The Yoho Beach Resort in Kenting, which was recently fined NT$3,000 (US$100) for illegally cutting down white popinac trees, has once again sparked the ire of netizens for what has been called its continuous disregard for the environment.
Kenting National Park Administrative Department officials visited the resort on Saturday to visually confirm online photographs of trees being chopped down on a hillside opposite the resort.
Park officials said the resort’s actions were in violation of the National Parks Act (國家公園法).
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
This is the second time Yoho resort has been cited under the law, the first time just recently when the resort cut down a 30-year-old Indian Barringtonia near the Southern Bay area.
Meanwhile, the Hengchun station of Pingtung Forest District Office also sent officials to the area, and after surveying it, said that the resort was suspected of cutting down trees in a protected forest under the National Property Bureau.
A protected forest is an area of trees placed under a preservation order to allow roots, fallen twigs and leaves to form an area better suited to the conservation of water resources.
The office said it would ask the bureau to investigate if the resort had violated the Forest Act (森林法) by cutting down the trees.
Yoho resort protested its innocence, saying it had cut down the trees “to get rid of the more harmful white popinac trees.” It also said that the periodic cutting of trees has been a common practice in the area.
The resort said that it was guilty only of “not notifying the administrative center before taking action,” adding that it would be sure to do so in the future.
Despite the resort’s promises, netizens criticized corporations for ruining natural landscapes for private gain. They also criticized the administration center for imposing a fine that was so small it was unlikely to encourage the resort to behave differently.
translated by Jake Chung
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