Raising concerns into widespread illegal forest resources degradation, Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said, attention into deforestation is imperative and it is vital to identify such attempts before logging.

He said, “The President has alerted Tri-Forces and Police to thwart such attempts and therefore it would be monitored using aerial assets of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF)”, reported the Defence Ministry website.

The Defence Secretary while addressing the District Secretaries/Government Agents at the Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management State Ministry on Wednesday (25) requested them to be vigilant and stand against the deterioration of the environment leading to depletion of forest resources.

The Defence Secretary, mentioning the recent upsurge in land grabbing incidents, stressed that a special unit has been set up to net the persons involved in the land grabbing.