Thailand observes World Forestry Day

BANGKOK, March 21 (TNA) - Thailand observes the World Forestry Day, which falls on every March 21, as officials and police have sworn to seriously protect trees in Thai forests, especially Siamese rosewood, which has been considerably felled. Caretaker Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wichet Kasemthongsri and Royal Forest Department Director-General Boonchob Suthamanaswong jointly opened an event to commemorate the World Forestry Day on Friday at the Or Bor 16 forest protection unit in the Khon Sai locality of the northeastern Ubon Ratchathani's Trakan Phuetphon District, during which they also led officials of the Royal Forest Department and border patrol police to swear to seriously protect Thai forests and suppress illegal logging of trees, especially Siamese rosewood. Wichet acknowledged that his ministry has mobilized all concerned agencies in Ubon Ratchathani to seriously protect Siamese rosewood. Boonchob said on the occasion of the World Forestry Day 2014, the Royal Thai Forest Department emphasizes on the protection of Siamese rosewood, as it has been critically exploited, pointing out that there have been 930 cases of illegal logging of Siamese rosewood since 2008, in which 27,215 logs of Siamese rosewood, equivalent to 1,085 cubic meters of the wood, have been seized and 395 people have been arrested for illegal logging. He urged people to support the protection. Regarding the situation on worldwide forests, Russia now possesses the largest area of forests covering 8.08 million square kilometers, followed by Brazil and Canada. Among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia now possesses the largest forest area covering 944,320 square kilometers, followed by Myanmar and Malaysia; while Thailand had the fourth largest area of forests in the 10-member ASEAN bloc with 180,770 square kilometers. The latest survey by the Royal Forest Department and Kasetsart University found, however, that the combined area of Thai forests had dropped to 163,200 square kilometers, accounting for 31.57 per cent of the national territory.(TNA)