Vast mangrove area severely damaged

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Around 16,000 hectares of mangroves in Central Sulawesi have been severely damaged over the past 10 years due to rampant use of the trees for charcoal production or building fish ponds, Antara reported on Sunday.

Central Sulawesi forestry office's spokesman Rahim said that based on the preliminary result of a recent office study, the province's 46,000 ha of mangrove forest was reduced to only 30,000 hectares.

Most of the charcoal was sold to Singapore illegally, Rahim said. The local forestry office finds it very difficult to deal with the tree cutters under the existing forestry law, he said.

The administration's decision to declare mangrove areas as regions which may be exploited remains an obstacle in dealing with the mangrove felling activities, he said.

"The appropriation of mangrove areas as an exploitation zone is the Central Sulawesi administration's decision which is currently still effective," he said. (edt)