Forests and forestry
Forest protection
Cambodian authorities question six people in deadly forest attack
Authorities in a northern Cambodian province on Monday rounded up six suspects for questioning in the killing of two officials and wounding of another who were on patrol in a preserved forest area, in the latest apparent confrontation between illegal loggers and officials, provincial police ...
Hang Savyouth, Khe Sonorng
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodian-authorities-question-six-people-in-deadly-forest-attack-11092015162216.html
Police officer, official shot dead by illegal loggers
A police officer and a Forestry Administration official were shot dead by illegal loggers in Preah Vihear province early Saturday morning in an attack that also left a second officer injured, according to a local official who gave two different versions of the incident. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-officer-official-shot-dead-by-illegal-loggers-99694/
Charting the next seven years of environmental policy
Work began yesterday on Cambodia’s first national environmental plan in more than a decade. Once completed, the National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) will form the backbone of Cambodia’s environmental policy until 2023. The far-reaching plan – which is expected to be put into ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17414/charting-the-next-seven-years-of-environmental-policy/
Cambodia: peaceful direct action has saved one of our most beautiful forests
An environmental activist explains how a grassroots campaign has stalled the building of a dam in Cambodia. We started making more videos and putting them on Facebook. Even locals who didn’t have internet at home were somehow finding the videos and interest started picking up ...
Alejandro Gonzalez Davidson
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/oct/27/cambodia-peaceful-direct-action-has-saved-one-of-our-most-beautiful-forests
Loggers threaten Cambodian forest and wildlife preserve
A protected forest and wildlife sanctuary in northern Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province has come under threat of illegal logging, with migrants to the area and soldiers clearing land and cutting down trees, sources say. ...
Hang Savyouth
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/threaten-10132015165540.html
Loggers threaten Cambodian forest and wildlife preserve
A protected forest and wildlife sanctuary in northern Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province has come under threat of illegal logging, with migrants to the area and soldiers clearing land and cutting down trees, sources say.Local residents and activists are urging Cambodia’s government to help protect the ...
Hang Savyouth
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/threaten-10132015165540.html
Dumpsite at Samlot still awaits green light
Doubts have been cast on long-standing plans for a 34-hectare dumpsite in Pailin’s Samlot Protected Forest following an inspection by the environment minister on Saturday. Ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap yesterday said that following the inspection, the minister has called for further research before the project ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dumpsite-samlot-still-awaits-green-light
Japanese zoo confirms swap, tries to allay fears
The director of Hirakawa Zoo in Japan has reportedly publicly stated his zoo wishes to acquire two Asian elephants currently housed at Teuk Chhou Zoo in Kampot province as part of a controversial animal swap deal. ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/japanese-zoo-confirms-swap-tries-allay-fears
Environmental group says ‘inactive’ government has failed its forests
The Prey Lang Community Network, which works to protect Cambodian forests, has been selected by UNDP for an Equator Prize, for outstanding community organizing. In an interview with VOA Khmer, the group’s spokesman, Seng Sok Heng, says the government is “inactive” in protecting Cambodian forests, some ...
Aun Chhengpor
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/environmental-group-says-inactive-government-has-failed-its-forests/2982661.html
Cambodian villagers fall victim to clampdowns on forest communities
Cambodians authorities have cracked down on villagers in three forest communities, arresting them or forcing them to stop clearing land for subsistence agriculture, while companies, military personnel and the government continue to encroach upon the areas, according to commune leaders and rights group officials. ...
Hang Savyouth, Tha Keisya and Men Sothy
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-villagers-fall-victim-to-clampdown-on-forest-communities-09282015164706.html
Chainsaws to be set ablaze
Community forest monitors in Preah Vihear province who seized more than 20 chainsaws over the course of a recent weeklong patrol of the Preah Roka forest now plan to ask local officials to join them in publicly setting the confiscated equipment ablaze, according to community ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/chainsaws-be-set-ablaze
Nine Cambodian provinces face loss of EU funding for forestry management project
Nine forest communities across Cambodia on Friday expressed concern about illegal land encroachment and logging operations as a European Union-funded sustainable forest management project which helped communities in wooded areas thrive comes to an end. ...
