A FOREST reserve in the Wang Thong district is reportedly on the brink of being spoiled, as an approximately 2,000 rai of land in the vicinity of the district’s river basin forest is being developed into a rubber plantation.
Allegedly, investors and local politicians from the South were behind the said plantation, villagers of tambon Nok Aen, a sub-district in Wang Thong, Phitsanulok Province, stated in their complaints to the local law enforcers.
Recently, a group of townspeople, assisted by police, rangers and foresters, began investigating the rubber plantation and found that the land, which is part of the forest reserve has been ploughed, consequently damaging a rock garden – a tourist attraction in the village.
The local authorities said that continuing the expansion of the rubber plantation could also encroach the watershed forest that could halt the town’s water supply during the dry season.
A committee will be formed to bar the development operations on the reserve areas.