Fire, illegal logging, insects and other pests damaged millions of hectares of forests across China last year, the State Forestry Administration said yesterday.

Pests like moths, wireworms and hares damaged 10.72 million hectares of forest across the country in 2006, up 20 percent from the previous year.

China recorded 292 major species of forest pests last year, an increase of 98 over the figure provided by the country's first nationwide investigation into forest pests that lasted from 1979 to 1983.

Thirty-two species are exotic and 16 were introduced into the country since 1980.

Figures on the economic losses caused by the pests in 2006 are not yet available, said SFA spokesman Cao Qingyao.

Pest control covered 6.03 million hectares in 2006, bringing major plant diseases under control, said Cao.

Meanwhile, four people died in seven wasp attacks in Shaanxi Province last year while 36 died in 715 attacks in 2005.

Cao said the SFA has listed the "extremely dangerous" American white moth, pine wireworm and forest rats and hares as the main targets of its efforts to control pests over the next five years.

American white moths were identified in 224,000 hectares of forest in Beijing, Tianjin and the northern provinces of Hebei and Liaoning last year, but control measures stifled disasters in the cradle.

Forest fires killed 41 people and injured 62 last year.

Cao said the number of casualties was down 82.4 percent on the average level over previous years. However, no direct comparison with last year's figure was made available.

A total of 407,624 hectares of forest was damaged by 7,946 fires, with both figures down by nearly 40 percent on the average figures of previous years, Cao revealed.

Poaching and illegal logging cost the country 4.09 billion yuan in 2006, Cao said.

There were 216,168 cases reported from December 2005 to November 2006, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, according to Cao.