UTTARADIT, 15 July 2015 – Authorities in Uttaradit Province today dispatched a team of officials to reclaim trespassed land being used for rubber tree cultivation in a national forest reserve.
The Deputy Governor of Uttaradit Suchart Teerawongpitak, along with officials from related agencies, forest officials, and forest guard volunteers, on Wednesday launched the operation to reclaim the forest land in the national forest reserve on the right bank of the Nan River.
In today’s operation, rubber trees illegally grown in the area were cut down, while the general public joined in a forest regeneration activity also held today.
According to the Director of the Protected Area Regional Office 11 Amorn Tojarern, despite the small size of the land that was trespassed on, a lack of legal enforcement now would allow the trespassing activities to extend even further. In addition, the area has to be conserved and kept in good condition, as this forest is the main natural source of water flowing into the Sirikit Dam.
An area of 19 rai is involved in the operation to reclaim the land currently being used without lawful permission for rubber cultivation, while 15,000 rai out of the entire 600,000 rai of land in the national forest reserve was determined by the government in 1998 as an area set aside for the use of the public.
