There are primeval forests of the Central Highlands which are still green, even though they are located in a densely populated area. Such respected spaces are ‘sacred forests’ that nobody would dare "desecrate".
 
Poetic H’Lam Lady
 
Cu H’Lam Hill (Ea Pok town, Cu M'Gar district, Dak Lak province), just 13 km away from Buon Ma Thuot City, is a beautiful forest - dreamy, lush and green all year round. During the Winter and Spring seasons, leaves and blossoms mix together, creating a natural colorful picture. People in the town called the Cu H’Lam Hill a "sacred forest" - the abode of the Spirits.
 

 

The reason for such a such strong beliefs is that, according to the Ede legend, a long time ago, a healthy and handsome boy name Nie Y Dhin fell in love with a girl, who was beautiful like the Nie H'Lam flower blooming near the Ea Pok blue stream. However, families and communities of the boy and girl tried to prohibit the couple from seeing each other, because they shared the same family line, ‘Nie’. So sad were they about their forbidden love, that H’Lam and Y Dhin fled up the hill, next to the village and never returned. Afterwards, the souls of H'Lam and Y Dhin remained in the trees, and the hill has been known as, H'Lam - the name of the girl. Nowadays, during the village’s festivals and ceremonies, many young couples go up the H'Lam Hill to share loving sentiments, perform the Aya dance and give each other Tong Bi Mnga flowers as their promised gifts of love.

With an area of approximately 19 hectares, The Cu H’Lam Hill is home to many precious woods with local names such as Sao Do, Ca Te, Huong, Gu Mat, etc. Many big trees are hundreds of years old. Although situated in the heart of the town of Ea Pok and surrounded by villages such as Buon Map, Buon Bok, Buon Lang, Ea Suc, the H’Lam Hill has been guarded by villagers, preventing anyone from cutting down the trees. The existence of a primeval jungle in the heart of densely populated areas is an impressive feat where the challenge of widespread deforestation in the Central Highlands is always painful.

Mr. Luh Y Nie - Chief of the Village Fatherland Front proudly states: "For decades, there has been no violation of cutting the trees in the H’Lam Hill. Forest protection has become the tradition in the village. Protection of the forest is the way of securing ourselves. If forests are kept lush, people in the village will be sheltered, prosperous and healthy. If anyone cuts the forest trees, they will be punished and kicked out of the village. |Forests are the pride of the villagers here. If forests are secured, residents here will avoid all danger”.

The Ma protecting forests

Since 2002, some forests in Dak Nia commune (Gia Nghia town, Dak Nong province) have been severely damaged. At this time, the Ma ethnic living in Dak Nia started to fear punishment from their Spirits due to deforestation. The Ma believe that big trees are the homes of the Spirits, so when this "home" no longer exists, the Spirits become angry and wreak disaster on the village. Since then, the people of villages in Dak Nia have tried to protect forests as an act of "redemption". Those who previously used to work as "illegal loggers" have now become the most active forest rangers. N'Jrieng and Bon Sre Uh villages are pioneers in their commitment to abandon deforestation and now become involved in forest protection. The name "logger villages" over the years has become well-known in terms of community based management for more than 1,000 hectares of forest.
 

According to Mr. K'Tinh, a villager in Dak Nia, the villages in Dak Nia commune all have "sacred forests". Some villages have 2-3 "sacred forests", of which the most sacred area is the graveyard forest because there are more Spirits. Through this belief in the nature’s spirits and strict forest protection by the local communities, many primeval forests are still intact.

Elder K’Bieng in Tinh Wel Dom village always reminds villagers: "The forest is the shelter of the Spirits. If we do not agitate the Spirits’ home, the Spirits will not punish us. If we harm the forest, the Spirit will not let us live well. For many generations now, the villagers have been living in harmony with the forest; and so, forest protection has become their custom. Even a small child who goes to the field for the first time must learn how to avoid harming, but instead respect the sacred forests".

Not only Ede and Ma, but many indigenous ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands have this belief: Where there are trees, this is the land where the Spirits have resided. Villagers should strive to nurture the "sacred forests" as a way of securing their own life.
 
Huong Son

Source: Translated from Gia Lai Online