Poaching and illegal felling of trees cost the country 4.089
billion yuan in 2006, said State Forestry Administration (SFA)
spokesperson Cao Qingyao.
There were 216,168 cases reported from December 2005 to November
2006, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, said Cao.
More than 211,580 of the cases have been closed and more than
30,000 people have been punished.
During a coordinated crack-down involving a number government
departments last year some 1.78 million wild animals both alive and
dead were seized from poachers.
According to the SFA, it rescued many thousands of live wild
animals from poachers, without explaining how they had been
captured by poachers. It also treated and released back to the
wilds many injured wild animals that had been captured and harmed
by poachers.
More than 1.2 million cubic meters of timber which had been
illegally felled were confiscated.
The SFA said it will fight illegal cross border trading of
timber and strengthen international cooperation.
The Chinese government has given high priority to the
conservation of forest resources and endangered species.
China has required importers and exporters of wildlife to obtain
licenses after the country joined the Convention on International
Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
The country has been an active member of up to five
international conventions on forestry, namely the United Nations
Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations
Convention of Biological Diversity (UNCBD), United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ramsar Convention of
Wetlands, and CITES.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)
