Environment
Thousands of hectares of forest destroyed in Central Highlands
  • | ld, dtinews.vn | September 11, 2015 05:18 PM

PM Nguyen Tan Dung has asked agencies to curb deforestation which has wiped out 9,000 hectares of forest in the Central Highland province of Dak Nong.

Chopped down trees

The Gia Nghia Forestry Company allocated large amounts of forested land under its management to individuals. However, this very liberal approach to forest management has led to widespread deforestation.

Pham Ngoc Thang, deputy head of the forest ranger unit in Gia Nghia Commune, said they detected 68 cases of illegal timber cutting the first months of the year. The unit had to set up checkpoints at routes into the forested land.

According to Ngo Van Linh, chairman of Gia Nghia Commune the local authority had apparently spent over VND100 million (USD4,700) to protect the forest from being destroyed further.

Dak Nong Police have prosecuted a number of individuals and confiscated land from those that had abused the forested areas. The provincial police are carrying out inspection and preparing for the prosecution of the Gia Nghia Company for their utter failure in the management of forest land.

Due to the severity of the case, the prime minister has also asked the Ministry of Public Security to work with provincial police to stamp out the problem and severely deal with those responsible. They ministry has been asked to report the results back by the end of September. 

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