From young to old, every local of Thai Hoa commune's Cay Vai village(about 35 kilometres from the centre of Tuyen Quang province), knows thename of Ong Dat Co (Dat "Stork").
Astork is a familiar sight in Vietnam's countryside, and it is also therecognised nickname of Chu Van Dat, a Dao ethnic farmer who volunteersin stork protection.
At the age of 72, Dat has been guarding storks from hunters for about 10 years and still running.
"Thenumber of storks flying to the village grows each year," Dat happilysays while looking at his hill of vau (a member of the bamboo family)trees that serve as homes to storks during breeding season.
EveryMarch, storks return to the hill to nest, breed and feed their young,Dat says. They then fly back south after the first full-moon inSeptember to avoid the winter cold.
The most crowded months for storks are June and July. In 2008 the flock reached up to a thousand.
"AlthoughI'm unpaid, I feel happy when I see storks fly back to their nest inthe sunset everyday, knowing it’s a safe and protected home."
Datis proud that in the village, it is only his hill where storks perch tomake their nests. He has always believed in the Vietnamese saying "Datlanh, chim dau" (Birds nest on good land), which motivates him to keeppreserving storks.
He does not mention the larger significance ofhis act on nature and the environment. "I protect the birds becausethey choose my home as their home," he says.
The idea ofprotecting storks from hunters came to him in 2001 when storks startedto come to his hill to make nests in their migratory journey.
In2006, he asked the communal People's Committee for permission to protectthe storks. After receiving approval from the committee, Dat planted adozen of signboards stating "No stork hunting" around the hill as awarning to hunters.
In addition, at every village meeting, hepersuades local villagers to stop hunting the birds and hand over theirguns to local authorities if they have any.
"If any gun fire is heard, the storks will fly away and never come back," Dat said.
Local villagers used to shoot storks for meals or for sale at markets.
Astork is a familiar sight in Vietnam's countryside, and it is also therecognised nickname of Chu Van Dat, a Dao ethnic farmer who volunteersin stork protection.
At the age of 72, Dat has been guarding storks from hunters for about 10 years and still running.
"Thenumber of storks flying to the village grows each year," Dat happilysays while looking at his hill of vau (a member of the bamboo family)trees that serve as homes to storks during breeding season.
EveryMarch, storks return to the hill to nest, breed and feed their young,Dat says. They then fly back south after the first full-moon inSeptember to avoid the winter cold.
The most crowded months for storks are June and July. In 2008 the flock reached up to a thousand.
"AlthoughI'm unpaid, I feel happy when I see storks fly back to their nest inthe sunset everyday, knowing it’s a safe and protected home."
Datis proud that in the village, it is only his hill where storks perch tomake their nests. He has always believed in the Vietnamese saying "Datlanh, chim dau" (Birds nest on good land), which motivates him to keeppreserving storks.
He does not mention the larger significance ofhis act on nature and the environment. "I protect the birds becausethey choose my home as their home," he says.
The idea ofprotecting storks from hunters came to him in 2001 when storks startedto come to his hill to make nests in their migratory journey.
In2006, he asked the communal People's Committee for permission to protectthe storks. After receiving approval from the committee, Dat planted adozen of signboards stating "No stork hunting" around the hill as awarning to hunters.
In addition, at every village meeting, hepersuades local villagers to stop hunting the birds and hand over theirguns to local authorities if they have any.
"If any gun fire is heard, the storks will fly away and never come back," Dat said.
Local villagers used to shoot storks for meals or for sale at markets.
"However,the villagers' awareness of stork protection has really improved thanksto Dat's effort," says head of the village Chu Van Quan, adding withexcitement that no stork hunting has been reported in the village inrecent years. Even mischievous children do not dare to take eggs orcatch young birds.
In the first year, occasional shots were heardbecause some people were indifferent to his efforts, Dat's grandson ChuVan Than says.
"Old age and arthritis have also prevented mygrandfather from protecting storks around the hill," Than says, addingthat his grandfather sometimes will see a hunter but cannot do anythingbut shout to hinder him from shooting the birds.
"However,villagers gradually are beginning to understand what I am doing andsupport me in protecting storks, which encourages me a lot," Dat says.
Dat says he hopes to gain knowledge about the biological characteristics of the species to better protect and care for them.
Dat'sson Chu Van Bich says that the four generations of his family allsupport his father in protecting storks. Bich wants to follow hisfather's work to make the family's hill a home for storks each breedingseason.
According to deputy secretary of the communal Party'sCommittee Nguyen Cong Ly, the total number of storks nesting in thecommune has increased since 2006 when drastic measures were taken toseize guns and explosives in the district.
However, the number of storks was reduced in the last two years as more trees were cut down, threatening their habitat, he says.
Currently,there is no legal document of the commune on stork protection orsupport for stork protectors, which poses a difficulty to them, Ly adds.
However,the commune encourages and instructs its 24 villages to preserve thehabitat of storks by limiting deforestation and keeping the local watersource clean.
"Dat's stork protection should be furtherencouraged," he says, for it would help not only preserve the birds butalso protect the environment./.
In the first year, occasional shots were heardbecause some people were indifferent to his efforts, Dat's grandson ChuVan Than says.
"Old age and arthritis have also prevented mygrandfather from protecting storks around the hill," Than says, addingthat his grandfather sometimes will see a hunter but cannot do anythingbut shout to hinder him from shooting the birds.
"However,villagers gradually are beginning to understand what I am doing andsupport me in protecting storks, which encourages me a lot," Dat says.
Dat says he hopes to gain knowledge about the biological characteristics of the species to better protect and care for them.
Dat'sson Chu Van Bich says that the four generations of his family allsupport his father in protecting storks. Bich wants to follow hisfather's work to make the family's hill a home for storks each breedingseason.
According to deputy secretary of the communal Party'sCommittee Nguyen Cong Ly, the total number of storks nesting in thecommune has increased since 2006 when drastic measures were taken toseize guns and explosives in the district.
However, the number of storks was reduced in the last two years as more trees were cut down, threatening their habitat, he says.
Currently,there is no legal document of the commune on stork protection orsupport for stork protectors, which poses a difficulty to them, Ly adds.
However,the commune encourages and instructs its 24 villages to preserve thehabitat of storks by limiting deforestation and keeping the local watersource clean.
"Dat's stork protection should be furtherencouraged," he says, for it would help not only preserve the birds butalso protect the environment./.
