Illegal loggers face heavy penalties

The Ministry of Agriculture will start introducing heavy penalties for illegal loggers and those who bulldoze land without authorization, with a fine of SR5,000 for cutting down a tree, and SR2,000 for uprooting a sapling.
Suleiman Al-Swaine, director general for agricultural affairs in Hail, said the penalty for moving a ton of logs has been set at SR10,000, with a fine of up to SR50,000 for repeat transgressions.
Those who bulldoze land illegally face a SR200 fine for each ton of land, and up to SR50,000 if the violation is repeated.
Al-Swaine said Minister of Agriculture Fahd Balghuneim introduced these new penalties, in amendments to a 2004 royal decree on environmental protection, because of increasing illegal logging and bulldozing of land.
Khalid Abulmunem Abdulsalam, a researcher at the Prince Sultan College for Tourism and Business, said illegal activities were resulting in the loss of vegetation in the southwest of the Kingdom. However, urban expansion and drought have also played a part.