Nghe An: Deputy Chairman of commune found to have destroyed 2.4 hectares of forest.
(Baonghean.vn) - The commune official who committed the act of deforestation is Mr. Vi Văn Thanh – Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Châu Phong commune, Quỳ Châu district. The 2.4 hectares of forest he destroyed is production forest, under the management of the Quỳ Châu Protective Forest Management Board.
The incident was discovered on March 3, 2019, after forest rangers in Chau Phong commune patrolled the forest protection area in Sub-zone 196, which is part of the production forest land managed by the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board. At that time, they discovered Mr. Vi Van Thanh (born in 1983) and Mr. Le Van Nhi (born in 1969), both residing in May village, Chau Phong commune, illegally cutting down trees in plot 25, section 6, Sub-zone 196.
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| Forest areas in Sub-district 196, under the management of the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board, have been illegally cut down. Photo: PV |
On March 4, 2019, the authorities of Quy Chau district established a field inspection team to determine the area of forest that had been illegally cut down. Through this inspection, it was determined that Mr. Vi Van Thanh had destroyed 24,985 square meters of forest; and Mr. Le Van Nhi had destroyed 12,500 square meters.
The type of forest that Mr. Vi Van Thanh and Mr. Le Van Nhi cleared was determined to be a production forest; the forest type is mixed forest HG2 (mixed forest of bamboo, reeds, and natural timber on mountainous land). The volume of timber on the area cleared by Mr. Vi Van Thanh is 11,280 bamboo and reed trees and more than 31 cubic meters.3timber; the volume of timber on the area that Mr. Le Van Nhi cleared is 4,650 bamboo trees, 17.725 m³.3wood.
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| The deforested area was identified as a mixed forest containing bamboo, reeds, and upland timber trees. Photo: PV |
On March 7, 2019, through a public meeting to encourage reporting of illegal activities, authorities in Quy Chau district discovered six more cases of households encroaching on forest land in Sub-area 196 for the purpose of clearing and planting acacia trees. Inspection revealed that the six households had encroached on nearly 6 hectares of land classified as production forest land, mostly barren. These forest areas are under the management of the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board.
According to the Quy Chau Forest Ranger Station, since March 15, 2019, the Station has submitted a detailed report to the District Forest Protection Department. At the same time, considering the nature and extent of the violations, they have requested the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board to transfer the case file to the District Police Investigation Agency for investigation and handling in accordance with the law.
The Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau District, Mr. Ngo Duc Thuan, confirmed that the District Police Investigation Agency has received the case file and is currently investigating the matter. The Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau District clearly stated: "Any violation of the law must be dealt with. Cadres and Party members who violate the law must be dealt with even more severely…"
On March 18, 2019, the Forest Protection Department issued Document No. 172/KL-TTrPC to the Quy Chau Forest Protection Unit. This document requested the Unit to instruct the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board to fully compile a case file of the violation for submission to the relevant authorities for handling in accordance with the law. It also requested coordination with the police and other relevant agencies to advise the District People's Committee on timely handling of the case…
