Panels to Oversee Forest AbusesTen supervisory groups, headed by directors of the State Forestry Administration (SFA), have been sent all over China to oversee nearly 50 major cases of illegal logging, woodland abuse and poaching of endangered animals.According to today's China Daily, these cases are among the 500,000 similar cases reported throughout China in recent years. The campaign is a major step by the administration to conform with the central government's strategy of achieving sustainable development of China's western regions. The administration blamed local officials and authorities, who are often tempted by short-term economic gains from illegal timber businesses, for a large number of forest-related problems, the English-language newspaper claimed. The newspaper quoted SFA deputy director Ma Fu as saying that the mature forests in state-owned zones have been all but destroyed in recent years while the overall quality of the country's forests kept declining. From 1994-1998, most provinces exceeded their logging quotas, with more than six million cubic meters of timber over-logged in five major forest-growing provinces, the newspaper said. Two million hectares of forest land are damaged each year, according to Ma Fu. The cases that SFA investigates this time include poaching of Tibetan antelope and other endangered animals. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |