PUBLISHED: 10 Oct 2024 at 05 :00
The Royal Forest Department will alter its rules by trimming superfluous procedures to ease property usage by state agencies, according to Surachai Achalaboon, its director-general.
He said this follows the fresh scheme of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Chalermchai Sri-on.
Mr Surachai said the department may take steps to acquire forest use grants by amending rules to be more flexible and make it more easy for local government to apply for such grants.
” The amended regulation is for local authorities and state-owned companies that need to develop degraded forest land for the people good, such as for building bridges, schools and facilities,” he said. It would also address concerns about human intrusion in forests, leading to floods.
The department will expedite consideration of requests from government agencies which want to make use of forest areas, he added. Mr Surachai said 137,000 pending requests will be resolved within six months.
The department’s committee considering the use of national reserve forests also will meet more often, from once to twice a month, as part of its efforts to reach the goal. Regarding concerns about forest loss, he said the revised regulation will not affect forest reserves because permission will not be granted for use in mountainous areas.
The department has a policy of increasing the number of trees in deteriorated forest zones in line with the ministry’s policy of increasing the size of green areas to improve the environment, he noted.