(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The proposal made by the President to ban the importation of mechanical chain saws to prevent deforestation was approved by the Cabinet.
The forest cover of the country is 29.7 percent of the land area and a number of programs implemented with the objective of increasing it to 32 percent by 2030 is already in progress.
It has been identified that unauthorized logging is a major factor in the forest destruction and it has been observed that easy-to-use mechanical chainsaws are largely being used for illegal deforestation.
Since more than 82,000 mechanical chainsaws have been registered so far, the cabinet of ministers have granted approval to the proposal made by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment, to take necessary measures under the Import and Export Control Act, No. 1 of 1969, to prohibit the importation of mechanical chain saws to prevent deforestation and increase the forest cover.
