Forests and forestry

Several National Assembly commissions met yesterday to discuss a draft law adopting the policies of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation. The meeting was led by Chheang Vun, chairman of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Media; Yim Savy, chairman of the Commission ...

According to Gray, the snaring crisis is worst in Vietnam and Laos, but is increasing in Cambodia – where he works – as well as Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. In some places – even protected areas – it is so bad that scientists talk of ...

The owner of a timber handicraft workshop and one of his workers were arrested yesterday for allegedly handling illegal luxury wood. Eam Bunly, 45, owner of the workshop in Spean Meanchey commune in Mondulkiri province, and Doeun Sokhim, 35, were detained by Sen Monorom city ...

An endangered gaur was one of “many” wild animals found dead in “dozens” of illegal traps in Pailin province’s Phnom Khieu Wildlife Sanctuary, said Chit Thy, a military officer working with rangers to protect the conservation area, on Wednesday. ...

Apsara Authority officials and local police yesterday completed a three-day investigation into illegal logging on Angkor Archaeological Park grounds, noting that one man was detained and released after signing a contract to stop cutting trees. ...

A group of villagers from a community forest inside Preah Vihear province’s Phnom Tnout Wildlife Sanctuary are collecting thumbprints to evict a family that has been protecting the forest from illegal logging and preventing poaching of endangered species. ...

Chumnoab commune authorities in Koh Kong province have started to dismantle the Areng Valley community office despite appeals from the community to keep it. On March 21, Chumnoab commune officials advised the Areng Valley community to relocate their office because the land it was on ...

A new marine protected area has been established off the coast of Kep province to protect biodiversity and prevent illegal fishing, officials said on Sunday. A directive by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officially established the marine fisheries management area, which spans more ...

Eight environmental organisations yesterday asked the government to take immediate action against loggers and land speculators in a wildlife sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, worrying that more land will be encroached upon. ...

Kratie provincial authorities were searching on Wednesday for the owners of hundreds of cubic metres of first-grade timber found loaded onto seven heavy trucks during a raid on a warehouse in Snuol district. After getting a tip-off, Military Police, police, Forestry Administration and court officials ...

An environmental ranger and a community forest member on Tuesday were released from prison under court supervision following their brief detention after allegedly firing at a suspect hauling timber within a protected area supported by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in Battambang province. ...

The director of Kampong Speu’s protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and his predecessor have been charged with illegally clearing forest in a case dating back to 2013, and have been summoned to court for questioning. ...

Kratie’s Prek Prasap district authorities on Friday confiscated a bulldozer in connection with the clearing of 10 hectares of forestland near the protected Prey Lang forest, officials said on Sunday. ...

The European Union and WWF yesterday launched a $3.4 million project to conserve natural resources in Mondulkiri province. According to a press release issued yesterday, the EU and WWF have officially launched a project worth $3.4 million to support sustainable management of rich forest resources in ...

Environmental officials in Pursat are questioning rangers over how a group of local journalists discovered nearly 100 logs of luxury timber inside a wildlife sanctuary. After receiving a tip, the journalists, representing 24 small online media outlets, teamed up with five local policemen on Tuesday ...

An Areng Valley representative on Monday visited the Chumnoab commune office in Koh Kong province to plead with authorities not to remove a community office that has been slated for demolition to make way for a new commune office. ...

A complaint filed at the Preah Vihear Provincial Court accuses four Kuoy ethnic villagers of goading some 70 others into confiscating tractors being used to clear community land by a subsidiary of the Chinese sugar company Rui Feng, which has been involved in a series ...

A series of quarterly reports from the National Bank of Cambodia raises questions about the government’s ban on timber exports, as they show that last year, more than $5 million in sawn timber was exported from the Kingdom. The latest report, released earlier this month ...

Authorities seized more than 200 kilograms of trafficked wildlife in two cases in Mondulkiri on Wednesday. Provincial Environment Department Director Keo Sopheak said four men on two motorbikes were arrested hauling 100 kilos of illegal wildlife meat out of Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The Chumnoab commune authority in Koh Kong province’s Thmar Baing district yesterday ordered Areng Valley residents to move their community office to a new location to make way for its new office. According to a letter released yesterday by Chumnoab commune, commune officials asked Areng residents ...

The Prey Lang Community Network has cancelled an annual Buddhist ceremony it holds each year to commemorate forests, preserve indigenous identity and promote the potential of the Prey Lang forest, citing bad weather and fear of being harassed by authorities. ...

Police in Kampong Cham province on Monday found a haul of 41 rosewood logs in a Lexus heading towards the Vietnamese border, while police in Stung Treng province discovered some 30 cubic metres of illegal timber on Sunday. No suspects were arrested in either case. ...

Two protected wildlife sanctuaries – Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary in Kratie province and Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces – have been dissolved under a royal decree, with at least one conservationist on Sunday saying the move illustrated the government’s failure ...

Stung Treng provincial environmental officials on Sunday confiscated two excavators that were inside the Anlong Phe Wildlife Sanctuary and will send the case to court, according to an official. Eng Phirong, director of the provincial Environmental Department, said he received a report from villagers in ...