Environment and natural resources

The Kampong Thom Provincial Court yesterday charged a man with clearing state-owned forestland after he was arrested on Monday along with 13 other villagers, according to provincial prosecutor Ben Sarath. Heoun Sokha was arrested in Kraya commune’s Santuk district after he was found by police clearing ...

While the humanitarian objections to Mondulkiri’s proposed Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam project are well documented, a report from conservation NGO International Rivers yesterday highlighted an objection of another sort: the Lower Sesan wouldn’t be a very good location for a dam in the first ...

The hydro-power dams planned for three tributary rivers in north-eastern Cambodia will have unforeseeable social and environmental consequences for the regional and its people, according to a report released yesterday. Authored by International Rivers and 3S Rivers Protection Network, the report focuses on six hydro-power dams planned for the Sesan, ...

An opposition lawmaker is calling for the government to publicise its licensing of Cambodian mines, claiming that parliament has never received formal documentation of licensed mining companies. In a letter to Minister of Industry Mines & Energy Suy Sem last week, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son ...

To make sure Cambodia is ready for potential devastating floods, government officials have created an emergency preparedness plan that includes storing 16,000 tons of milled rice and putting 3,500 armed forces on reserve. [Nhim Vanda, first vice president in charge of the National Committee for Disaster Management ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management was preparing to ensure end-of-season floods did not compound the woes caused by months of drought, officials said yesterday. To minimise the effects of flooding, the NCDM had sent a request to the Council of Ministers for 16,000 tonnes of food and ...

Cambodia has been asked to send a delegation to the site of the proposed Xayaburi hydro-electric dam in northern Laos, Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor said yesterday. Kean Hor, who is also chairman of Cambodia’s National Mekong Committee, said the equivalent body ...

The ancient works of Cambodia’s King Suryavarman II could become a protected intellectual trademark if the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) finalizes a treaty recognizing cultural heritage, the organisation’s head said yesterday. Angkor Wat, a 12th century temple complex and the Kingdom’s No 1 tourist destination, became an area of contention ...

In Laos, the construction of controversial hydroelectric dam in Xayaburi province is under way, despite disagreement from its neighbors, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Xayaburi dam project started when the Laotian government and Thailand’s giant construction company, Ch Karnchang Pcl, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in ...

Cambodia continues to suffer from drought with tens of thousands of hecters of rice seedlings in the cities and provinces affected. A report from the National Committee for Disaster Management said on Wednesdasy as of August 21st drought has damaged 11,350 hectacres of rice seedlings ...

Kampong Thom’s provincial governor wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen last month to apologize and explain why district and fisheries officials were involved in clearing an area of protected flooded forest, according to a copy of his letter obtained yesterday. In the July 9 letter, written ...

About 100 villagers from Pailin province travelled to Phnom Penh yesterday to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene in their 70-hectare land dispute with the provincial governor, a village representative said. Dem Deam, 40, a resident of Pailin’s Stung Trang commune in Sala Krao district, ...

Cambodia would significantly strain its land and water resources if a projected series of large-scale hydro-power dams are built along the Mekong, according to projections released this week. Fish remains the primary source of protein and researchers [from the Australia National University in Canberra and World Wildlife Fund] ...

The economic, social and environmental consequences of the construction of dams on the Mekong River could be devastating.. ANU research suggests that millions of people are in danger of going hungry if the dams proceed. Replacing fish as a protein source with alternative food would use ...

In an attempt to replenish the nation’s shellfish stocks, the Fisheries Administration has released seven million young lobsters into Cambodian rivers and the Tonle Sap Lake this year, officials said. Cambodia harvests about 100 tons of wild lobsters annually, although the market demand is for about ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday approved a new sub-decree geared toward increased protection of the endangered Mekong river dolphin through a series of fishing and motorised transport restrictions in the Mekong river in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces. The Council of Minister’s sub-decree, obtained on ...

At the turnoff of Sihanoukville outside Phnom Penhmetal shop owner Kuch Sareun watches the sparks fly as his emplyees join pieces of steel. This year, he installed a diesel-run generator at his business since the frequent electricity outages were hurting his bottom line. Electricity is ...

After a day sewing, treating fabrics and ironing, workers steam out of the Maurea Garment Factory in a suburb of Phnom Penh. Unilke some other factories, this one doesn’t have to deal with work slowdowns due to electricity outages of high monthly energy bills since ...

About 50 villagers in Kandal province protested yesterday in an attempt to halt the activities of a Vietnamese sand-dredging company, which they said has caused a huge swath of their land to slide into the Mekong River. Residents of Kien Svay district’s Koh Prak village said ...

This year’s dry spell could be an opportunity rather than a disaster for farmers, Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) officials said yesterday. Although drought has destroyed several thousand hectares of crops in the past two months, Cambodia’s largest agricultural NGO is encouraging farmers to ...

A district governor and two fisheries officials are among 10 people who will be questioned at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court next week over the destruction of flooded forest to make way for dry-season rice fields in Kampong Thom province, an official said yesterday. On July 27, ...

The Sahrika reports that around 50 villagers in Kandal province protested yesterday in an attempt to stop the sand dredging operation on the Mekong River. “The activity of sand dredging has severely affected our villagers’ lands and houses”, said village representative Tuy Phy. Kandal province residents believe ...

Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT) wrote a letter to Ms. Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, 2012 to back up PWYP’s recommendations and to encourage the Commission to define the “Project” in relation to each lease, license ...

In line with Royal Government policy determining tourism as the Green Gold, 2011 is the year that we commenced mainstreaming the green tourism concept to all stakeholders. Cambodia started some new initiative to inspire green tourism in the country. “The Clean and Green Concept is basically ...