Environment and natural resources

A steady stream of tractors loaded with timber clambered along the dirt roads heading out of the Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary last week, some carrying cheap firewood, others loaded with more valuable logs. ...

On the eve of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, about 140 young people gathered in Phnom Penh on Sunday to discuss the effects of climate change on Cambodia and ways that it can be mitigated. ...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province seized three vehicles packed with illegally logged luxury timber at separate locations inside the Snuol Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area in the space of two hours Saturday night but failed to apprehend any of the drivers. ...

An ethnic community in Mondulkiri province has rejected a cash offer from a company that wants to clear thousands of hectares of forest locals claim as their own, saying they value the land more than money. ...

The future of disposable packaging is banana leaves, according to the government and Unesco, which on Friday launched a campaign to “Make My Country Plastic Bag Free.” ...

Cambodia is the single most dangerous place in the world to work as an environmental journalist, according to a new report released by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) this week. ...

The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong river. With world leaders meeting in Paris next week for crucial UN climate talks, John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway – a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they ...

An estimated 30 to 40 cubic metres of protected luxury timber was intercepted in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday night while being hauled to Vietnam, according to local officials. ...

Four Cambodians have been released and deported by the Thai authorities after they were detained for three months on charges of illegally entering the country to log rosewood, border officials announced yesterday. ...

Decades after poachers stripped the forests surrounding Angkor Wat of large mammals, an innovative conservation group is bringing them back. Already, Wildlife Alliance has rewilded the forest with gibbons and langurs. And more are coming. ...

On the eve of the UN Climate Talks in Paris (COP 21), several hundred people are expected to attend “Together for Climate”, a rally coordinated by the Cambodia Climate Change Network (CCCN), on Sunday at the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Centre at Royal University of Phnom Penh. ...

UNESCO and the ministries of Tourism and Environment this weekend will launch a campaign aimed at ridding the capital of the plastic waste currently choking its waterways and piling up in its landfills.The campaign, starting on Friday, will seek to educate Cambodians about how to ...

The government has vowed to crack down on coastal hotels and resorts that have restricted public access to beaches or constructed illegal encroachments within 50 metres of the shoreline.Tourism Minister Thong Khon warned yesterday that his ministry will give private companies a deadline to remove ...

A freshwater Mekong dolphin was found dead yesterday morning on a river bank Prek Prosob district, Kratie province, where only only about 80 Mekong dolphins remain, according to officials. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday called for stronger cooperation in implementing the ASEAN-US Joint Statement on Climate Change, noting that the phenomenon is “obviously happening”. ...

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has produced a document laying out in detail the projected dire effects of climate change on the Kingdom, in the hopes it will help their voice be heard among the 25,000 delegates attending the upcoming Paris Climate Talks ...

A group of 15 Cambodians was arrested in Thailand on Tuesday for illegal logging in the country’s Sa Kaeo province, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday. ...

In the lead-up to the global climate change conference in Paris later this month, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith yesterday urged the media to increase reporting on the effects of climate change in Cambodia so that citizens can be better prepared for it. ...

Sand dredging in several areas of Koh Kong province has resumed following protests against the controversial practice earlier this year, local residents and an advocacy group have said. ...

Rubber and palm oil giant the Socfin Group has committed to a global “zero-deforestation policy” across Africa and Asia amid a legal dispute with ethnic Bunong communities in Mondulkiri province’s Bousraa commune. ...

Conservation experts and residents in Kratie province say they are concerned for the wellbeing of the Mekong River dolphin, especially if a major hydropower project is built upstream. Only about 80 Mekong dolphins are estimated to now live in Cambodia, down from 200 in 1997. ...

A stern warning to clean up or pay up was issued to litterbugs yesterday, with Interior Minister Sar Kheng announcing fines for improper waste disposal across the country. According to the sub-decree, people who do not follow guidelines on separating waste, or who dump or ...

After years of land-grabbing that has eroded a protected forest in Battambang Province, forestry administration officials took a forceful step yesterday to crack down on the problem. In the early hours of the morning, a team from the forestry administration alongside local police entered the ...

A mass eviction in Battambang province yesterday saw 100 locals kicked out of the Prey Tralach community forest, which local authorities claim was illegally inhabited and deforested by villagers. ...