![OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA [Olympus Makernote]Makernote Unknown 3=65499 65439 65408 65515 65469 65440 [Olympus Makernote]Makernote Unknown 2=3581/500 [Olympus Makernote]Makernote Unknown 1=0](https://image-prod.iol.co.za/16x9/1600/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA-Olympus-Makernote-Makernote-Unknown-3-65499-65439-65408-65515-65469-65440-Olympus-Makernote-Makernote-Unknown-2-3581-500-Olympus-Makernote-Makernote-Unknown-1-0?source=https://xlibris.public.prod.oc.inl.infomaker.io:8443/opencontent/objects/aac49cc6-023e-5267-bee0-58d0ef6799f1)
Tribal women in Vietnam's Central Highlands will have to get permits to gather firewood to give to their future in-laws as traditional wedding gifts, local media reported.
Brides-to-be of the Gie ethnic minority in Dak Lak province will have to seek permission from authorities before cutting down trees in a nearby nature reserve because of increasing deforestation, newspaper Tuoi Tre said.
According to the traditional pre-wedding ceremony, women from the tribe go into the forest to collect hundreds of branches of a certain length and diameter which they carry to the home of their prospective in-laws.
The attractiveness of the woodpile is used to judge the merit of the match.
The prevalence of the custom has caused deforestation in Ngoc Linh nature reserve, the report quoted A Quang, deputy head of a local People's Committee in Dak Glei district, as saying. - Sapa-dpa