Illegal rubber plantations face the axe

In a bid to end such encroachment, about 100 officials yesterday felled rubber trees across 65 rai of land in a forest reserve in Phitsanulok’s Nakhon Thai district. Department director-general Boonchob Suthamanuswong supervised the operation himself. The move was authorised under the Article 25 of the National Forest Reserve Act.

“The rubber trees here are about three to five years old,” Boonchob said. His department has taken action against these encroaching plantations since 2008. “Now, it’s time to fell these rubber trees,” he said, adding that officials would grow Siamese Rosewood trees in their place for forest-rehabilitation purposes. More than 30 locals looked on, as the officials felled the rubber trees. Winij Baleeyai, a village head in the area, said rubber plantations were a trend after the government started a campaign to promote rubber between 2006 and 2008. 

He said as rubber prices were quite good then, some locals decided to expand their plantations into the forestland. “They sold the encroaching rubber plantations to investors later on,” he said. Some locals said investors had bought more than 20 rai of those plantations each time, with each rai fetching about Bt2,500. 

Boonchob said the authorities planned to take legal action against the investors first. Winij urged authorities to clearly distinguish forest reserves from disputed areas or areas that had long been occupied by locals before they were included in a forest reserve.

“I think there are at least 200 rai of such disputed zones,” the village head said.

Boonchob assured Winij that aerial pictures would help determine which parts of the forest reserve were in the disputed zones. He said his department has already taken action against alleged encroachers in 528 Phitsanulok-based cases. Together, these cases involved a total of 11,347 rai of land. About 100,000 rai of forestland in Phitsanulok has been encroached on. “Many of these cases have already had the final court ruling,” he added. 

Boonchob vowed to continue the crackdown on forest encroachment. “Our next targets are in Phetchabun and Loei,” he said, “We will also check on the South’s forest reserve and determine whether local farmers there have committed any encroachment”. 

Boonchob said his department would coordinate with various agencies in a bid to protect the country’s forestland.