Environment and natural resources
Forests and forestry
Cambodia taps national park travel
A Japanese company, A2A Town (Cambodia), has submitted a request to the Cambodian Ministry of Environment to establish helicopter flights from Phnom Penh to Preah Soramrit Kossamak Kirirom National Park in Kampong Speu province. ...
Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2015/07/cambodia-taps-national-park-travel/
Sawmill discovered in Oddar Meanchey forest; wood seized
Forestry officials in Oddar Meanchey province on Wednesday discovered a timber processing plant and thousands of lengths of luxury-grade wood in a remote forested area populated only by soldiers, officials said Thursday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sawmill-discovered-in-oddar-meanchey-forest-wood-seized-87247/
Monks to march to save Prey Lang forest
More than 100 monks from across the Kingdom will gather in Prey Lang forest on July 2 for four days before travelling to Phnom Penh to protest against illegal logging and other environmental threats to the forest, activist monk Venerable But Buntenh said. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12714/monks-to-march-to-save-prey-lang-forest/
Loggers tell of Thai jails
The logger’s teeth were smashed with the butt of a rifle and his friend fatally shot by a Thai paramilitary force formed to provide support to the Khmer Rouge. Chakrya*, 24, had ventured across the Dangrek Mountains in Cambodia’s far north to log Siamese rosewood, a ...
May Titthara and Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loggers-tell-thai-jails
Logging’s roots deep
Hun Sen’s Cambodia has been shaped by the collection of illegal timber dollars, profiting a politically connected elite and in turn ensuring the ruling party’s grip on the state apparatus, a leading Australian researcher has said. Sarah Milne, a research fellow at the Australian National University, ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loggings-roots-deep
Forest decimated by illegal logging
Members of local conservation group the Forest Protection Community announced plans last week to use their own staff members to patrol an area of forest in Anlong Veng that could be decimated by illegal loggers within months. ...
Naomi-Collett Ritz
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12542/forest-decimated-by-illegal-logging/
Farm produce sales discourage potential investors
The agriculture industry has lost its luster among industrial manufacturers and service providers. Tycoons are quietly withdrawing money from agriculture projects, just several years after pouring big money into the sector. Just a few years ago, Do Van Minh, Gemadept’s CEO, said that growing rubber ...
Vietnamnet News Staff
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/133619/farm-produce-sales-discourage-potential-investors.html
Bushmeat vendors let off with a warning in Ratanakkiri
Military police in Ratanakkiri province working with the NGO Wildlife Alliance confiscated 40 kg of bushmeat from two vendors at a Banlung City market Thursday morning but let the women go with a warning. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/bushmeat-vendors-let-off-with-a-warning-in-ratanakkiri-85903/
EU representative says community foresters can help against global warming
The European Union ambassador on Wednesday called on the Cambodian government to help combat climate change, foremost by reducing red tape for communities who want to form groups to protect what remains of the country’s forests. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/eu-rep-says-community-forresters-can-help-against-global-warming/2827806.html
Rangers in Seima report three busts
Rangers in eastern Cambodia’s Seima Protected Forest have reported seizing 32 animals in three separate busts over the past week, including more than a dozen endangered tortoises. ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rangers-seima-report-three-busts
Logger shot dead in Thailand, official says
A Cambodian man who had been illegally logging rosewood across the border in Thailand was shot dead by Thai soldiers on Friday, a village chief in Oddar Meanchey province said Tuesday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/logger-shot-dead-in-thailand-official-says-85715/
Cambodian forest activists urge authorities to tackle illegal logging
A group of activists in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province said Tuesday that their forest is under threat from illegal loggers in neighboring provinces and could be completely cleared within months if authorities do not step in to deal with the problem. ...
Savyouth Hang
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/logging-06162015131714.html
Illicit wood seized despite opposition
Nearly 20 cubic metres of timber were seized by local authorities in Stung Treng’s Thala Barivat district yesterday, despite alleged interference by a military police officer from Preah Vihear province, police said. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illicit-wood-seized-despite-opposition
Cambodian villagers demand raid on illegal saw mills, protection from loggers
A group of indigenous villagers in northeastern Cambodia’s Stung Treng province called on local forestry officials Wednesday to crackdown on illegal saw mills and to provide them with protection after they received death threats from unsanctioned loggers of luxury timber. ...
Men Sothy
http://bit.ly/1IGh6eM
NGO gives Hun Sen’s land titling project mixed marks
In perhaps the most comprehensive review to date of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s 2012 land titling project, the NGO Forum on Tuesday said the campaign has yielded major benefits, but not without some serious costs—particularly for the country’s beleaguered indigenous communities. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ngo-gives-hun-sens-land-titling-project-mixed-marks-85297/
Activists seize timber
Activists in Prey Lang forest yesterday seized chainsaws and illegally felled timber from a group of loggers as they continued to “ordain” the woodland’s largest trees in an effort to stop further offences. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activists-seize-timber
Soldiers, Singaporean firm to plant 6 million trees
The Ministry of Defense plans to work with a Singaporean company to plant six million trees in Cambodia that will eventually be turned into high-end perfume, medicine, tea, incense and furniture, an official said Thursday. One Plantation Holdings signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/soldiers-singaporean-firm-to-plant-6-million-trees-85039/
Smugglers of wood are busy before rainy season
More and more wood is being smuggled across the southwestern border. Smuggling prevention agencies said they had discovered many consignments of wood illegally imported from Laos and Cambodia across the border. ...
Vietnamnet News Staff
http://bit.ly/1Qrrkyq
Cambodian officials awaiting official invite for border meeting
Cambodian officials from two provinces bordering Thailand say they are awaiting confirmation of a meeting with Thai counterparts, to discuss illegal export of timber. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://bit.ly/1GUQAMW
Military police officer caught smuggling wood
A military police officer was arrested Monday night at a border checkpoint in Kampot province as he attempted to cross into Vietnam with almost 700 kg of illegally logged wood, police said Wednesday. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/military-police-officer-caught-smuggling-wood-82443
Loggers sent back from Thailand
Four Cambodian migrant workers who were arrested earlier this month for allegedly trying to re-enter Cambodia with fake documents were exonerated by a Thai court and released yesterday, Banteay Meanchey Deputy Governor Um Reatrey has said. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loggers-sent-back-thailand
Network bust doesn’t stop logging
Villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district last week seized several logs of illegal timber, ending what they said had been a lull in illegal logging since the arrests of two officials accused of colluding with loggers. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/network-bust-doesnt-stop-logging
Monitors accused of complicity in logging
Officials charged with protecting Cambodia’s Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary are colluding with loggers responsible for felling at least 300 trees each day, according to activists in the area. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/monitors-accused-complicity-logging
Hun Sen tells officials to stop passing blame
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday told provincial governors to take responsibility for curbing forestry crimes in their respective provinces and scolded officials who blame one another when illegal logging is uncovered. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-tells-officials-to-stop-passing-blame-81705/