Forests and forestry

A high-profile investigation into corruption charges levelled against Mondulkiri police officials for colluding with Vietnamese timber traders has been transferred from the provincial court to Phnom Penh due to a lethargic investigation by local police, many of whom are involved in the case, a court ...

The Cambodia Royal Gendarmerie and Kratie provincial military police yesterday concluded a crackdown on a known timber smuggling route in Sambour district, confiscating nearly 100 pieces of wood equivalent to about 40 cubic metres. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni yesterday oversaw a tree planting ceremony in Kandal province to mark the 27th Arbor Day, pleading for all citizens to protect the country’s forests. ...

The Kratie provincial government yesterday denied reports that the provincial forestry chief was being removed from his position following allegations that he was colluding with illegal timber traders. ...

Environmental activist Ven Vorn has been given a second chance to have an illegal logging conviction overturned after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his case sent back to the Appeal Court for review. ...

The Environment Ministry plans to plant 500,000 trees in protected areas across the country this year, to boost forest cover and improve the livelihoods of communities. ...

For the first time in five years, a nest with seven eggs of the endangered white-winged duck was discovered in the Northern Plains of Cambodia, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced yesterday. ...

Three men were sent to court yesterday for allegedly hauling more than 18 tonnes of illegally logged first-grade timber in Kampong Thom province. ...

Police have arrested three people and seized ten tonnes of thnong wood from a truck near the Thai border in Preah Vihear province.   ...

National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy said legal action is being “considered” after a news outlet published a report linking the force’s commander, Sao Sokha, to the illegal timber trade. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced a Vietnamese  businesswoman, who stormed a forestry office to steal her seized timber, to two years imprisonment and a fine of $12,500. ...

A group of about 1,000 families living in Siem Reap province’s Phnom Kulen National Park will be relocated to prevent them from continuing an environmentally detrimental trend of clearing land, building homes, selling and repeating, the environment minister said on Thursday. ...

More than a month after confirming its investigation into new reports of rampant timber trafficking between Cambodia and Vietnam, the Environment Ministry remains tight-lipped about what—if any—progress it is making, but says the U.K. NGO that exposed the scale of the problem is itself being ...

According to the figures, Vietnam imported 21,670 cubic metres of sawn wood valued at $13.7 million in April, a 27 percent drop compared to February and an almost 50 percent decrease compared to March. ...

The top military and police officials in Mondolkiri province have opened investigations into some of their soldiers and officers after a news story claimed they were involved in timber trafficking into Vietnam. ...

The wife of the Srekor commune police chief in Stung Treng province has been charged and placed in pre-trial detention for possessing some 400 logs of luxury wood near the couple’s home. ...

The government body charged with managing the Angkor Archaeological Park on Monday started tearing down the first of more than 500 homes and shophouses illegally built within the park in the weeks before the June 4 commune elections. ...

A Vietnamese national reputed to be a prominent illegal timber trader is believed to have fled to her native country after the Oddar Meanchey provincial governor ordered her arrest last week. ...

Two farmers caught with dead monkeys in Mondolkiri province’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary have been charged with poaching endangered wildlife.   ...

In the first and only day of her trial yesterday, prominent alleged timber trader Heng Samnieng claimed that Military Police officers had tried to sell off pieces of timber confiscated by authorities in Stung Treng, where she was arrested in October while allegedly attempting to ...

Massive deforestation is playing a crucial role in the droughts that have devastated Cambodia. But despite an official ban on timber exports, forests continue to be cut down at a record rate.The Cambodian government awarded between 30 and 40 logging concessions to private companies during ...

A man and woman have been arrested after police and Forestry Department officers were tipped off about a pick-up truck carrying luxury timber across Kampong Thom province. ...

Sixteen Cambodians were arrested on Monday for illegally crossing the border to log luxury rosewood trees in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province. The men, aged between 16 and 55, were all residents of Battambang province. They were arrested in Pang Sida National Park with logging tools and ...

A truck full of high-grade timber was seized in Kampong Speu’s Oral district on Monday afternoon by District Military Police forces and the NGO WildAid’s crime interception team, but the driver remains at large. .. ...