HUẾ CITY — Police and forest rangers of Huế City in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế are in co-operation to identify the persons who illegally cut down 3,000sq.m of special-use pine forest last month.

The police seized several cubic metres of wood and many other tools at home of some suspected people to support further investigation, according to Dân trí online newspaper on Sunday.

In late August, an inspection team made an inspection of the management and use of forest and forestry land in An Tây Ward and discovered 3,000sq.m of pine forest had been cut down.

The 254 trees illegally cut down were perennial trees aged above 30.

The special pine forest was planted from 1986 to 1989 under the management of An Tây Ward.

Notably, the trees were cut down in the daytime, however, the locals were not aware.

The forest is located on outskirts of the city along a busy road and surrounded by residential areas.

The trees were cut down and the wood was transported from the forest by trucks, but the local authority did not notice, locals said.

According to a report sent to the city’s People’s Committee, Phạm Thị Phương Mai, chairwoman of An Tây People’s Committee, said when the inspection team discovered the forest being cut down, there was no longer any trace of any suspicious activity or person.

At the scene, only the tree stumps were present, the report said.

Mai took responsibility for the lax management of the local authority, which led to the illegal deforestation.

“The ward has more than 1,000ha of natural land, two-third of which are forest. The ward managed 14ha of forests which are scattered in different areas. Thus, the management faced many difficulties since there are just two employees for inspection and supervision”, Mai said. — VNS