Safe Forest Campaign Concludes with Enforcement Against Illegal Logging

The "Safe Forest" control campaign has just concluded, organized by the Carabinieri Command for Forestry and Park Protection, which saw forestry units involved in verifying the correct application of national and regional sector regulations. The goal of the controls was to counteract the negative effects of forest utilization, with checks related to shifts, methods, intensity, and timing for carrying out forest cutting interventions. Out of 270 checks performed, 61 were found to be non-compliant, resulting in administrative penalties totaling 44,419.00 euros. The most frequently detected illicit behaviors were the failure to release seed trees (essential for renewing the forest) and cutting carried out differently from what was stated in communications and authorizations. Criminal offenses related to land use change carried out without the required authorization or in violation of it were also detected, for which 18 people were referred to the judicial authority. The control activity was mainly carried out on forested areas subject to hydrogeological constraints and at risk of landslides, on Regional Parks, and on protected natural areas such as the Sites of Community Importance of the Natura 2000 Network and falls within the areas of collaboration of the Carabinieri forestry units as provided by the current agreement with the Campania Region. In particular, in the municipality of Teano (CE), a man was reported, thanks to investigative activity carried out with the aid of a drone, for having uprooted 4 hectares of Acacia species forest. The same was subjected to an administrative penalty of 13,800 euros. In the National Park of Cilento, a penalty of 2,100.00 euros was imposed on the owner of a forestry company for cutting a chestnut forest in an area of particular environmental value with the consequent marketing of the wood from the cut. In the National Park of Vesuvius, a man was reported for cutting pine trees without authorization in an area subject to landscape constraints and volcanic risk. The military seized the area of about 600 square meters, the cut wood, and a chainsaw used for cutting. In the countryside of the municipality of Monteforte Irpino (AV), in a chestnut forest in the Partenio Regional Park, the military seized an agricultural vehicle already loaded with 30 quintals of chestnut poles and reported a man for illegal and stealthy cutting of plants. Finally, in the Benevento area, a forestry company was fined for not being registered in the forestry operators' register.