Every day, freshly chopped wood is being transported on over 5,000 bicycles from the park. Madan Aryal, a local of Chauraha, Kohalpur, said the wood is being smuggled every day between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. creating a traffic jam in the area.
Locals of Kohalpur say officials have not paid attention to the timber smuggling. As a result, about 200 trees are being felled every day. The wood smuggled illegally from Shumshergunj, Balapur and Mahadevpuri of BNP is being taken as far as Rupaidiya, India.
The government announced the park in a bid to increase protected areas in the country to 25 percent of its total area.
Chief Conservation Officer Tikaram Adhikari admitted that he has heard that rapid deforestation is taking place. But he said there has been no order from higher-ups to mobilize security around the park area.
District Forest Officer Shyam Prasad Sharma could not be reached for comments.
The government announced the park amid disagreement and protests from locals and community forest users.
Mohammed Kar Khan, central members of the Federation of Community Forest Users, Nepal, said flora and fauna in the park area are being destroyed and smuggled.
Gopal Upadhyay, Director General of Department of National Parks, said the deforestation would be stopped immediately. So far, there is no effort to stop it, though. Last week, poachers had killed a tiger in Dhanaura forest.
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