Environment and natural resources

These illicit networks have had devastating ramifications in Cambodia, where rural poor and indigenous communities have relied on forested areas as a vital source of income for thousands of years. With one of the highest rates of tree cover loss in the world, the country saw nearly 2 million hectares, ...

The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has sent a man suspected of illegal logging in the Preah Vihear temple forestry conservation area to pre-trial detention, according to the provincial Environment Department. ...

There were 1,428 forestry and wildlife crimes in 2017, with 778 cases ending up in court and the remaining 650 cases leading to administrative fines. According to the annual report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the cases included illegal logging, the cutting of ...

Two activists from the conservation group Mother Nature were tried yesterday in Koh Kong for photographing a vessel at sea, with their lawyer asking the court to dismiss the charges due to a lack of evidence that they had committed any crime. ...

Tbong Khmum provincial officials have announced a crackdown on illegal checkpoints along the Vietnamese border, possibly in response to a purported warning issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen to provincial Governor Ly Leng to monitor the transport of timber in the province. Local media reports contend ...

Guidelines for mitigating the environmental impact and managing risks of hydropower dams in the Mekong River will be established at the end of March 2018 after discussion between Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Forty-five officials from the four countries have been meeting in Vientiane this week ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng bemoaned Phnom Penh’s sewage infrastructure and criticised the Ministry of Environment for allowing untreated waste water to flow into the Mekong and Bassac rivers in unscripted remarks on Monday. ...

Community patrols in Mondulkiri province confiscated more than 500 snares and 80 chainsaws last year while arresting seven people and warning 57 others over illegal activities. According to a Wildlife Conservation Society statement issued yesterday, the patrols were led by Environment Ministry officials and members of ...

Nearly seven months after a gas tanker truck was involved in a deadly crash in Banteay Meanchey province, authorities finally searched it on Saturday, finding it loaded with rosewood. ...

The forestry administration in cooperation with Stung Treng Provincial Court raided a house on Wednesday, yielding hundreds of pieces of illegal timber. Provincial court spokesman Chhum Seanghak confirmed the raid, but said no arrests were made. He declined further comment, referring questions to deputy prosecutor Kim ...

The mothers of two environmental activists, who have languished in prison since their September arrest, yesterday delivered petitions to various ministries in Phnom Penh seeking intervention. ...

Rampant deforestation and development have increased pressure on animals throughout Cambodia. They’ve especially intensified in the country’s “spirit forests,” as the hill communities like the ethnic-minority Chong call them, which are some of the creatures’ last refuges. But the changes also threaten their culture, as ...

A military lieutenant who sued 13 families in Oddar Meanchey’s Anlong Veng district for allegedly grabbing his land is now demanding $20,000 in compensation, though villagers deny the accusation and it remains unclear as to how the official initially came to own the ostensibly protected ...

The Mekong River Commission yesterday launched two joint projects to better manage the Mekong basin resources and address flood and drought issues, especially monitoring the environmental impact of the controversial Don Sahong hydropower dam. ...

Takeo province Military Police on Tuesday confiscated more than a tonne of rosewood that was stored at an abandoned house belonging to a Koh Andet district police official, authorities said today. ...

Eight Vietnamese nationals were sent to pre-trial detention on Saturday after being arrested last week for allegedly illegally logging on behalf of a local firm in Mondulkiri province. The eight were arrested last Wednesday clearing land in Pech Chreada district near the Sre Pok Wildlife ...

Authorities are to force about 40 families in Koh Kong province to relocate from their homes in Botum Sakor National Park. The villagers asked authorities to provide them with social land concessions, because they have no other place to live. ...

A Kampong Thom landowner was stopped by provincial officials from clearing a piece of land used as a “spirit forest” by local villagers. ...

China is ready to consolidate political trust with the five countries along the Lancang-Mekong River, and further cooperate with them in areas of water resources, drought and flood prevention, industrial capacity, agriculture, and human resources, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday. Li made the remarks ...

A little-known Chinese company is investing $200 million in a massive timber plantation in Stung Treng that the government has equated to “replanting the forest”, despite concerns among environmental protection groups that existing forest will be destroyed in favour of non-native commercial species. ...

Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called on five nations living on the Lancang-Mekong River to consolidate political will and deepen economic ties to promote regional peace and sustainable development. China is willing to work with others to strengthen the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) as China benefits ...

Koh Kong provincial authorities on Monday ordered 40 families living in Botum Sakor district to vacate their land and homes after it was determined they were illegally occupying a national park.​ On Friday, authorities went to inspect Botum Sakor National Park and found 40 families ...

A Virgin Atlantic representative yesterday said that the British airline is no longer purchasing carbon credits from an area of Oddar Meanchey province set aside for a UN REDD+ program after a report describing widespread problems. ...

A REDD Programme representative yesterday said it would be concerning if recent claims of the military systematically clearing protected forest in Oddar Meanchey province covered under the scheme proved true – though a third-party company has dismissed the claims as outdated. ...