Forests and forestry

As the impacts of climate change become more apparent worldwide, members of the public are connecting more weather events to the phenomenon. In March and April, for example, extreme heat baked mainland Southeast Asia. On April 20, Vietnam set an all-time observed record high temperature, 43 ...

Three community activists from Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province’s Pech Chreada district have claimed that they received death threats from the owner of four sawmills after they took photographs of alleged illegal logging from the community forest. ...

Another five people were arrested and five tractors seized in Preah Vihear province’s Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary late last week, but all were subsequently released after being educated and ordered to pay fines, an environmental ranger said on Sunday. ...

The government’s Auction Committee has announced a public auction of more than 1,500 cubic metres of illegally logged timber at a starting price of some 1.4 billion riel (approximately $353,000). This is based on a June 6 announcement by the Ministry of Environment’s General Department ...

More than 1,000 families living inside and near wildlife sanctuaries in the Kingdom’s northern provinces have seen their livelihood significantly boosted thanks to an NGO-initiated project. And most of the families have become role models for farmers and natural resource conservationists due to the efforts ...

The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) said that on behalf of rangers, it will formally request the Ministry of Environment next week to provide proper vehicles to transport evidence of forestry crimes. ...

The Kratie provincial Military Police raided a timber broker’s premises in Kratie town’s O’Russey commune on Tuesday, seizing eight vans which were allegedly attempting to transport logs illegally to Vietnam. Kratie Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Chea Sopheak told The Post on Tuesday that Kratie provincial ...

A prominent forest monitoring group on Monday urged the government to combat illegal logging and poaching in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, which it claimed had seen a drastic increase in forestry crimes during the first five months of this year. The Prey Lang Community ...

Five new chainsaws and six makeshift tractors were impounded by the Prey Preah Roka Forest Community Network (PPRFCN) and rangers during a three-day forest patrol from June 7-9 in Preah Vihear province. Sun Pov, a PPRFCN representative who also participated in the forest protection campaign, ...

The Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme for Cambodia (NTFP-EP Cambodia) considers non-timber forest product (NTFP) groups and associations the key to encouraging social and environmental protection in Cambodia, said an NTFP-EP Cambodia press release. ...

Authorities in Preah Vihear province have begun assigning plots of land to 180 families in Sra Em commune, ending a dispute between them and the Preah Vihear Temple Authority. Representatives of the 180 families have rallied multiple times in front of various government offices and ...

Environmental specialists are currently clearing the forest surrounding two recently discovered temples and preparing a road leading to them, Ratanakkiri provincial Department of Environment director Phon Khemerin said. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Saturday acknowledged that there had been illegal logging in the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in Pursat province. Civil society groups lauded the acknowledgement and urged the authorities to immediately combat the crimes. ...

Ecosystems play an important role in sustaining not only plants and animals, but also humans. But as demands for development continue, a balance between investments and sustainability remains elusive in Ream National Park. A forest ranger is geared with a bag behind his back and a ...

Authorities in Battambang province have stopped some 150 residents, led by a powerful official, from planting tree saplings in the Samlot Protected Area, amid allegations that the act was merely a pretext to seize protected land for private ownership. ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) is planning a joint patrol this month with activists from four provinces – Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear – to scout the protected area and crack down on forestry crimes. Kheng Kho, a PLCN representative in ...

Bunong indigenous residents in Dak Dam commune in Mondulkiri province’s O’Raing district have accused the authorities of ignoring the clearing of community forest land at Chrey Thom waterfall resort and a local cemetery despite repeated complaints since 2017. ...

Nearly 30 pieces of sralao and koki timber measuring 3m long and 30 to 40cm in diameter were found by locals at three sites in O’Raing district’s Dak Dam commune in Mondulkiri province on Tuesday. The timber was hidden in a forest around 1km from ...

More than 300 kakoh logs were confiscated on Monday by Ratanakkiri provincial anti-financial crime police, in cooperation with Banlung district authorities at a secret timber storage site in Yeak Loam commune’s Labo village. The logs have been handed over to local Forestry Administration officials pending legal procedures. ...

Cambodia’s Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary is symbolic of the country’s poor forestry management. Around 2,000 square kilometres (sq km) – around three times the size of Singapore – is lost to illegal logging in Cambodia every year where wildlife sanctuaries – despite their name – ...

Hundreds of cars, thousands of motorbikes and chainsaws and a haul of timber impounded as evidence at Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary are falling into disrepair and should be moved for proper care, said provincial environment department director Keo Sopheak. ...

The Agriculture Ministry collected more than $2 million in forestry revenue during the first three months of this year. A ministry report issued on April 22, and obtained yesterday, said it collected about $2.3 million in riel and also $69,281 in licensing and export revenue. ...

The director of Mondulkiri province’s Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuary, Han Sokhon, is set to face legal action from an indigenous community. The villagers allege he colluded to exploit the very forest he was meant to safeguard after villagers discovered illegal logging in the protected area. ...

WWF-Cambodia is collaborating with the Mondulkiri provincial Department of Environment to install “Source” hydro-panels to collect water from the air for use, the director of the Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary said on Monday. The technological breakthrough from the Arizona-based Zero Mass Water company aims to produce ...