Forests and forestry

The Banteay Srei district authority in Siem Reap province ordered some 1,000 families to dismantle hundreds of huts they had illegally built to grab state land near Phnom Kulen, in Tbeng Lech village and Srah Khvav village in Tbeng commune. District governor Khim Finan said ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in the first three quarters of this year, Cambodia earned $5.7 million in royalties from forest produce – an increase of nearly $2 million compared to the same period last year when it earned $4 million. The ...

Mondulkiri provincial police are on the lookout for suspects behind 168 pieces of Sokrom timber that were felled and hidden in five different locations in Keo Seima district’s Sre Khtum commune. District police chief Van Dany told The Post on Wednesday that a joint task ...

Mondulkiri provincial governor Svay Sam Eang on Monday rejected an allegation made by a prominent Supreme Council for Consultation member that he had lied to Prime Minister Hun Sen in his report about encroachment on the protected Phnom Dos Kromom mountain. ...

Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang has reclaimed 413ha of state land that he said had been illegally occupied in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Oral district’s Trapaing Chor commune. In a letter seen by The Post on Sunday, the governor said You Sithat had ...

The Siem Reap provincial administration has ordered its relevant authorities to take legal measures against anyone illegally clearing and grabbing wetland, community land or natural protected areas. It also urged them to immediately stop issuing ownership letters and documents for such land. The announcement, obtained ...

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court on Sunday decided to detain Te Kim San, the former head of the mining community in Keo Seima district’s Chung Phlas commune, on charges of collecting forest by-products and building an illegal timber processing facility. ...

Battambang provincial court has charged a man who illegally cleared hundreds of hectares of protected forest land for sale as housing lots in Battambang province’s Samlot district since 2015. Long Vuthy, 48, was arrested on September 15 by joint forces from the provincial authority and National ...

Mondulkiri Provincial Court has issued warrants of arrest against three well-known tycoons who failed to appear for questioning over suspected large-scale illegal logging operations.​ ...

A Mondulkiri commune chief and its head of police are among three people who could face up to five years in jail for allegedly allowing protected forest to be illegally cleared after complaints were filed with the provincial court. ...

A senior Agriculture Ministry official on Tuesday appeared at Mondulkiri Provincial Court to clarify how companies, including a Vietnamese firm under investigation over illegal logging, are granted Economic Land Concessions. Mam Vanda, provincial court spokesman, yesterday said that Chan Savuth, a ministry secretary of state, provided ...

Forest activists continue to claim that Korean-owned Think Biotech Cambodia Co Ltd is involved in illegal deforestation in the Prey Lang area, especially harvesting timber from resin trees, but the authorities say the company is operating legitimately. ...

Kampong Speu provincial authorities found 12 logs measuring a total of 40 cubic metres in a two-day operation over Tuesday and Wednesday in Oral district’s Sangke Satoap commune. Three trucks also found at the scene were impounded. Provincial governor Vey Samnang said two of the ...

The Apsara Authority has announced that it will begin construction of canals surrounding forest areas in Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province this week in a bid to preserve the historical site. Chum Sopheakmakara, acting director-general of the Apsara Authority, in a statement issued on ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Administration is probing a news report that a private company had colluded with the local authorities to buy 40ha in the Botum Sakor National Park. Provincial hall spokesman Sok Sothy said on Sunday that the administration was only aware of one ...

Civil society organisations along with local authorities in Kampot province have kick-started a campaign to plant 100,000 mangrove trees in eight communities in the province throughout September to December. The campaign was jointly organised between ActionAid, Children and Women Development Centre in Cambodia, Samaky Organisation, Kampot ...

National Military Police commander Sao Sokha ordered the destruction on Monday of 10 makeshift vehicles that were used in forestry crimes in Battambang province. Sokha, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Forestry Crimes, ordered officers to destroy them ...

Some 70 NGO representatives, forest activists and university students signed an open letter urging the government to find ways to prevent and combat forestry crimes more effectively. In their petition released on Saturday, the group said they had been observing the government’s clampdowns over the ...

Authorities are on the hunt for a man who escaped custody on Tuesday after being arrested for allegedly transporting luxurious timber in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. The suspect was detained by environmental rangers at the Keo Seima Wildlife sanctuary headquarters on Monday but ran off ...

A plan to establish a $5.5 million luxury tree breeding centre was set in motion during a meeting between the Agriculture Ministry and China’s Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation yesterday. The plan was raised by Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon and Zhao Shucong, ...

The Environment Ministry has planted 40,000 tree saplings in the protected areas of Preah Jayavarman-Norodom National Park in Siem Reap province and Beong Per Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province. The tree planting event was held on Friday and Saturday, and involved provincial authorities, monks, and ...

The Council of Ministers has authorised the courts to allow the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes to freeze the assets of anyone involved in forestry crimes. ...

The director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) requested the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday order an investigation into an alleged land grab in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Oral district’s Trapaing Chor commune in Kampong Speu province. NRWPO director Chea Hean ...

Cambodia is seeking Vietnam’s help to curb timber smuggling and crack down on forestry crimes along shared borders. National Assembly Foreign Affairs commission chairman Chheang Vun made the request to his Vietnamese counterpart during a two-day conference of parliamentarians from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in ...