Environment and natural resources

Rangers from the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province intercepted two men and a minor allegedly smuggling more than 50 wild animals on Saturday evening, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Koh Nhek district police. ...

Some 100 pieces of luxury wood believed to be from the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary area were seized at the house of a military officer near the Vietnamese border on Friday, officials said yesterday. ...

More than $85 million worth of timber was exported from Cambodia to Vietnam during the first half of the year, according to Vietnamese customs data, despite a blanket ban Cambodia has placed on all timber exports to its eastern neighbor. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his officials to revoke the licenses of any investment and construction firms found doing little or nothing with the islands or land they said they would develop. ...

Evidence that a deadly pesticide is being used to kill wildlife at watering holes in two provinces has raised fears of widespread poisoning that could jeopardize biodiversity and the health of rural communities, according to a new report.   ...

A female Irrawaddy dolphin and its baby were found dead yesterday morning in Kratie province’s Chet Borei district, though the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the cause of death is still unknown.   ...

Authorities stopped a truck illegally transporting a load of valuable timber through Kratie province on Saturday, but failed to apprehend the driver and his assistant, who fled on foot, an official said on Sunday.   ...

A police squad working with government officials in Kratie province stopped a truck loaded full of luxury wood in Chet Borei’s Changkrang village on Saturday afternoon. ...

The government has given up on trying to auction off the majority of 71,000 cubic meters of illegally logged timber seized by authorities earlier this year amid a persistent lack of interest from potential buyers. រដ្ឋាភិបាលបានបញ្ឈប់ការព្យាយាមលក់ដេញថ្លៃចំពោះឈើភាគច្រើននៃចំនួនសរុប ៧១ ០០០ ម៉ែត្រគូប ដែលបានមកពីការរឹបអូសដោយអាជ្ញាធរកាលពីដើមឆ្នាំនេះ ខណៈពេលដែលមានកង្វះខាតនៃចំណាប់អារម្មណ៍ពីអ្នកទិញ។  ...

From the snowy plateaus of Tibet to the mountain gorges of China’s Yunnan province and beyond to the jungled borders of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and down to the plains of Cambodia and paddy fields of Vietnam – the Mekong River is of crucial importance to ...

Thousands of cubic metres of endangered Siamese rosewood were sent to Vietnam in 2014 with export permits bearing the Photoshopped signature of a retired Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) secretary of state, a ministry official said yesterday. ...

An endangered Asian elephant died in eastern Cambodia after sustaining a severe foot wound caused by a snare trap, officials said on Monday. ...

A $2.6 million deal by Walt Disney Company to preserve nearly 300,000 hectares of eastern Cambodian forest through the purchase of carbon credits will need to overcome past failures to succeed, critics said on Monday. ...

The Walt Disney Company has purchased $2.6 million in carbon credits in the forests of Mondulkuri province – marking the largest carbon credit sale to date in Cambodia and breathing life into a carbon-trading program many had written off as all but dead. ...

The lower basin of the trans-boundary Mekong River starts from Laos and runs through Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam before emptying into the East Sea (South China Sea). Any attempts to interrupt the natural status of the river would pose risks to Viet Nam’s Cuu ...

A new species of ant has been discovered in Cambodia by researchers from Japan. Its name is Crematogaster indosinensis, and it is described in Annals of the Entomological Society of America. ...

Soldiers in Thailand fatally shot a logger from Battambang province who slipped across the border with six other Cambodians to cut rosewood on Wednesday night, authorities said.   ...

World Wildlife Fund for Cambodia and the Ministry of Environment launched a glossy, 76-page picture booklet about the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province yesterday, with the goal of educating the public about the benefits of protecting wildlife and countering poaching.   ...

In a statement last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature identified ongoing fires in flooded forests as a major threat to the Tonle Sap lake. ...

A Japanese firm, Gomi Recycle 110, plans to invest in a factory in Svay Rieng province to recycle plastic waste into finished products for local markets. Yusuke Okumura, director of Gomi, met with Cambodia’s Minister of Environment Say Samal on Tuesday seeking support from the government ...

Four members of a forest patrol were ambushed in Preah Vihear’s Cheam Pen community forest on Tuesday afternoon, according to deputy forest chief Ros Lim. ...

Environmental DNA collection could be a “silver bullet” for tracking and protecting critically endangered fish in the Mekong, according to a new report.   ...

More than $90,000 worth of luxury timber seized during National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) raids in Stung Treng province will be up for public auction until July 29, the Ministry of Economic and Finance announced last week. ...

Forestry officials in Preah Vihear province confiscated more than 1,100 kg of valuable rosewood early on Tuesday morning, while the two men suspected of transporting the wood were on the run, officials said.   ...