Environment and natural resources

Dr. Tim Killeen, author of The Cardamom Conundrum, Reconciling Development and Conservation in the Kingdom of Cambodia, discusses his recently released book, which argues that Cambodia is well positioned to reap the benefits of ‘green development’. Why did you select the Cardamom Mountains as the area ...

Phnom Penh City Hall has installed five new surveillance cameras at major intersections around the city in order to help traffic police monitor increasingly congested roads, police and an official at an Internet service provider (ISP) said this week. Paul Blanche-Horgan, CEO of ISP Ezecom—the firm which set up the ...

In an effort to increase fish stocks, the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday adopted a sub-decree to create four conservation areas in Kandal, Kompong Cham, Prey Veng and Takeo provinces where all fishing activities will be prohibited. Signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 6, ...

Cambodian microfinance institution PRASAC says it is bolstering its green credentials by increasing loans for eco-friendly farming methods in the kingdom. ... President and CEO of PRASAC, said the institution is “committed to providing and developing more green financing to the rural people for their livelihood ...

Southeast Asia is showing stronger signs of resilience to global turbulence than the rest of Asia as buoyant domestic spending offsets struggling exports, while low debt levels give governments more room than their cash-strapped counterparts in the West to deliver stimulus. On Thursday, the Philippines became ...

The planned theme of yesterday’s ASEAN defence ministers roundtable was military cooperation between countries, particularly in times of natural disaster, but it was a theme invariably pushed to the background by other regional developments. Among them was what appeared to be a cooling-off period in the ...

Ninety-one NGOs put their names to a statement yesterday condemning the government’s escalating use of armed force against peaceful protesters and urged the authorities to engage with them to “break the current cycle of violence and impunity.” Joined by local human rights groups such as Adhoc ...

In a ceremony of launching new book highlighted solutions to Cambodia's cardamom conundrum, Author and scientist Timothy Killen explains the potential for Cambodia to become a world leader by pursuing an innovative, low carbon, green development pathway that will foster economic growth and create opportunities for its people, while conserving the natural environment. "Cambodia is ...

Another witness to the fatal shooting of prominent environmentalist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Rattana has said he did not see who shot the men after testifying in Koh Kong provincial court yesterday. Puom Ravin, a 37-year-old employee of the logging firm Timbergreen said ...

Tourism officials in the Kingdom have suggested that the Kuwaiti ambassador should push for direct flights between Cambodia and Kuwait, and invited Kuwaitis to invest in Cambodia’s soaring tourism sector. ... “We need more and more investment in the tourism sector,” said tourism minister Thong Khon. He ...

In response to a spate of deadly bus crashes in the country, the government has ordered all bus companies to provide authorities with detailed histories of all their drivers, an official at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said yesterday. Peou Maly, deputy director-general at the ministry’s transportation department, ...

The Cambodian economy has continued its high growth path as real GDP expanded by 6.9 percent in 2011 and is expected to grow by 6.6 percent in 2012, report from world bank said this week. Cambodia has been one of the fastest growing countries in the world over the past ten years, ...

KOH KONG, Cambodia - Frustrated by government inaction, Cambodian citizen patrollers are risking their lives to take on the country's illegal loggers in a bid to save their shrinking forests. The shooting of a prominent environmentalist by a military policeman last month after he refused to ...

The protectionist bent of conservation groups and the development agenda of the government can come together in Cambodia to create a green economy. That is the message of a new book Conservation International (C.I.) launched yesterday in Phnom Penh, outlining practical options for saving the environment ...

Scores of security forces yesterday stormed the house of alleged secessionist leader Bun Ratha’s mother in Kampong Cham province yesterday, confiscating mobile phones and memory cards, his relatives told the Post. Bun Ratha, the alleged leader of Democratic Association, has been on the run since security ...

Authorities in Battambang province’s Phnom Proek district shut down eight unlicensed gold mines Saturday and Sunday after a study revealed they were producing toxic runoff blamed for the deaths of three cattle last week, officials said. Deputy governor Pech Choun said four mines in the area ...

Despite recent efforts by the authorities to improve drainage systems around the capital, heavy flooding and swamped roads were the norm over the past week as the kick-off to the rainy season saw pelting rain almost every afternoon, residents say. Old drainage systems put in place ...

An explosion at a steel mill in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district left two employees seriously injured over the weekend, authorities said. Mao Saroeun, Stung Meanchey commune police chief, said that around 10pm on Sunday there was a small, loud explosion at a mill owned by the ...

A worker was slightly injured and more than US$100,000 in property destroyed yesterday in a fire at an oil factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, police said. Thach Phalla, Ang Snuol district deputy police chief, said the fire started at noon when some oil overflowed ...

A study the Lao government has used to claim the Xayaburi dam would be harmless if redesigned has been criticised for not addressing concerns about the project’s effect on fish in the Lower Mekong river. Lao Vice Minister of Energy and Mines Viraponh Viravong was reported ...

Three more witnesses have been summonsed for questioning over the fatal shooting of prominent environmentalist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Rattana, rights groups said yesterday. In Kongchit, Koh Kong provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho, said yesterday that deputy prosecutor Srey Mak Ny had ...

One of the journalists on the scene when environmentalist Chut Wutty was gunned down last month appeared in a Koh Kong provincial court yesterday to answer questions about the shooting incident, which also led to the death of military police officer In Rattana. According to human ...

A married couple and another man were called before a judge yesterday after being charged with clearing protected forest in Koh Kong province’s Kandorl commune. Kry Deuy, his wife, Moeung Yan, and a man named Soun Sareth cleared about 16 hectares of state-protected forest to cultivate ...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Throughout the drama this spring revolving around the dismissal of the ambitious Chinese official Bo Xilai and the investigation of his wife as a murder suspect, the most mysterious figure has been a French architect named Patrick Henri Devillers. When Mr. Bo ...