The penalty for transporting, selling, and storing such materials is SR16,000 ($4,260) per cubic meter.
Separately, security patrols in the Qassim region seized a large amount of firewood stored at a site in Buraidah city.
Saudi authorities arrested 44 people in the Riyadh area for selling illegal firewood on Wednesday.The Special Forces for Environmental Security detained the offenders who were found to be selling the wood for commercial use.
They were handed to the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture. Offenders are liable to face fines of up to $13,333 per ton of firewood, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Unauthorized tree felling in Saudi Arabia is outlawed due to the scarcity of natural resources in a country that consists mostly of desert.
The Special Forces for Environmental Security were set up as part of Vision 2030, and the department is made up at least in part by military staff.
The department focuses on protecting endangered species’ and safeguarding environmental concerns in order to facilitate tourism, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Seizures of illicit firewood have become common since the department was set up.
As part of environmental plans for Vision 2030, the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture is also undertaking a ‘Let’s Make It Green’ reforestation campaign, under which more than 10 million trees have been planted across the Kingdom.
A total of 69 people, including Saudis and expatriates, were arrested for illegal collection and transportation of local firewood in various regions of the Kingdom, local media reported.
The Special Forces for Environmental Security, in cooperation with the Public Security forces, seized more than 52 tons of firewood ready for sale, while being transported in 54 vehicles.
A total of 21 citizens and 13 expatriates with 20 vehicles loaded with local firewood were apprehended in Riyadh for violating the Law of Pastures and Forests.
Another group comprising 24 citizens and 10 expatriates were arrested while transporting firewood aboard 24 trucks in the regions of Makkah, Qassim, Hail, Eastern Province, the Northern Borders Region, Jazan, Najran, Al Jouf, and Tabuk.
