Outposts may be dismantled if poaching continues: RFD chief

If the outposts are found be inactive or useless they should be disbanded and the budget earmarked for them should be given to other agencies such as the military or police who can take over the job, Suwit said at a Chiang Rai seminar of forestry officials and rangers.
“As the guardians of forests, we have not been very effective in controlling encroachment, and every time someone is caught, everybody turns against the department, which has been dubbed the tree stumps department. We need to regard ourselves more highly and take full action as we have what it takes to perform our duties, with authority, personnel and equipment as well as within clear jurisdiction,” he said.
Suwit was responding to a report that forestry officials were doing little to control encroachment or poaching, citing many cases in which the crime had been committed openly. He also instructed officers overseeing the outposts, especially those in Phayao, Nan and Chiang Rai, to submit monthly reports on patrols and arrest wrongdoers.
A nationwide survey of forest areas would be conducted every five years, after the latest one in 2008 detected extensive encroaching in the North. Aerial surveys also showed that vast areas of forests had been cut down and replaced by corn or parawood plantations.
He said extensive encroachment of forests had been reported the most in the North, especially in areas located in the Nan River basin, but the number of arrests had been low compared to the rate of encroachment. Suwit also blamed budget cuts on massive flooding last year, which resulted in the purchase of 70 fourwheeldrive trucks being postponed to next year.