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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 12562784" data-attributes="member: 92282">Environmentalists allege that nearly 20,000 acres of protected forest  land located inside the Ruhunu National Park in Buttala has been  encroached, and claim that the Department of Forest Conservation (DFC)  continues to turn a blind eye to the entire episode. According to the Environment Conservation Trust (ECT), the forest  areas have been divided into sections ranging from 10 to 300 acres, and  large scale Chena cultivation and gem-mining are taking place in the  encroached and cleared lands. “These forests are state owned and come  directly under the DFC,” said Sajeewa Chamikara of the ECT. The forest areas, which have been encroached upon include areas in  Niyadella, Demodara, Upaliya, Kaludiyaella, Thenagallanda, Bopitiya,  Ethimale, and Kotiyagala, all coming under the Buttala Divisional  Secretariat in the Monaragala District.  A 10-acre section of forest  land in the Demodara area has been encroached by a private company,  which has already built a small holiday resort there, claims the ECT. The ECT also alleges that a cabinet minister from the Monaragala  District has illegally acquired another 300 acres of forest land in the  Demodara area. A further 200-acre section has been illegally acquired by  a Pradeshiya Sabha member from Buttala.  The entire forest area also was frequented by elephants and also  served as an important elephant corridor for elephants moving north from  Ruhunu National Park to Kumbukkana Forest Reserve and  Lahugala-Kithulana National Park, the ECT added. When contacted, Chief Conservator of Forests H.M.P. Hitisekera said  to The Nation that he was aware of the allegations, and added that the  DFC had dispatched teams from both its Colombo head office and  Monaragala district office to investigate. “Our teams identified two  specific locations where forest land had been illegally cleared for  banana cultivation. Accordingly, we have initiated legal action against  seven persons found to have illegally cleared protected forest land,” he  explained. However, Hitisekera denied the claim that as many as 20,  000 acres had been encroached. He claimed that only around 10 acres  have been cleared, and said legal action has been initiated against the  seven persons involved. “There are some areas where traditional farmers are engaged in Chena  cultivation. We need to be a little sensitive when dealing with them.  But we will definitely take action against those who are found to have  cleared protected forest land,” he said.TN</blockquote>

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