Environment and natural resources
Environment and natural resources policy and administration
Environment Ministry Denies Issuing New ELC to Logging Firm
The Ministry of Environment on Thursday denied that a private agro-industry firm had been issued an “unofficial” land concession inside Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary, as stated on Monday by the provincial governor. In response to claims by local officials that Daun Penh Agrico Co. Ltd. ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/environment-ministry-denies-issuing-new-elc-to-logging-firm-47675/
Official Says Legality of Sanctuary Logging Unknown
A district-level Environment Ministry official in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday claimed that he had no way to determine the legality of logging operations by firms with private land concessions inside the province’s Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary. The claim by Chou Sopheak, director of Lumphat district’s environment department, ...
Aun Pheap and Ben Woods
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/official-says-legality-of-sanctuary-logging-unknown-47518/
Three Cambodians Killed Illegally Logging Across Thai Border
Thai forestry officials killed three Cambodians who were illegally logging on Tuesday, in what they said was a shootout in Thailand’s Sisaket province, a border official said Wednesday. The latest deaths bring the number of Cambodians who have been shot while logging across the border this ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-cambodians-killed-illegally-logging-across-thai-border-47532/
Loss of Forest in Cambodia Among Worst in the World
Cambodia lost more than 7 percent of its forest cover over the past 12 years—the fifth fastest rate in the world—according to a new study of global forest cover change that sharply contradicts the government’s own rosier figures. Published Friday in the journal Science and led ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/loss-of-forest-in-cambodia-among-worst-in-the-world-47259/
Vietnam Doubts Sustainability of Second Lao Dam Project on Mekong
Vietnam has joined Cambodia in questioning the sustainability of the planned Don Sahong dam project on the Mekong River in southern Laos, saying more environmental impact studies are needed before the scheme moves forward. Le Duc Trung, director general of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee under ...
Radio Free Asia
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/dam-11152013181814.html
Study calls for halt to dams
A new study and accompanying short film released yesterday call for all lower Mekong dam developers to halt plans until further impact studies can be made. Hydropower dams will have a greater impact on river flows than even climate change, according to research by the University ...
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/study-calls-halt-dams
Laos chided for ‘Selling’ dam project
An environmental group has hit out at the Lao government for organising a tour of the proposed Don Sahong hydropower dam site, saying it should not be trying to “sell” a project that has not been regionally approved. Other NGOs have also warned of the ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/laos-chided-%E2%80%98selling%E2%80%99-dam-project
Projects ‘threaten mangroves’
Mangrove forests along Cambodia’s coast in Kampot support more than 100,000 families and create a diverse ecosystem that is home to hundreds of unique species. But coastal development projects, coupled with locals’ reliance on the forest for their livelihoods, threaten to decimate more than 1,000 hectares ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/projects-%E2%80%98threaten-mangroves%E2%80%99
Dolphin found dead
A wounded female Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead in the Mekong River in Kampong Cham on Saturday. The 130-kilogram dolphin was discovered by residents in Kampong Siem town, significantly south of the species’ protected area, according to fishery administration officials. ...
Sen David and Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dolphin-found-dead
Cambodia records 973 critically endangered white-shoulder ibis: survey
Cambodia has recorded some 973 white-shoulder ibis in its wild, making the country the stronghold for this critically endangered species, the conservationists group said Thursday. BirdLife International and its partners including Cambodian Forestry Administration, People Resources and Conservation Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society and Worldwide Fund for ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013-11/07/c_132868146.htm
Hun Sen to blame, says lawmaker
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for urgent fortification of Cambodia’s resistance to climate change, singling out recent flooding as evidence of the severe consequences the country faces. But at a press conference yesterday, opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua accused the Prime Minister of weakening ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/climate-woes-hun-sen-blame-says-lawmaker
Clearing at tourist site ‘Confused’
Ratanakkiri’s deputy provincial governor called local authorities and community representatives last week to explain the alleged deforestation of eight hectars of preserved land around the Ou’Sinlair waterfall. Situated in Lumphat district, Ou’Sinlair is a popular eco-tourism destination in the province. But logging over the years has ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/waterfall-worries-clearing-tourist-site-%E2%80%98confused%E2%80%99
Climate change becomes strategic challenge, needs joint attention: Cambodian PM
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that climate change has now become a strategic challenge to development that requires urgent and joint attention. “Climate change is no longer a remote case, but is affecting all of us in the present and become one of the ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013-11/05/c_132860551.htm
Lao consultants give dam the thumbs up
The controversial Don Sahong hydropower dam, which Laos says it will soon build just a kilometre from the Cambodian border, will not have significant effects on the Mekong River, according to an environmental impact assessment paid for by the dam’s builder. Obtained yesterday, the report – ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lao-consultants-give-dam-thumbs
Government Must Work With Farmers to Combat Climate Change
Some 9.5 million Cambodians who directly engage in agriculture must adopt new techniques in order to counter dynamic weather patterns caused by climate change, and the government must work with farmers to ensure that it happens, an agricultural conference was told last week. Flown in from ...
