Government officials from three municipalities, Lions Club members, cyclists and students came together to plant 2,000 seedlings to replenish a Pong Sub-district national forest reserve that had been exploited by developers for 30 years.
Banglamung District Chief Chakorn Kanchawattana opened the Aug. 14 event at the top of Khao Pai in Huay Yai. He was joined by civil servants from Sriracha, Huay Yai and Pong, members of the Lions Club of Naklua Pattaya, the Pattaya Off-Road Club, Angulo & SMX Cycling Group, and students from Bang Bung School in Huay Yai.
Chakorn said developers had encroached upon the forest reserve for three decades, razing the original trees and planting rubber, palm, pineapple and potato plants for their businesses. Finally, in August 2014, the military regime took residents’ complaints seriously and moved to take back the public land.
The soil, however, was left depleted and the natural trees gone. So volunteers and government workers came together to plant 2,000 Siamese rosewood, D.longissima Schum D.rheedii Seem, Hopea, teak, golden shower, and flame trees.
