Forest loses precious wood

ILLEGAL LOGGING

CHACHOENGSAO : Villagers in Sanam Chai Khet district say wildlife and forestry officers are colluding in cutting down precious trees in a forest complex spanning five eastern provinces.

A man looks at a felled tree in a forest complex in Chachoengsao’s Sanam Chai Khet district. Illegal logging has reportedly been carried out in forests by men dressed like wildlife and forestry officials. SONTHANAPORN INCHAN

Villagers from Ban Na Yao recently took reporters to see tree stumps, many of which were big enough for six people to form a circle around them.

The villagers claimed the trees were sawn into planks right after they were felled.

Illegal logging activities have continued for some time in the last low-lying forest complex in the East. The forests are part of a wildlife sanctuary and national parks covering about 1.2 million rai in Chachoengsao, Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi, Rayong and Chon Buri provinces.

Most of the illegally cut trees were ma ka mong, a precious hardwood which grows in abundance in the reserves.

Loggers usually go for mature trees, some of which are more than 100 years old, the villagers said.

Ma ka mong is in high demand for housing and by the furniture industry.

Villager Samniang Tansan said men dressed like wildlife and forestry officers had helped in the illegal logging. He said the loggers came with armed guards.

Mr Samniang said after cutting the trees, the men would fire their guns in the air in a mock battle with forestry rangers and then haul the timber away as if it was being confiscated.

Mr Samniang said the authorities were making no effort to arrest the loggers while, at the same time, villagers who forage for food in the forest were faced with arrest.