The employees of the environmental supervision department of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia busted two illegal sawmills. The development came as part of the fight against illegal forest use, which led to the establishment of two illegal sawmills in the Imereti region.
It is also noteworthy that as part of efforts to combat illegal forest use, employees of the Western Regional Division of the Department of Environmental Supervision under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture have identified violations in the Khoni Municipality.
In the village of Matkhoji, citizens had installed unregistered band and circular sawmill equipment in their household yards. From the sites of the illegal sawmills, 21 units of round timber (logs) of various species and 3 cubic meters of primary processed wood (lumber) were seized.
As both cases contain elements of a criminal offense, the materials have been forwarded to the relevant authorities for further response.
The protection of natural resources is a top priority for the Department of Environmental Supervision. Within the framework of combating illegal logging, last year alone, more than 300 cases were identified in the operational area of the Western Regional Office, including 20 unregistered sawmills.
It is to be added that the crews of the Department of Environmental Supervision carry out continuous 24-hour patrolling throughout the country to prevent, detect, and suppress the facts of illegal forest use, hunting, fishing, and other environmental violations promptly. In addition, an immediate response is given to each message received on the hotline (153) of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
The illegal saws operating throughout many regions without proper government sanction pose a major threat to agencies responsible for preventing this criminal act. The large-scale destruction of forest products causes many problems.
