2,500 Hectares Of Protected Forests Damaged In Bengkulu

Bengkulu, May 27 (Antara) - The rate of forest destruction in the district of Bengkulu Tengah, province of Bengkulu , has been alarming, a local official said. Illegal logging and coal mining activities have damaged around 2,500 of 26,837 hectares of protected and production forests in the district , says head of the Bengkulu Tengah district forestry and plantation service Durani. Around 40 percent of the 2,500 hectares are entirely denuded including forest which had served as water catchment area in rainy season, Durani said here on Monday. The forests have been useful to protect the area from flooding in rainy season, he added. He described the condition as alarming , saying flooding could damage the main highway in the region. Small shops and food stalls have emerged on the left and right sides of the highway built with wood material from the forests, he said. The district administration has sent forest rangers to patrol the area to prevent illegal logging, he said. A forest police officer , Sumarno, said in 2013 alone thousands of cubic meters of illegal processed timber had been confiscated. The processed timber was found in coal mining area transported to the highway by buffalo carts, Sumarno said. No suspects, however, had been caught as apparently information had always reached the suspects about the police movements. The opening of coffee plantations and other plantations also contributed to the forest damage.