PUBLISHED: 19 Mar 2024 at 06: 10
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation warned yesterday that legitimate action will be taken against those who illegally enter wooded areas and set them fire because forest fires are raging in some northern provinces and have led to the formation of PM2.5 in the environment.
Athapol Charoenshunsa, the department’s director, reported that the office has recently imposed a ban on entering 11 federal protected forests and 10 conservation forest zones in northern provinces. He stated that the division was extremely worried that visitors to wooded areas might start forest fires or engage in poaching.
He added that Phatcharavat Wongsuwan, the secretary of natural resources and environment, is instructing the government to increase efforts to stop forest fires, which have caused the North to accumulate high levels of PM2.5.
Athapol: Dept to move up guards
In order to control forest fires and strictly enforce the passage restrictions, Mr. Athapol stated that villagers in each bush in the North will be collaborating closely with the office staff to find out who is suspected of trespassing into wooded areas in order to have them detained.
He claimed that the division will establish” unique- watch” zones to prevent them from becoming victims of man-made forest fires by conducting additional patrols as a preventative measure.
In case of bush burning, firefighting groups will also be on backup, and additional checkpoints will be set up to stop intruders from trespassing.
According to the office, there were 7, 136 areas recorded in Chiang Rai state last month, compared with 1, 294 from October last year to March 17. Although the province has fewer hotspots, the cloud in the north is also problematic because of the burning in neighboring countries and provinces.