Illegal logging rampant in Quang Tri
The protective forest in the central province of Quang Tri is being largely destroyed as local forest rangers are unable to deal with the dangerous and reckless loggers.
Fallen trees and timber can be seen as the road leads deeper into the forest. It looks like the illegal loggers aren't afraid to operate in broad daylight. Dozens of trees have been chopped down along the road, most of them have a diameter of 40 to 60cm and range from 30 to 40 years old.
Le Thanh Hai, chief of office of Quang Tri Power JSC said, "When we received the forest land, we built a 8-km road connecting Dakrong Commune to Huong Linh Commune and goes through the forest to transport materials and other equipment. But then some loggers take advantage of the road to cut down the trees. We've reported it to the local authorities."
According to Hai, they don't know exactly where the forest ends and where the residential land begins as local people also grow trees here. Hai said the illegal loggers use shortcuts and had threatened and reacted dangerously when they were caught by the company's employees.
Tran Van Ty, director of the forest management board admitted the illegal logging activities in the forest. He said the locals illegally steal the trees ever since the road was opened. The managers had tried their best to curb the situation but the loggers are reckless. They rampantly cut down the trees despite day or night.
"We've carried out several raids with the police, local authorities to catch the loggers red-handed and seized the timber. But there are many times they already fled before we reached the location. They even threaten and destroy the vehicles of our forest rangers," he said.
The protective forest in Quang Tri is being destroyed
Fallen trees and timber can be seen as the road leads deeper into the forest. It looks like the illegal loggers aren't afraid to operate in broad daylight. Dozens of trees have been chopped down along the road, most of them have a diameter of 40 to 60cm and range from 30 to 40 years old.
Le Thanh Hai, chief of office of Quang Tri Power JSC said, "When we received the forest land, we built a 8-km road connecting Dakrong Commune to Huong Linh Commune and goes through the forest to transport materials and other equipment. But then some loggers take advantage of the road to cut down the trees. We've reported it to the local authorities."
According to Hai, they don't know exactly where the forest ends and where the residential land begins as local people also grow trees here. Hai said the illegal loggers use shortcuts and had threatened and reacted dangerously when they were caught by the company's employees.
Tran Van Ty, director of the forest management board admitted the illegal logging activities in the forest. He said the locals illegally steal the trees ever since the road was opened. The managers had tried their best to curb the situation but the loggers are reckless. They rampantly cut down the trees despite day or night.
"We've carried out several raids with the police, local authorities to catch the loggers red-handed and seized the timber. But there are many times they already fled before we reached the location. They even threaten and destroy the vehicles of our forest rangers," he said.
Leave your comment on this story