To confiscate chainsaws to curb logging

To protect illegal logging destruction, Forestry Administrative set up and start campaign at the beginning of the year 2007 searching for chainsaws and mechanical cutters in people’s houses and markets if they don’t have permission from the Forestry Administrative after prime minister issued an order September 20, 2006 to eliminate chainsaws in bid to curb illegal logging throughout the country.

Forest is the shelter for animals and where poor people in rural remote areas always earn pity money from to survive. Only ordinary people and low-ranking officials were arrested and fined. And then they will become the victim after implementation of plan.

In case of destruction of 2004 Dragon’s Tail logging in Ratanakkiri province, two senior governmental officials are not apprehended and remain at large after they destroyed multi-million dollars logging and thousand of trees were fell to be trucked to Vietnam in protected Virachey National Park. Only low-ranking officials were jailed.

Meanwhile, Forestry Administrative official said that from now on, chainsaws will need to be registered with Forestry Administrative and licensed like motorbike and car.

Thun Saray, director of the rights organization Adhoc, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying that “Around 100 pieces of legislation to stop large-scale deforestation have not implemented and the senior officials involved in illegal logging never prosecuted”. He added that “Forest destruction will stop when the forest is all gone.”