Forests and forestry

Villagers from the Tumpuon ethnic minority group in Keng San community forest are accusing the local authority and some community members of colluding with timber traders to illegally fell large trees and clear dozens of hectares of forest land in their community. ...

Villagers claim that rampant illegal logging is taking place at the Phnom Namlear Wildlife Sanctuary and local authorities are not doing enough to curb the activity. Every night about 20 to 30 lorries remove luxury timber from the wildlife sanctuary, which is fast depleting its ...

Koh Kong provincial hall on Tuesday revoked ownership of land near the protected Peam Krasoap Wildlife Sanctuary to prevent further land clearing in the area. Its announcement raised fears among local communities of a potential forced eviction. “All illegal land ownership or unregistered land at ...

Some 300 pieces of timber were discovered and two men arrested in separate cases in Pursat and Mondulkiri provinces as they were transporting the logs to Vietnam. National Military Police on Monday found piles of first-grade timber measuring nine cubic metres in Pursat’s Veal Veng ...

A joint task-force consisting of the national police and Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh district police on Saturday arrested five people found transporting illegally-felled timber in Santre commune. ...

Senior Environment Ministry officials on Saturday agreed to continue to work together and cooperate with local forest rangers in order to maintain order and prevent forestry crimes from occurring in Kirirom national park. ...

The Mondulkiri provincial authority on Wednesday refuted claims that it had turned a blind eye to illegal timber trafficking to neighbouring Vietnam. The denial followed the discovery of over 500 pieces of first-grade timber by the National Military Police in protected areas and local media ...

Rights group Licadho said yesterday that a forestry crime reporting mechanism set in place by Koh Kong provincial Governor Mithona Phouthorng to protect tipsters is ineffective as residents fear repercussion from powerful figures. ...

Ratanakkiri police and forestry administration officials yesterday raided a house and seized a large pile of various types of timber in O’Yadav district’s Pork Nhai commune. District police chief Mao Sann said the seizure was made during a crackdown on illegal logging in the area. ...

Environmental officials at Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary stopped five vans and trucks transporting timber and wooden furniture in Thmey commune, Kulen district, Preah Vihear province on Tuesday and Wednesday. ...

The district governor of Koh Nheck in Mondulkiri province, Sin Vannvuth, on Tuesday confirmed that land located between the Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuary and protected forests in Royer commune, will not be seized by the state after authorities stopped its clearing. ...

The Stung Treng Provincial Forestry Administration yesterday said it confiscated 52 pieces of illegal wood in Stung Treng city on Monday after getting a tip that the cargo was being loaded onto a boat on the Sekong river. ...

The Mondulkiri provincial authorities on Sunday ordered the prevention of land and forest clearing in the protected Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuary in Koh Nhek district and neighbouring Lumphat wildlife sanctuary in Ratanakkiri province. ...

Junior Chamber International Cambodia, in collaboration with WCS Cambodia, will hold a two-day tree planting event in Mondulkiri province starting on August 17 as part of a campaign to grow about 50,000 trees from this year to 2020. ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Mondulkiri provincial authority to release on bail eight Vietnamese nationals who have been imprisoned for more than six months over an illegal timber trade. At an hour-long trial in absentia, the Supreme Court ordered the eight Vietnamese to ...

Cambodia will embark on developing a billion-dollar eco-tourism park on a 114-hectare land in Preah Vihear. It will use Japanese technology. The Royal Academy Cambodia (RAC) inked a deal with Japanese company BM Nature Safari Co Ltd on Saturday to develop the RAC Techo Sen ...

Authorities in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Chum district on Saturday commandeered 160 pieces of first-grade timber they stumbled upon. They believe the timber was a collected stash that illegal loggers had hidden in the forest as they waited for rain to cease before transporting it out, said ...

The Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Administration spokesman Keo Omaliss hit back on Thursday at a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report that claims the Greater Mekong will lose 30 percent of its forests by 2030 without drastic action. ...

At least 66 resin trees in the Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province’s Tbeng Meanchey district, have been felled so far this month, according to environmental activists. They say deforestation continues to grow unabated, as authorities suspended or cut the number of ...

Three boats carrying three containers with 53 pieces of luxury wood allegedly intended for export to Vietnam were confiscated by the Customs Navigation Office in Kampot province’s Prek Thnout commune on Tuesday, Kampot Military deputy police chief Keo Sophal said. ...

Military Police in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday confiscated 70 pieces of luxury timber that traders hid behind villagers’ homes in Pak Thom village, Pak Nhai commune, in O’Yadav district. Forestry Administration officers are set to confiscate the wood, which was intended for export to Vietnam ...

The Apsara Authority is stepping up its efforts to manage and maintain forest cover surrounding the Angkor World Heritage Site in Siem Reap province. At a meeting with about 250 officials and staff members of the authority’s forestry department on Wednesday, Hang Peou, deputy director-general ...

District authorities in Kampong Thom province on Tuesday arrested a Kampong Cham man who was allegedly driving a van hauling illegal wildlife and timber, according to Mom Sophal, chief of the Forestry Administration office in Kampong Thmor. ...

Activists in the northern provinces of Cambodia claimed on Tuesday that while police forces are busy providing security for the July 29 national elections, they are witnessing a worrying spike in forest crimes. Prey Lang Community Network activist Phok Hong told The Post that forest ...