Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Cambodia’s royal turtle back from the brink of extinction
The southern river terrapin is among the lesser-known of Cambodia’s many globally endangered species, which also include the Asiatic black bear, the Asian elephant and the Indochinese tiger. ...
Sun Sokhen
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodia-royal-turtle-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/2900647.html
Environmentalists issue warning on Mekong biodiversity
Scientists say the Southeast Asia’s rapid development is driving deforestation in the vital Mekong Subregion, and threatening scores of species in one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Trafficking in plant and animal wildlife is accelerating the trend, and governments are being pressed to do ...
Ron Corben
http://www.voanews.com/content/enviornmentalists-issue-warning-on-mekong-biodiversity/2888102.html
Cambodia urged to act on plans to reintroduce tigers
The Cambodian arm of the World Wildlife Fund has called on the government to move forward with plans to reintroduce wild tigers in the country’s eastern forests, but reiterated concerns over possible development in the area. ...
Worldbulletin News Staff
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/162548/cambodia-urged-to-act-on-plans-to-reintroduce-tigers
Deer headed to Angkor
The forests around Cambodia’s iconic Angkor Temple Complex will soon be home once more to a species of deer that had disappeared from the area due to excessive hunting during the latter part of the last century. ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deer-headed-angkor
Sun bears under the gun
Facing snares, hunters and deforestation, sun bears are in danger of being classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – and deforestation is their main threat. ...
Pav Suy and Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12798/sun-bears-under-the-gun/
Tiny frog in Virachey added to red list
A tiny species of frog that may be found only in Virachey National Park in Cambodia’s remote northeast was yesterday officially classified as endangered by a major international conservation group. ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tiny-frog-virachey-added-red-list
Government standing by decision to not renew activist’s visa
The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday said it was standing by its decision to not renew the visa of outspoken environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson in the face of mounting pressure from fellow activists, NGOs, unions, students and monks—even opposition leader Sam Rainsy—to reverse course. ...
Khuon Narim and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-standing-by-decision-to-not-renew-activists-visa-78270/
Road could affect future tiger habitat
A recently approved road project leading to the border with Vietnam in Mondulkiri would do irreversible damage to the province’s protected forest and threaten future attempts to reintroduce tigers to the Kingdom, according to the World Wildlife Fund. ...
Sean Teehan and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/road-could-affect-future-tiger-habitat
Croc release at dam site planned
A conservation group may release 20 baby Siamese crocodiles into the Areng Valley amid an ongoing stand-off between villagers and a Chinese firm over the construction of a controversial hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. Tuy Serey Vathana, country directory at Fauna and Flora International, said ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/croc-release-dam-site-planned
Are banteng making a comeback in Cambodia? Researchers find new population
Researchers have discovered a new population of banteng (Bos javanicus), a species of wild cattle, in northwestern Cambodia. The discovery was announced June 4, 2014 by Fauna and Flora International (FFI), and efforts are underway to implement conservation initiatives to protect the area and its newfound banteng, ...
Janaki Lenin
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0623-gfrn-lenin-banteng.html
Wildlife trade endangering Cambodia’s fauna
In many restaurants in Phnom Penh, wild meat is readily available. Walk into one of these, and you’ll be able to order deer, wild pig or even monitor lizards. Some places sell even rarer meat, from endangered animals like the pangolin. Wildlife conservation officials say the ...
Khoun Theara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/wildlife-trade-endangering-cambodias-fauna/1943063.html
Wild cattle thought extinct discovered in Cambodia’s Siem Reap Province
Camera traps have captured six individual banteng (Bos javanicus) in Siem Reap Province, north-western Cambodia, in an area where the endangered wild cattle species was thought to be extinct. The banteng discovery in Cambodia’s north-west is significant, as few populations remain in the region due ...
A new species of wolf snake found in Cambodia
A team of international researchers have discovered a unique species of wolf snake in South East Asia. Some magnificent creatures still lay hidden in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, waiting to be found, analysed and categorised by researchers working in the area. Since 2000 scientists working for Fauna and ...
Science Alert News Staff
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20141106-25656.html
Of Fish, Monsoons and the Future
As the sun rises on Tonle Sap Lake, fishermen head out from floating villages like this one, past half-submerged mangroves and flooded shrub land, to check their nets, much as they have for centuries. Every year, the lake yields about 300,000 tons of fish, making it ...
Chris Berdik
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/science/of-fish-monsoons-and-the-future.html?_r=2
Cambodia to diversify
Cambodia Ministry of Tourism hopes to encourage international tourists to visit coastal areas and ecotourism destinations to take pressure off Siem Reap. The ministry’s marketing & promotion department representative, Hou Sokhom, told TTR Weekly that the country needs to encourage tourists to travel more to other ...
Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2014/06/cambodia-to-diversify/
Endangered wild cattle discovered in northwest Cambodia
A British conservation group says its hidden cameras have taken photos of a wild cattle species in an area in Siem Reap province where it was previously thought to be extinct. In a statement released Wednesday, Fauna and Flora International said the cameras recorded six individual ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=YTczNGU3YzIzOGN
Flying squirrel and eyeless spider discovered in Greater Mekong
A series of high-flying creatures, including giant flying frogs and squirrels and a parachute gecko, are among the hundreds of exotic new species recently discovered in the greater Mekong region in southeast Asia. A new eyeless spider and a fish that mates head-to-head are also highlighted ...
Damian Carrington
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/04/flying-squirrel-and-eyeless-spider-discovered-in-greater-mekong?CMP=fb_gu
Villagers make plea over crocs
A group of villagers from Koh Kong’s Areng Valley gathered outside the offices of Flora & Fauna International (FFI) in Phnom Penh yesterday, demanding a say in a project designed to relocate endangered Siamese crocodiles from the site of the planned Stung Cheay Areng dam. ...
Phak Seangly and Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-make-plea-over-crocs
Illegal ivory a sign Cambodia is new transit point
The seizure on Friday of a large haul of African elephant tusks in Svay Rieng province, only one month after police intercepted a large ivory haul in Siem Reap, could indicate that Cambodia is becoming a major transit point for illegal ivory, experts said Monday. The ...
Simon Henderson and Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-ivory-a-sign-cambodia-is-new-transit-point-54876/
Muddy Waters Have Authorities Singing the Blues
Authorities in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces on Thursday said that they were investigating an unusual change of color in the Mekong River to a muddy, dark brown that was unnatural for this time of the year and was worrying residents. Since the beginning of this ...
Ben Sokhean and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/muddy-waters-have-authorities-singing-the-blues-50792/
In Mondolkiri Province, Asian Wild Elephants Are Thriving
New York-based organization Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released some remarkable footage of wild Asian elephants in Mondolkiri’s Seima district that offers a rare view of the endangered species in its natural habitat. ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-mondolkiri-province-asian-wild-elephants-are-thriving-19970/