Forests and forestry
Forest protection
Call to protect ancient temple in Prey Lang
The Ministry of Environment has appealed to authorities and the community to protect a temple discovered in Prey Lang forest in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district. Minister of Environment Say Sam Al lead a delegation to visit Trapaing Prers temple in Prey Lang forest last ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5093920/call-protect-ancient-temple-prey-lang/
Mondulkiri gets new protected communities
The Ministry of Environment has recognised nine new natural protected communities in Mondulkiri province. The purpose of these communities is to ensure the stability of local ecosystems and the protection of the natural habitat in the region. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5093479/mondulkiri-gets-new-protected-communities/
Impunity threatens Mondulkiri preserves
Speaking at a workshop hosted by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) on the past four years of conservation in the so-called Eastern Plains Landscape – a project with $1.42 million in funding from the EU and an additional $420,000 from USAID and the ...
Phak Seangly and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/impunity-threatens-mondulkiri-preserves
Oknha accused of logging in protected forest
The environment minister has promised to investigate allegations that a tycoon-owned company is using a land concession to illegally log wood in a protected area in Preah Vihear province. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/oknha-accused-logging-protected-forest
Vietnam timber smugglers given jail sentence
Seven Vietnamese nationals who are tied to a timber smuggling ring along with top Mondulkiri provincial officials were sentenced to one year in prison yesterday. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vietnam-timber-smugglers-given-jail-sentence
Conservationists warn government of encroachment
Conservation NGOs yesterday raised the issue of alleged land grabs in the country’s protected areas by the military and local authorities at a resources protection forum, asking Environment Minister Say Sam Al to intervene. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/conservationists-warn-government-encroachment
Officials find logs hidden on riverbed
Some 124 logs of luxury timber were discovered on a riverbed on Sunday within Mondulkiri’s Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary some 500 metres from a military base, officials said yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/officials-find-logs-hidden-riverbed
Sesan locals set up ‘illegal’ village
Families living in a commune flooded by the Lower Sesan II dam have set up a new village on their community forest without the permission of local authorities. Residents of Sre Ko commune were offered new homes in a different area and compensation to leave ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5090324/sesan-locals-set-illegal-village/
Timber oknha misses hearing
An oknha accused of overseeing a massive illegal logging scheme in Mondulkiri has yet to appear for a court summons issued more than a month ago, according to the investigating judge. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/timber-oknha-misses-hearing
Authorities ‘ignore’ Sesan villagers
The last families refusing to relocate from their homes near the Lower Sesan II dam have accused local authorities of being unwilling to settle their case. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5089323/authorities-ignore-sesan-villagers/
Stork nest discoveries celebrated
Government officials and environmental groups yesterday celebrated the discovery of 121 lesser adjutant stork nests in Preah Vihear province, chalking the success up to a joint programme to hire locals to guard the nests. Environment Ministry rangers and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) workers started counting ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/stork-nest-discoveries-celebrated
Forest clearing ‘rampant’ in Prey Lang
Illegal logging within the Prey Lang protected forest decreased significantly year-on-year over a six-month period ending in February, collected data show, though forest-clearing in the area remains rampant. ...
Phak Seangly and Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forest-clearing-rampant-prey-lang
Sesan locals agree to new village
Families refusing to relocate from their homes near the Lower Sesan II dam have said they will all leave if they can establish a new village on their community forest and ancestral lands. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087808/sesan-locals-agree-new-village/
Six sanctuaries proposed
The Environment Ministry is to request the creation of six new protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and boost conservation in the country. Tim Sitha, deputy director of the general department of conservation, said the ministry has been studying the potential to establish the new areas. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087603/six-sanctuaries-proposed/
Authorities allowing logging, activists say
Villagers and NGOs have accused local authorities, including forestry and environmental officials, of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in exchange for unfettered logging expeditions in Preah Vihear province’s Preah Roka protected forest. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/authorities-allowing-logging-activists-say
Flood victims want new homes on ancestral lands
The last families refusing to relocate from two communes near the Lower Sesan II dam are considering asking the authorities to establish a new village on ancestral lands close to their original homes as flood waters in the area continue to rise. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087400/flood-victims-want-new-homes-ancestral-lands/
Kampong Thom gets community forests
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday announced the establishment of two community forest areas over 4,500 hectares in Kampong Thom province’s Santuk district. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5084730/kampong-thom-gets-community-forests/
Baby cranes
Fifty endangered sarus cranes have hatched from 27 nests protected by conservationists and villagers in Cambodia’s Northern Plains, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The nests are in Kulen Promtep and Chhep wildlife sanctuaries. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/baby-cranes
Space tech to aid park preservation
The Apsara Authority has extended an agreement with China’s International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage to continue using its remote sensing technology to discover and preserve ancient temples in Siem Reap province. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5083666/space-tech-aid-park-preservation/
Hello, deer
Four endangered hog deer, once thought to be extinct in Cambodia, were caught on camera in Kratie province for the first time in a decade, according to the World Wildlife Fund. ...
Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hello-deer
Fight forest crimes, PM urges
Prime Minister Hun Sen declared a passion for forest protection yesterday, urging officials to improve the efficiency of forest crime prevention. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5079501/fight-forest-crimes-pm-urges/
Sand facility allowed to operate
A Koh Kong environmental official yesterday said a company with a sand-washing facility in an area where the Ministry of Mines and Energy last month banned sand dredging would be allowed to keep and operate its facility. ...
Phak Seangly and Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sand-facility-allowed-operate
Villagers attack officials after logging bust
Police are investigating after a mob of villagers in Preah Vihear province let fly with fence posts in a clash with environmental officials following a logging bust, leaving the chief of Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary with a serious head injury. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-attack-officials-after-logging-bust
Community forests fall short
A newly leaked document attesting to a $15,000 deal between representatives of Ratanakkiri’s Samut Krom village and a timber trader to allow Vietnamese-backed logging in the community’s forest appears to add further weight to its critique. ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/community-forests-fall-short