<기사제목>Forest Service Strengthens Surveillance of Illegal Forest Product Harvesting Using Drones

The Korea Forest Service's Forest Law Enforcement Police are operating drones to crack down on illegal forest damage. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is conducting a "Special Crackdown on Illegal Activities in Forests" until the end of this month.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 8th that it will collaborate with regional forest services and national forest management offices to monitor and crack down on the indiscriminate harvesting of forest products such as wild vegetables and medicinal herbs during the spring season.

In particular, the crackdown will be conducted simultaneously from the sky and the ground to create a dense surveillance network.

First, the Forest Drone Surveillance Team will deploy drones over forests where illegal harvesting of forest products is frequent, efficiently monitoring large forest areas.

Additionally, the Forest Crime Investigation Unit, together with the Forest Protection Support Group, will focus on on-site surveillance in areas where major illegal activities occur.

The Forest Crime Investigation Unit is organized by the Korea Forest Service in emergencies to prevent and investigate illegal activities in forests, while the Forest Protection Support Group consists of civilian monitors who oversee forest protection areas such as illegal forest damage and are deployed on-site.

The crackdown will focus on ▲ harvesting wild vegetables and medicinal herbs without the consent of forest owners ▲ unauthorized excavation of landscaping trees ▲ illegal harvesting of special forest target species and unauthorized entry into rare plant habitats ▲ entering restricted forest areas without permission ▲ and lighting fires or smoking within forests.

The Korea Forest Service plans to conduct intensive crackdowns regardless of whether the forest is national or private, and will strictly punish any illegal activities detected.

The "Act on the Creation and Management of Forest Resources" stipulates that anyone who illegally harvests forest products such as wild vegetables and medicinal herbs without the consent of the forest owner may face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won (Article 74).

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Also, unauthorized entry into restricted forest areas will result in a fine of up to 200,000 won under the "Forest Protection Act" (Article 57).

Kwon Jang-hyun, Director of the Forest Environment Protection Division at the Korea Forest Service, said, "Forests are a public asset that provide clean air, pure water, and healthy forest products, and they are something we must cherish and preserve. We ask all citizens to participate in forest protection to prevent damage caused by illegal activities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.