Environment and natural resources

Six people across the country, including two young children, died in flood-related incidents yesterday, bringing the total number killed so far this rainy season to 17, according to government figures. Keo Vy, cabinet director at the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that fatalities were recorded ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has ordered provincial authorities to stop Vattanac Properties, a land developer, from filling in a lake in Kandal’s Kien Svay district because it would affect water supplies to farms of nearby residents. ...

The Mekong River Commission issued flood warnings on Wednesday for Kratie, Kampong Cham and Stung Treng as well as the southern Lao city of Pakse. After surpassing alarm levels in recent days, the Mekong is expected to reach the flood stage in Kratie on Saturday, according ...

A provincial police officer appeared for questioning at the Pailin Provincial Court on Tuesday after military police, led by a local wildlife NGO founded by U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, caught him transporting more than 177 kg of illegally logged rosewood on Sunday. Sor Phalla was arrested ...

Cambodian officials say flooding across 12 provinces has left at least eight people dead. The flooding has been caused by major rain due to Typhoon Rammasun, which has hit coastal China hard. Authorities say they expect the waters to recede in coming days, making this year’s ...

The death toll from recent floods has reached six people, while inundations have caused more than 4,400 families across four provinces to be evacuated from their homes, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. “The full extent of the damage is not known yet,” said ...

Rainfall over the weekend, which caused flooding in 13 provinces, could improve crop yields for rice growers, provincial authorities say. Agricultural departments in Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces – some of the worst hit on the weekend – all said water was ...

Boeung Kak residents delivered a petition to the Singaporean Embassy yesterday, calling on it to pressure Singapore-listed HLH Group to halt dealings with a controversial development project at the site until a land row is settled. HLH Group entered a $14.9 million purchase deal in June ...

A conservation group may release 20 baby Siamese crocodiles into the Areng Valley amid an ongoing stand-off between villagers and a Chinese firm over the construction of a controversial hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. Tuy Serey Vathana, country directory at Fauna and Flora International, said ...

Fish and rice are staple foods for all Cambodians. Historical records show that Cambodia’s fisheries have been of major importance for centuries. Fish is a major source of nutritious food in the daily diet, a primary source of employment and income and has strong cultural ...

Heavy rains may cause dangerous flooding along the upper parts of the Mekong River in Cambodia in the coming days, a senior official at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology warned yesterday. Mao Hak, deputy director of technical works at the Department of Hydrology and ...

Military officials in Banteay Meanchey province have removed a local platoon commander from his post for alleged wood smuggling after he evaded detention by fellow soldiers earlier in the week, but it remained unclear whether he would be fired or prosecuted. Phork Sambath, a deputy military ...

Try Chamroeun, a 19-year-old student, was planting soybeans on Sunday along with fellow villagers on a two-hectare (half-acre) plot in Preah Vihear province, when soldier Poeun Tash demanded that he stop, claiming the land belonged to his military boss, according to London-based environmental advocacy group ...

Discussion about hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia tends to focus on two aspects, both negative. One is an overdependence on Chinese investment, and the other is a relatively disproportionate focus on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric power. Chinese Influence Most hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia are associated ...

In what is the government’s latest pledge to hold tycoons and foreign investors to account for their business practices, the Ministry of Environment will begin assessing existing and proposed economic land concessions (ELCs), cancelling or rejecting those that have negative social or environment impacts, a ...

Rights groups have called on the government to increase tax rates for logging companies amid the latest domestic revenue figures. According to the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, timber exports produced $9.4 million in government tax revenue during the first half of the year, up ...

Erosion along the banks of the Mekong River in Kompong Cham province’s Srei Santhor district has caused 16 families to move their homes and is threatening hundreds more, officials warned Sunday. Koh Andet commune chief Yan Yet said at least 16 homes have been dismantled since ...

The planned construction of 88 hydroelectric dams in the lower Mekong basin by 2030 will cause food security challenges in Cambodia, experts say. “Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam development basin-wide, to the point of affecting the food security of its 80 ...

In southwest Cambodia, at the foot of the Cardamom Mountains, is a single dirt road that meanders through the heart of the pristine Areng valley. Ten miles down this road, villagers have set up an encampment to stop a hydroelectric dam project that they fear ...

The destructive threat posed to Angkor Wat by pollution is being taken seriously, the Apsara Authority said in a statement it released Friday in response to recent media coverage of the issue. Responding to an article initially published by GlobalPost under the headline “In Cambodia, toxic ...

Coastal erosion became serious enough in Kampong Cham province for authorities to dismantle and move 13 houses along the Mekong. Officials are planning to do the same for about 100 others to prevent them from falling into the river due to rising water levels over the ...

Mekong floodwaters have risen sharply this week and have already surpassed the levels seen at this time of the year during the devastating floods of 2011. In Phum Thom commune in Kien Svay district in Kandal province, local residents observed floodwaters rising about two meters between ...

Amid promises reiterated by the government yesterday that it will take a tougher stance on economic land concessions, logging tycoon Try Pheap minimally reduced his sweeping natural resource empire, returning more than 20,000 hectares of undeveloped forestry. It was unclear what kind of arrangement prompted Pheap ...

Phnom Penh residents should continue to brace for more flooding during this rainy season with no imminent fix in sight, officials said Tuesday. Flooding impacted much of the city as heavy rains fell Tuesday afternoon, causing traffic jams as motorists flocked to major thoroughfares in order ...