Significant achievements have been made in the joint law enforcement campaign of the three national departments for the "Protecting Pine Trees 2024" special rectification action
The reporter recently learned from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration that from April to August this year, the "Protecting Pine 2024" special rectification action jointly carried out by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Administration of Customs has achieved remarkable results. A total of 722 cases were investigated and handled nationwide, with 27000 cubic meters of domestically infected pine wood and 4959 pine wood packaging destroyed. 900.47 cubic meters of infected pine wood and 26 batches of pine wood packaging were returned or destroyed at ports, and 180 criminals were dealt with. This effectively cracked down on illegal and criminal activities related to pine wood nematode disease and effectively curbed the rapid spread of the epidemic.
Pine wilt disease is a major plant epidemic that has rapidly spread since its introduction to China in 1982, posing a serious threat to China's ecological security. Since 2021, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has organized a five-year campaign to prevent and control the pine wilt disease epidemic, and has carried out two consecutive years of pine protection actions, comprehensively strengthening the control of pine wilt disease epidemic sources and continuously cracking down on illegal and criminal activities. At present, the serious harm and rapid spread of pine wilt disease in China have been reversed, achieving a "four decline" in county-level epidemic areas, township level epidemic points, occurrence areas, and the number of dead trees.
The "Protect Pine 2024" special rectification action is jointly implemented and promoted by three departments, adhering to the combination of centralized rectification and regular crackdown, strengthening quarantine administrative law enforcement, investigating pine related criminal cases, conducting quarantine at the entry pine port, and cracking down on illegal and irregular transportation, processing, operation, and use of pine wood nematode infected wood and its products throughout the entire chain. During this period, more than 48000 law enforcement vehicles and 150000 law enforcement personnel were dispatched nationwide to supervise and inspect nearly 60000 wood related enterprises, effectively cutting off the human transmission of the epidemic and protecting the safety of pine forest resources. The results of the special rectification action show that the number of cases investigated in "Protecting Pine 2024" has decreased by 22.95% compared to "Protecting Pine 2023", and the number of cases of illegal transportation of epidemic trees has decreased by 21.33%. Illegal and irregular behaviors have shown a significant downward trend, comprehensively consolidating the achievements of the pine wilt disease epidemic prevention and control campaign.
Next, the forestry and grassland departments will further increase their efforts to crack down on illegal and criminal activities related to pine wilt disease, continue to carry out pine protection actions, adhere to "zero tolerance" for illegal and criminal activities, and ensure that every case is discovered and investigated, and supervise the handling of cases with significant impact. Strengthen guidance for grassroots work and training for frontline law enforcement personnel, continuously improving their ability to handle cases. Carry out science popularization and education on the prevention and control of pine wilt disease epidemic through multiple channels and channels, as well as criminal case warning education, to create a positive social atmosphere.
Article source: Reprinted from National Land Greening