood in the forest, etc.

- Basket Material: bamboo

Structure: depending on different usage needs, they are woven with different density and different sizes (see photo in Appendix 16).

Uses: Used to store household items.

- The basket

Material: bamboo and rattan

Structure: Shaped like a basket but larger and the bamboo sticks are close together so that it can be used to hold rice (see photo in Appendix 16).

Uses: Used to store rice.

The practice of exploiting and using some forest products has become a traditional cultural feature of the Dan Lai people (Appendix 5 ) . They exploit and use what is familiar to them in each living and production tool made from NTFPs. In addition, during the interview investigation, it was found that the Dan Lai people have a relatively uniform understanding of the forest products exploited and used, but there is a big difference in understanding the surrounding environment of those forest products. Only about 14% of the interviewees have knowledge of the surrounding environment such as soil color or accompanying tree species. For example, rattan grows better in streams or on red soil than in white soil (with lots of sand) and often has trees as a substrate, or in areas with a lot of wormwood, the dot tree will grow better. Studying the way of exploiting non-timber forest products, it can be seen that people do not exploit them indiscriminately, but based on their understanding of their growth and regeneration ability, especially for some species that show very selective and conservative nature. For example: When cutting bamboo, giant bamboo, and giang, people cut 80-100cm from the base, the remaining part serves as a support for the bamboo shoots to prevent them from being broken by the wind or damaged by animals, or the way of exploiting rattan, according to the family, a tree with three shoots (tips) can produce 36 leaves after one year, so three young leaves must be left for the tree to continue growing. Or exploiting bamboo shoots, it is necessary to exploit them all, otherwise the tree will not survive for long.

Most of the groups of trees used for construction and making household items, the experience to make the products durable and long-lasting all go through a very long pre-processing stage after exploitation, however, some very simple pre-processing experiences but the quality is not inferior to modern techniques, soaking in mud or combining with drying on a fire can give a lifespan of 5-7 years. For example: to prepare rattan fibers for weaving, people have to prepare months in advance, from exploiting the trees to preserving and pre-processing: soaking, drying on a fire, ... then splitting the fibers to weave items used in daily life and in production activities.

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