| Home / English Column / Environment / Environment -- What's New | Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read |
| Special Team Set up to Crack Down on Illicit Logging |
| Adjust font size: |
Forestry officials in east
This follows the destruction of hundreds of hectares of virgin forest in the district, located in the west of More than 170 hectares of virgin forest had been lost because of the unlawful logging in less than two years in Forestry officials say many hills in the district have become "deserted". A recent CCTV report exposing the situation instigated forestry officials to take action. Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau officials have established a special team to investigate the illegal logging activities in the city. Officials say the team will investigate local forestry farms and wood processing factories. Zhangping has abundant forest resources with a forest coverage rate of 76.8 percent. The city is regarded as one of the most important forestry producing regions in southern Forestry officials say illegal logging had been "rampant" since 2003. They said a total of 700 hectares of forest around "The water resources have directly been affected. All the water has gone without the trees," said a local villager. "How could our next generations live relying on the deserted mountains?" "The trees planted in 1970s had been mature enough to be cut down for wood processing. Our farm has also planned to replant new trees in the area," Xie Yongkai, vice-director with Zhangping Municipal Forestry Bureau, earlier told CCTV.
Another reason for the widespread illegal logging is because the forest is located on the boundary area of Guo Qiuyue, director with the public security branch bureau of Zhangping Municipal Forestry Bureau, said that because of this there was some confusion and difficulties for local forestry authorities in managing the forest. According to local villagers, most of the trees felled from the village were sold to wood processing factories in Officials with the Forestry Bureau of Nanjing Country admitted that the locations of some factories disobeyed relevant regulations and said more efficient measures had been taken to supervise the factories. Local villagers had thought a good way to prevent the trees from illegal logging was by hammering long iron nails around the tree bark so that illegal loggers could not cut into the trees. "But our voluntary efforts are too limited to protect all the trees," said a villager. ( |
| Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read |
 |
| Related Stories |
|
