Counties warned on illegal deforestation

The National Forestry and Grassland Administration summoned a meeting of officials from eight county-level governments on Tuesday to warn them about the destruction of forest resources and illegal deforestation.

Li Shuming, deputy head of the administration, said at the meeting that inspection and punishment for illegal deforestation are strict.

"Those who make a perfunctory effort or refuse to rectify the situation after a warning will be reported to their supervisors. Those who do not finish rectification within the designated time will be transferred to the discipline inspection and supervision department for investigation," he said.

The administration has been supervising the protection and management of national forest resources by on-site inspection and satellite remote monitoring.

According to its results, eight places were found to have serious problems in regard to illegal deforestation and land reclamation. Most of them are located along critical ecological regions including the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.

The eight are: Dingbian county in Shaanxi province; Shanzhou district in Sanmenxia city, Henan province; Horqin Right Wing Front Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region; Gonghe county in Qinghai province; Yongding district in Longyan city, Fujian province; Qinyuan county in Shanxi province; Shizhu county in Chongqing; and Yujiang district in Yingtan city, Jiangxi province.

"Chief officials in charge of local forestry should supervise the rectification. They should clarify the division of tasks and persist in being strict with the problems," Li said.

The administration said it will cooperate with the departments of natural resources, the environment and public security, as well as courts, to maintain pressure on lawbreakers.

Officials from the eight county-level governments attended the meeting, and they all said they would deeply reflect on their actions and tackle the problem of destroying forest resources by investigating illegal cases and restoring forest land.