Environment and natural resources

A sharp reduction in travel and production output, because of COVID-19 along with several government measures has seen Phnom Penh record a “good” level of the pollutant PM2.5 in its atmosphere, according to independent data sourced by IQ Air.​ ...

The Ministry of Environment has urged the people to stop cutting down malva nut trees to harvest their fruit because it is illegal to do so during the rainy season.​ ...

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has expressed concern for the impact on birds, domestic animals and even humans after three giant ibises died of poisoning in Chhaeb district in Preah Vihear province. ...

The Kampong Thom provincial authorities sent four suspects to the provincial court on Monday after they were arrested the day before for clearing an area of flooded forest with a tractor in Khsach Chi Ros village, Kampong Kor commune, Kampong Svay district. ...

The Ministry of Interior announced the temporary suspension of activities of Cambodia WildLife Forest Fisheries Protection and Conservation Organisation due to its failure to comply with the provisions of the law. ...

Forest rangers at the O’phal headquarters in the Sorng Rukhavoan Wildlife Sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey province planted 10,000 luxury tree saplings earlier this year as part of the provincial Department of Environment’s plan to restore 3ha of forest in the province each year. ...

Park rangers over the weekend found three illegal structures built in natural protected areas in the provinces of Siem Reap and Kratie, the Ministry of Environment revealed yesterday. The structures are said to have been the hiding sites of illegal loggers and poachers. ...

The Environment Ministry has registered more than 50,000 hectares of protected area of the Peam Krasop and Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuaries as state land in a bid to eliminate land disputes in conservation areas. ...

In a single deliberate poisoning event, three Giant Ibis, equivalent to 1-2 percent of the global population, have been killed – part of a disturbing global trend where conservationists are noticing increases in hunting of protected species since the spread of coronavirus began to disrupt ...

Ratanakkiri provincial authorities inspected an area around Post No 27 in Phikrom village, Sesan commune, O’Yadav district, to investigate illegal cross-border forestry offences following rumours of timber being illegally transported via waterways to Vietnam. ...

The Bunong Indigenous community in Sen Monorom commune, in O’Raing district, Mondulkiri province, has claimed that big trees within the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary have been secretly bulldozed. ...

NGO Wildlife Alliance’s rangers seized an AK-47 assault rifle, four chainsaws, metal snares and other miscellaneous items from a suspect at Roveang Station in the northern Cardamom Mountains last week. ...

Some 3,000 Indochinese silvered langurs – monkeys native to Southeast Asia and considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – are believed to be living in the eastern part of Cambodia. ...

Denmark’s University of Copenhagen has drawn Prey Lang stakeholders’ attention to recently published data which shows increased illegal logging within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The wild animal conservation team has spotted rare river terns in the flooded areas of Kratie and Stung Treng provinces. ...

The Siem Reap provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries fined the owner of a log warehouse on Friday after seizing more than 20 cubic metres of illegal timber the day before. ...

Four men were detained on Tuesday for clearing land in a biodiversity conservation corridor of protected natural areas in Koh Nhek district, in Mondulkiri province. ...

NGO Wildlife Alliance said the carcass of a red muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) was found by Thmor Roung station rangers in Koh Kong province during a recent three-day patrol. During the patrol, the rangers released six wild chickens into the jungle and seized a mini-tractor carrying illegal ...

Three purpose-fitted motorbikes used to carry processed wood and 12 illegal timber pieces of koki and sokrom luxury wood were seized by the Royal Gendarmerie in O’Yadav district, in Ratanakkiri province, and police in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima district, for further legal action, said the provincial ...

The Ministry of Environment last week granted $20,000 to American conservationist Ben Davis to aid in his efforts to protect and preserve natural resources in Preah Vihear province’s Phnom Thnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The Kampong Speu provincial Forestry Administration and environmental watchdog ACNCIPO attempted to seize 20 home-made trucks and nearly 20 cubic metres of timber from the Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday but were stopped by over 100 people who gathered in groups to resist the ...

Many wildlife animals living in the Phnom Tamao National Park and Wildlife Rescue Center is facing the shortage of water during this dry season, yet the officials have fetched water from other places to supply the thirsty animals, according to the Forestry Administration. ...

Environmental watchdog ACNCIPO director Chea Hean has requested the service of Kampong Speu provincial officials to help close logging roads in the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and the Central and Southern Cardamom National Parks. ...

Forest activists claimed they had observed more cases of deforestation in the Prey Lang area than before the Covid-19 outbreak. They alleged that three companies had sent workers to log and transport timber with no crackdown by the relevant authorities. ...