Pailin provincial chief monk Ear Sophan has led the planting of 500 beng tree saplings (Afzelia xylocarpa) in the Sangkha Mondul Environment Centre, or Sorng Khavorn Forest. Ten durian trees were also planted.
He told The Post that it is the fourth year the activity has been carried out, with participation from a number of monks, local authorities and officials from the provincial Department of Environment.
“Planting these saplings is an offering to the earth and to the spirits of the forest, and will benefit humans and all of the creatures that live in our forests. Please pray to the deities for rain so that our trees and crops will grow well, and so our farmers can gain high yields from their fields,” he said.
Environment department director Sak Savrith told The Post that the precise size of the area that was planted cannot be determined, as the trees were planted anywhere vacant land was discovered.
He explained that the chief monk has led planting activities three or four times in the same area, but some of the previous saplings had died. In addition, some of the young trees were destroyed by deliberately lit fires.
“Especially in the dry season, people go to harvest honey from the forest. They often light fires so the smoke will chase the bees away. Some of them left the fires unattended, or allowed them the spread to the forest. Unfortunately, they did not consider the risk of what they were doing,” he said.
He expressed his happiness at the active participation of the monks and their supporters. At the same time, he called on the public to take care of the Kingdom’s precious natural heritage, noting that even if each person planted just one tree, the results would be hugely beneficial to the environment.
