Around a 12 acre area of the Kohona Forest Reserve in Meegahakiula was destroyed in a fire on Monday.
The villagers adjoining to the forest reserve said the fire broke out around 12.30 noon spreading towards the mountain area.
The villagers said that poachers might have set fire to the forest to hunt animals. They said that the forest reserve was a catchment area of the streams that provide water to villages down the reserve.