Timely handling of the destruction of the protected and regenerated forest in Quy Hop

(Baonghean.vn) - Quy Hop district leaders said that the authorities are proactively and actively investigating and clarifying the case of forest destruction assigned under Decree 163 of the Government in Nam Son commune to have a direction to strictly handle related individuals and organizations.

Recently, in Nam Son commune (Quy Hop district, Nghe An), a number of forest and forestry land areas allocated by the State for stable and long-term use for forestry purposes according to Decree 163 of the Government have been illegally cleared and burned by people to convert to planting raw material forests. As soon as the incident was discovered, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and the People's Committee of Quy Hop district directed relevant departments, branches, agencies and functional units to investigate and clarify the incident.

Secretary of Quy Hop District Party Committee, Mr. Ho Le Ngoc went directly to the scene to inspect and request the authorities to investigate, clarify and strictly handle the forest destruction case according to the law. Photo: Quy Hop Radio

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, since March 2017, the district has discovered a case of land and forest conversion in the protected and regenerated forest area, including some forest areas belonging to group IIB. People have arbitrarily cut down the forest and then replanted raw material forests, specifically acacia. Although the forest is poor, people have burned it to plant acacia for economic development, but according to the law, this behavior has signs of forest destruction. Because this forest area has been assigned to the people by the State according to Decree 163 and if it comes to the exploitation period later, it must be approved by the competent authorities.

In April 2017, after discovering the incident, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and the People's Committee of Quy Hop district directly went to the scene to inspect. Immediately after that, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district established an interdisciplinary team to investigate, evaluate, and classify the forest to determine the extent of damage caused by forest clearing and burning in Nam Son commune.

After receiving instructions from the District People's Committee, the interdisciplinary team chaired by the Quy Hop District Police inspected and examined the scene of illegal deforestation to change forest purposes in Nam Son Commune. The team established standard plots and based on relevant forest management records to determine the status of the forest that had been burned and cut down.

People arbitrarily burn and destroy forests allocated under Decree 163 of the Government to plant acacia. Photo: Dai Quy Hop

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has also sent staff to directly provide technical support to determine the forest status and forest reserves of the illegally destroyed and burned areas to have sufficient grounds to handle the right person, the right crime, the right behavior and the level of violation.

Mr. Tung added: The Standing Committee of the District Party Committee has reported to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee to ask for direction and handling. If this is not stopped in time, the upstream forest will be destroyed, affecting the ecological environment and water resources for production of the local people. Therefore, this incident will be resolutely prevented and strictly handled to preserve the entire remaining forest area.

Regarding the responsibility of the Forest Ranger Department, Mr. Nguyen Huu Thanh - Deputy Head of the Forest Ranger Department of Quy Hop district said that through this incident, it can be said that the responsibility of the local forest rangers has not done a good job of propaganda, has not actively coordinated with the local government and has not gone deep and closely to promptly detect and prevent violations by the people. The Department will clarify and strictly handle the related officers.

The protected and regenerated forest area in Nam Son commune (Quy Hop) was illegally converted by local people. Photo: Quy Hop Station

Major Hoang Nghia Tu - Deputy Chief of Quy Hop District Police said that immediately after receiving information about some people cutting down forests in Nam Son commune, the District Police sent a working group to the scene to prevent the cutting down and investigate. The police coordinated with the District People's Procuracy as well as specialized agencies to examine the scene and assess the forest classification in the cutting down area.

During the investigation and verification process, the District PoliceKneelingThe area identified for deforestation was assigned by the State to households according to Decree 163 of the Government and this is a protected forest for regeneration and restoration.

On August 17, 2017, the District Police Investigation AgencyKneelingHop has issued a Decision to prosecute the criminal case for the crime of Forest Destruction under Article 189 of the Penal Code. Currently, the Investigation Agency is actively investigating and collecting evidence to prosecute the accused for strict handling before the law.

PV Group