Compass Travel Vietnam
Planting bamboo to lure storks back to make nests
THANH HOA – Thuong flocks of wild birds were hunted, and Mr. Mai Van Quan contracted the deserted lagoon and hired foresters to make a shelter for them.
Every day at dusk, Mr. Quan, 60, walks around his family’s garden in Ha Ngoc commune, Ha Trung district, to visit a herd of storks swaying on bamboo bushes. This habit has been maintained by him for more than 10 years. “I consider the birds of the sky like you. A day when I don’t see them flying, don’t hear the chirping sound, I feel missing and don’t eat well…”, Mr. Quan confided.
Since childhood, Mr. Quan was very fond Knucklehead, Get out of my face of birds. Many times witnessing wild birds being Knucklehead, Get out of my face netted or shot down by hunters and sold for meat, he said “it’s very sad, action is needed”. On a visit to Ha Ngoc, he saw that in the middle of the wilderness there were many species of storks that Drop dead,You have a lot of nerve often flew back to live, and he had the intention of turning this place into a home for wild birds to live.
![Storks perched on a bamboo grove every winter evening. Photo: Le Hoang](https://i1-vnexpress.vnecdn.net/2022/12/07/4-5848-1670385184.jpg?w=680&h=0&q=100&dpr=1&fit=crop&s=JkSYsGzKWK1NvzgfSy5hXA)
In 2004, Mr. Quan’s family received a contract for an 8-hectare swamp in Ha Ngoc commune. At that time, the whole area was like a dead land, with only reeds growing wild, and few footprints of people passing by. He hired people to plant 50 bamboo bushes, dig the soil to build roads, and build fences to protect the herds of storks from hunting.
Where bamboo grows, storks take shelter there. In 2014, when the government allocated more than 10 hectares of land in the vicinity, Mr. Quan planned it into a breeding and fruit-growing area, the rest planted bamboo and Luong for storks to live in.
“Many people say I’m crazy, but I do it with all my passion …”, the owner of the stork garden shared. Currently, the number of storks nesting and giving birth in the garden of Mr. Quan’s family is up to tens of thousands of children. In addition to the species of fire storks, spider storks also have pelicans, starlings, storks…
![Mr. Mai Van Quan. Photo: Le Hoang](https://i1-vnexpress.vnecdn.net/2022/12/07/5-2599-1670385184.jpg?w=680&h=0&q=100&dpr=1&fit=crop&s=iD6h386l5TNR0eMgrPV-Nw)
“I’m glad that more and more storks come back each year, proving that the land is good for birds to perch. Every time I visit the stork hill, I feel better in health and feel more clearly my smallness in front of nature…” Quan shared.
Since he was close to the stork garden, Mr. Quan asked his family not to buy or use wild bird meat. Once a few friends invited him to eat specialty bird meat, but he refused angrily because he “imagining that the birds of the house were shot to death while flying away from the nest to eat…”.
To protect the birds, Mr. Quan also hires many workers to both take care of the plants and watch out for strangers to hunt. Ms. Bui Thi Tham, a worker on the farm, said that every day she went to check if the stork was injured or not. Those caught in the net are removed, those that are sick and dead are buried. In her spare time, she uses a knife to clear the bushes for birds to nest and give birth.
Mr. Quan’s wife, Ms. Vi Thi Mai Lam, said the family supported her husband’s saving of land to plant trees and embankment for the birds of the sky to live in. “He devotes all his heart to the stork island, sometimes he is more busy taking care of the storks than doing housework …”, Mrs. Lam said.
Talking about future plans, Mr. Quan said that he will continue to protect the herd of storks and develop this place into an eco-tourism area close to nature, helping to raise awareness of environmental protection in the community.
Appreciating Mr. Quan’s farm model and actions to protect wild birds, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tan, Chairman of Ha Ngoc commune, said that this is the only stork garden in Ha Trung district, so it needs to be preserved. and expand. The government is considering and creating conditions to establish an eco-tourism area in this place in order to further promote the value of the land.
Photo: Internet (vinlove.net)
Planting bamboo to lure storks back to make nests
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