From Thanhniennews.com: The ministry’s Forest Protection Department said it had uncovered 30,808 cases of illegal logging, encroachment on state-owned forest, and timber smuggling in the eight provinces surveyed between 2007 and 2009’s first quarter.

The survey included the central provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Nam and the Central Highlands provinces of Binh Phuoc, Lam Dong, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Kom Tum.

More than 16.7 million hectares of forest disappeared and around 1.93 million hectares were illegally occupied during the period, said the department.

Some local authorities even admitted that they were powerless to stop the illegal deforestation, the department said in a report.

Inspectors from the department said contractors hired to help clear certain plants or trees and then plant new ones had actually been logging everything in site for profit.

The department said other residents expanded their land into areas slated for forestation projects in a bid to receive compensation for land “lost” to the projects.

The people’s committees in the eight provinces licensed nearly 700 investment projects located in forests during the period.

In related news, the department has been devising strategies to protect vulnerable areas against floods and typhoons, including the planting of new forests at riverheads and coastal areas, according to Vietnam News Agency reports.

The department said natural disasters were a major cause of economic slowdowns and poverty in Vietnam over the 10-year period beginning in 1998.

Natural disasters like floods and typhoons caused massive casualties, with nearly 5,200 people killed and missing, 5,530 injured, and around 5.5 million houses destroyed during the decade.

Total property damage has been estimated at VND55.5 trillion (US$3.12 billion), according to the department.