Matt Blomberg and Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-must-work-with-farmers-to-combat-climate-change-45678/
Government Blames Child Flood Deaths on ‘Careless’ Mothers
The first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) on Monday blamed some of the deaths in this year’s floods on “careless” mothers. “Maybe the mothers are careless, maybe they don’t pay much attention to their children, so they drown,” NCDM First Vice ...
Zsombor Peter and Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-blames-child-flood-deaths-on-careless-mothers-45666/
Specter of Typhoon Approaching Raises Fears of More Floods
As monthlong flooding that has so far left 122 dead slowly subsides, officials and relief agencies were on Sunday concerned that a powerful typhoon approaching Vietnam may bring more heavy rain and the risk of more floods to provinces where tens of thousands of families ...
Simon Henderson and Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/specter-of-typhoon-approaching-raises-fears-of-more-floods-45003/
New Lao dam does not breach Mekong agreement: official
Developing the Don Sahong dam on the Hou Sahong channel of the Mekong River in Champassak province does not breach the 1995 Mekong Agreement, a senior government official has told local media. Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr Viraphonh Viravong, made the comment on Thursday, ...
Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZWRmZDI3MWU5ODE
Officials Criticize Laos Over Don Sahong Dam
A day after the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC) received impact assessment documents from Laos for their controversial Don Sahong dam, Cambodian and Vietnamese officials criticized Laos’ lack of transparency on the mainstream Mekong dam. Located less than 1 km from the Lao-Cambodian border, the 240-MW ...
Kuch Naren and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/officials-criticize-laos-over-don-sahong-dam-44888/
WWF calls for emergency MRC meeting over Laos' decision to build 2nd dam
The World Wildlife Fund, one of the biggest conservation groups, has called for an emergency meeting with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in the wake of Laos’ decision to proceed with a second dam on the river. There are fears that this move will seriously undermine ...
The Nation News Staff
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/WWF-calls-for-emergency-MRC-meeting-over-Laos-deci-30216410.html
Controversial Dam Approved on Cambodia-Laos Border
Laos has notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that it will go ahead with the construction of the Don Sahong Dam, which environmentalists say could threaten the ecosystem of the Lower Mainstream Mekong and have a severe impact on the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands ...
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/controversial-dam-approved-on-cambodia-laos-border-44401/
Community Patrol Gets Luxury-Wood Haul
A community forest patrol of locals yesterday confiscated a large haul of illegally logged luxury wood that was being transported to the Vietnamese border in Mondolkiri province, local officials said. Commune police chief Pech Sotheary said the case has been referred to provincial forestry administration ...
Mech Dara, P.20
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/
Three Charged for Logging Rosewood in Angkor
The Siem Reap Provincial Court charged three men Wednesday with illegally logging luxury rosewood inside the Angkor Archaeological Park, a Unesco world heritage site, officials said. Provincial prosecutor Heng Pheng said the suspects had been identified as Sun Phearak, 20, Phay Sophea, 18, and Phin Ron, ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-charged-for-logging-rosewood-in%E2%80%88angkor-42695/
Planned Mekong dams need environmental assessment
The Cambodian government’s plan to build 20 dams along the Mekong River, with a view to boosting energy security, could harm food security and biodiversity in the region, as well as ignite a regional conflict over sharing of the river’s water, a conference has heard. ...
SciDev.Net News Staff
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/water/news/planned-mekong-dams-need-environmental-assessment.html