ENVIRONMENTAL protection is becoming too costly both for the government and environmental advocates as the war against illegal logging has so far claimed the lives of 15 people, Environment and Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said.

According to Paje, from July 1, 2010, 15 people from the government and its partners in environmental protection have been killed.  Paje said this means one forest ranger or environmental advocate is being killed every 20 to 21 days, compared with previous records of one for every 28 to 30 days.

“It’s becoming too costly,” he said, referring to the sacrifices made by the field personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), as well as environmental advocates to protect the environment.

Paje said the DENR remains firm in its resolve to win the war against the so-called environmental criminals.

Among those killed were forest ranger Kennedy Eber Bayani from Luna, Apayao; Rolando Sanchez, a tree marker from Surigao del Sur; Jacino Dragas, a forester from Butuan City; Pierre Gillo,  city environment and natural resource officer of Sta. Riza, Samar; and nine others who are either volunteers, nongovernment organization workers or members of the media, the most prominent of whom was Palawan broadcaster Gerardo Ortega.

“These illegal loggers are armed with high-powered weapons.  Some of them are being protected by politicians,” he told reporters during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Paje revealed that two days ago, the anti-illegal logging task force of the DENR conducted intensified operations between the boundaries of Agusan del Sur and Compostela Valley, which resulted in a firefight between law enforcers and heavily armed men working for illegal loggers.

According to Paje, so far, four persons were injured and the DENR’s anti-illegal logging task force, together with the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines, seized six trucks and three bulldozers.

However, he said two of the trucks earlier seized by the police and the military were taken back at gunpoint by the illegal loggers.

According to Paje, some of the bulldozers and trucks were found to be registered to local politicians.

“That is how intense the war against illegal logging is,” he said.

Paje appealed for citizens’ support to the government’s initiatives to protect the environment from illegal loggers, as well as the successful implementation of its recently launched reforestation project—the National Greening Program—which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of open, denuded forests all over the country.

He said social fencing of the country’s environment and natural resources will boost government effort not only to stop destructive human activities such as illegal logging that result to massive destruction of the country’s forests and biodiversity loss, but to rehabilitate the country’s bald forests that will benefit the people.

According to Paje, the government is losing about P80 million a year because the otherwise unproductive forests remain idle.