Forests and forestry

Pursat provincial authorities have given an ultimatum to 31 families who illegally settled on 100ha of land in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in Veal Veng district’s Stung Thmey village. According to a provincial Department of Environment notice dated November 8 and obtained by The Post, ...

The Apsara Authority and Elephant Management Association has started transferring elephants in the Angkor area to Bos Thom community forest in Siem Reap province’s Sout Nikom district in a bid to stop the animals from being used to ferry tourists around.​ ...

The Pursat Provincial Environment Department has issued a one-week deadline to more than 30 families to remove their dwellings, livestock and crops from a protected area in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary which they illegally occupied. ...

The Cambodian Youth Network yesterday said hundreds of hectares of forest land in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary have been illegally cleared in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces. ...

The Ministry of Environment sought permission from the Ministry of National Defence to arm municipal and provincial rangers with 1,210 rifles in response to one of its rangers being killed and two others critically assaulted while out on patrol in Mondulkiri and Kampong Thom provinces. ...

Fearing that community forests will be unprotected during next week’s Water Festival, 10 communities in Preah Vihear province on Tuesday vowed to patrol their community forest themselves while relevant authorities are busy preparing for the annual celebrations. ...

The Cambodian Youth Network (CYN) released a report on Tuesday noting the loss and deforestation of some 3,000ha of forest land in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary because of logging since last year. The report was based on investigative research into illegal logging in the said ...

The Banteay Srei district authority in Siem Reap province ordered some 1,000 families to dismantle hundreds of huts they had illegally built to grab state land near Phnom Kulen, in Tbeng Lech village and Srah Khvav village in Tbeng commune. District governor Khim Finan said ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in the first three quarters of this year, Cambodia earned $5.7 million in royalties from forest produce – an increase of nearly $2 million compared to the same period last year when it earned $4 million. The ...

Mondulkiri provincial police are on the lookout for suspects behind 168 pieces of Sokrom timber that were felled and hidden in five different locations in Keo Seima district’s Sre Khtum commune. District police chief Van Dany told The Post on Wednesday that a joint task ...

Mondulkiri provincial governor Svay Sam Eang on Monday rejected an allegation made by a prominent Supreme Council for Consultation member that he had lied to Prime Minister Hun Sen in his report about encroachment on the protected Phnom Dos Kromom mountain. ...

Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang has reclaimed 413ha of state land that he said had been illegally occupied in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Oral district’s Trapaing Chor commune. In a letter seen by The Post on Sunday, the governor said You Sithat had ...

The Siem Reap provincial administration has ordered its relevant authorities to take legal measures against anyone illegally clearing and grabbing wetland, community land or natural protected areas. It also urged them to immediately stop issuing ownership letters and documents for such land. The announcement, obtained ...

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court on Sunday decided to detain Te Kim San, the former head of the mining community in Keo Seima district’s Chung Phlas commune, on charges of collecting forest by-products and building an illegal timber processing facility. ...

Battambang provincial court has charged a man who illegally cleared hundreds of hectares of protected forest land for sale as housing lots in Battambang province’s Samlot district since 2015. Long Vuthy, 48, was arrested on September 15 by joint forces from the provincial authority and National ...

Mondulkiri Provincial Court has issued warrants of arrest against three well-known tycoons who failed to appear for questioning over suspected large-scale illegal logging operations.​ ...

A Mondulkiri commune chief and its head of police are among three people who could face up to five years in jail for allegedly allowing protected forest to be illegally cleared after complaints were filed with the provincial court. ...

A senior Agriculture Ministry official on Tuesday appeared at Mondulkiri Provincial Court to clarify how companies, including a Vietnamese firm under investigation over illegal logging, are granted Economic Land Concessions. Mam Vanda, provincial court spokesman, yesterday said that Chan Savuth, a ministry secretary of state, provided ...

Forest activists continue to claim that Korean-owned Think Biotech Cambodia Co Ltd is involved in illegal deforestation in the Prey Lang area, especially harvesting timber from resin trees, but the authorities say the company is operating legitimately. ...

Kampong Speu provincial authorities found 12 logs measuring a total of 40 cubic metres in a two-day operation over Tuesday and Wednesday in Oral district’s Sangke Satoap commune. Three trucks also found at the scene were impounded. Provincial governor Vey Samnang said two of the ...

The Apsara Authority has announced that it will begin construction of canals surrounding forest areas in Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province this week in a bid to preserve the historical site. Chum Sopheakmakara, acting director-general of the Apsara Authority, in a statement issued on ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Administration is probing a news report that a private company had colluded with the local authorities to buy 40ha in the Botum Sakor National Park. Provincial hall spokesman Sok Sothy said on Sunday that the administration was only aware of one ...

Civil society organisations along with local authorities in Kampot province have kick-started a campaign to plant 100,000 mangrove trees in eight communities in the province throughout September to December. The campaign was jointly organised between ActionAid, Children and Women Development Centre in Cambodia, Samaky Organisation, Kampot ...

National Military Police commander Sao Sokha ordered the destruction on Monday of 10 makeshift vehicles that were used in forestry crimes in Battambang province. Sokha, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Forestry Crimes, ordered officers to destroy them ...