Forestry officials in east China's Fujian Province have established a special task force to fight illegal logging in Zhangping.

 

This follows the destruction of hundreds of hectares of virgin forest in the district, located in the west of Fujian.

 

More than 170 hectares of virgin forest had been lost because of the unlawful logging in less than two years in Guxi Village, Yongfu Town in Zhangping.

 

Forestry officials say many hills in the district have become "deserted".

 

A recent CCTV report exposing the situation instigated forestry officials to take action.

 

Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau officials have established a special team to investigate the illegal logging activities in the city.

 

Officials say the team will investigate local forestry farms and wood processing factories.

 

Zhangping has abundant forest resources with a forest coverage rate of 76.8 percent.

 

The city is regarded as one of the most important forestry producing regions in southern China.

 

Forestry officials say illegal logging had been "rampant" since 2003.

 

They said a total of 700 hectares of forest around Guxi Village had been illegally logged, including 170 hectares of 100-year-old virgin forest.

 

"The water resources have directly been affected. All the water has gone without the trees," said a local villager.

 

"How could our next generations live relying on the deserted mountains?"

 

"The trees planted in 1970s had been mature enough to be cut down for wood processing. Our farm has also planned to replant new trees in the area," Xie Yongkai, vice-director with Zhangping Municipal Forestry Bureau, earlier told CCTV.

 

However, logging of more than 20 hectares each time is prohibited according to the nation's Regulations for Management of Forest Cut and Regeneration.

 

Another reason for the widespread illegal logging is because the forest is located on the boundary area of Yongfu Town and neighboring Nanjing County.

 

Guo Qiuyue, director with the public security branch bureau of Zhangping Municipal Forestry Bureau, said that because of this there was some confusion and difficulties for local forestry authorities in managing the forest.

 

According to local villagers, most of the trees felled from the village were sold to wood processing factories in Nanjing County.

 

Officials with the Forestry Bureau of Nanjing Country admitted that the locations of some factories disobeyed relevant regulations and said more efficient measures had been taken to supervise the factories.

 

Local villagers had thought a good way to prevent the trees from illegal logging was by hammering long iron nails around the tree bark so that illegal loggers could not cut into the trees. "But our voluntary efforts are too limited to protect all the trees," said a villager.

 

(China Daily April 25, 2006)