Hang Savyouth and Oum Rainsey
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/nine-cambodian-provinces-face-loss-of-eu-funding-for-forestry-management-project-09182015165712.html
Plan hatched to save Ibis
A new 10-year action plan proposed by a host of NGOs aims to reverse the fortunes of Cambodia’s national bird, the giant ibis, which faces increasing pressure from human encroachment in its dwindling habitat.With fewer than 200 mature individuals now believed to survive in the ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/plan-hatched-save-ibis
Poacher flees police in M’kiri after killing endangered deer
Forestry Administration officers confiscated the hacked-up body of an illegally hunted sambar deer in Mondulkiri province on Sunday, though the poacher avoided arrest by escaping into the protected forest where the bust took place. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/poacher-flees-police-mkiri-after-killing-endangered-deer
Protecting fishing cats’ habitat is vital
The release last week of camera-trap photos showing fishing cats prowling wetlands in Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk provinces drew cheers from environmentalists as well as a note of caution – ensuring their survival will require plenty of work. ...
Jack Laurenson
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15541/protecting-fishing-cats----habitat-is-vital/
NGO files suit over ‘seizures’ in Phnom Oral
A Kampong Speu-based NGO has accused a police officer and several rangers working for the provincial Environment Department of seizing more than 100 hectares of Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary, demanding a court order to restore the land and hold the parties to account. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngo-files-suit-over-seizures-phnom-oral
Vultures ‘needed in north’
The role played by vultures in maintaining the environment by stripping the carcasses of dead animals was celebrated yesterday at an event in Preah Vihear province, where conservationists and officials pledged to do more to protect the species’ dwindling numbers. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vultures-needed-north
New report shows huge loss of Cambodia’s forest
Economic land concessions are having a huge impact on Cambodia’s northeastern forests, a new reports shows. Still, those who attended Wednesday’s seminar urged the government to do more to stop the practice. Based on calculations of the number of logging trucks counted leaving the ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/new-report-shows-huge-loss-of-cambodia-forest/2933337.html
Ranger claims villagers given OK to clear trees
Rangers patrolling the Samlot Protected Area in the provinces of Battambang and Pailin say a 34-hectare section of the jungle is being cleared by villagers with impunity from local authorities. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ranger-claims-villagers-given-ok-clear-trees
More primates released at Angkor, deer to follow
The Angkor Wildlife Release Project successfully released a third group of primates into the Angkor Archaeological Park earlier this summer. An enclosure for two species of deer is now under construction. ...
Naomi-Collett Ritz
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14636/more-primates-released-at-angkor--deer-to-follow/
Prey Lang campaign kicks off
As deforestation in Cambodia’s forests has grown in recent years, more and more citizens have come together to fight against it. Now, a group of 300 people are going to campaign for awareness about the destruction of Prey Lang, the largest evergreen forest in the ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14222/prey-lang-campaign-kicks-off/
Tree-planting campaigns target deforestation
Faced with Cambodia’s rapid deforestation, a group of monks and environmental groups want to replenish Cambodia’s natural world. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14099/tree-planting-campaigns-target-deforestation/
(Un)Protected Areas
In Cambodia’s wildlife sanctuaries, conservation areas and national parks, forests are falling as fast as anywhere else. ...
Zsombor Peter and Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/unprotectedareas/
ELCs tied to destruction of forests in new report
Cambodis’s most crucial forests are disappearing at a rate of more than 2,000 kilometres a year, as agricultural firms continue to harvest timber by illegal means in protected areas and national parks, according to a study from Washington-based Forest Trends. ...
Ethan Harfenist
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/elcs-tied-destruction-forests-new-report