Exotic dishes threaten wildlife, says Surayud

ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION

Exotic dishes threaten wildlife, says Surayud

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

The country's wildlife population is in decline due to rising demand from restaurants serving ''exotic dishes'' and the illegal wildlife trade, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday. Speaking on National Wildlife Protection Day, Gen Surayud, a dedicated nature lover, urged the public to help save wildlife.

''The Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act has been enforced for over three decades, but few people care about wild animals now,'' he said.

''They still eat them, hunt them, and sell them for money.''

The populations of many wild animals were declining.

Reversing that trend would be a challenging task, particularly considering the difficulties of breeding programmes and shrinking wildlife habitats.

The country's forested areas have now shrunk from 60% of the land just a few decades ago to around 30% today.

The state's previous policy to give concessions to private logging firms to run timber businesses had led to massive deforestation.

The scheme was abolished in 1989.

Preserving the country's existing forested areas was vital in the battle to save Thailand's wild animals, Gen Surayud said.

State agencies should help farmers increase their productivity by teaching them farming techniques and transferring farm technology so they do not expand their farmland into the wild, he said.

Forest conservation will not only save wild animals, but also safeguard human beings from global warming, he said.

''Green areas will save our lives,'' he said.

Yongyuth Yuthawong, acting minister of natural resources and environment, said the ministry's wildlife protection and preservation campaign was a success.

He cited the rising number of wild tigers as an example.

The size of the tiger population living in Thailand's western forest complex was the world's second largest after India, he said, adding that an increasing number of tigers is a useful indicator to measure the health of other wildlife populations in the forests.