Status data on forest damage area caused by illegal land conversion, unauthorized logging, and timber theft from 2015 to 2019. Provided by Assemblyman Eo Gi-gu's office.
[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] It has been pointed out that 3,000 hectares of forest have been lost due to illegal deforestation activities over the past five years. This area is equivalent to 1,140 Jamsim Baseball Stadiums (26,331㎡ each).
According to data submitted by the Korea Forest Service to Eo Gi-gu, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Dangjin-si, Chungnam), the forest area lost due to illegal land conversion, unauthorized logging, and timber theft from 2015 to 2019 reached 3,002.5 hectares.
During this period, a total of 14,779 cases of illegal forest damage were detected. By type of damage (area), there were 12,834 cases of illegal land conversion (2,373 hectares), 1,605 cases of unauthorized logging (598 hectares), and 140 cases of timber theft (32 hectares).
The number of forest damage cases (area) by city and province were highest in Gyeonggi-do with 2,971 cases (581 hectares), Chungnam with 2,016 cases (353 hectares), Gyeongbuk with 1,733 cases (347 hectares), Chungbuk with 1,295 cases (321 hectares), and Jeonbuk with 919 cases (306 hectares).
Assemblyman Eo stated, “The damage to forests caused by illegal land conversion, unauthorized logging, and timber theft is severe,” and emphasized, “The Korea Forest Service must strengthen crackdowns and prepare special measures to preserve forests.”
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