To monitor forest regions Division Forest Office uses drones

Drones have been used by the Division Forest Office of Rautahat, Sahiya sub-division forest office, to monitor forests and control poaching and timber smuggling. For the past three months, drones have effectively monitored a 10-kilometer forest area, reducing the smuggling of timber, forest products, and river resources. This has significantly contributed to forest conservation, according to forest officer Binod Jethar. Drones have improved tracking of smugglers and controlled river product smuggling in Dhansar River. They have also prevented bicycles from entering the jungle for fire wood collection and transporting Saal woods to brick kilns in Rautahat.

The Division Forest Office plans to add more drones in the future. Rautahat has 30,170 hectares of forest area, with 8,231 hectares managed by government, 11,927 hectares by partnership forests, 1,052 hectares under block forest management, 8,257 hectares by community forests, 51 hectares by religious forests, and 656 hectares protected by private forests. Over 12 hectares of encroached forest land have been cleared for tree planting during the current fiscal year, and the Division Forest Office in Rautahat produced 818,078 seedlings of various species.