Economic land concessions and plantations

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court has summoned Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries secretary of state Chan Savuth to appear on September 12 for questioning over his alleged granting of economic land concessions (ELCs). ...

A Mondulkiri provincial prosecutor questioned Lor Raksmey, an under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries on Wednesday over his alleged involvement in illegally granting economic land concessions (ELCs) covering 9,741ha to a private company. Provincial court spokesman Meas Bros told The ...

National Military Police commander Sao Sokha on Wednesday ordered the destruction of more than 20 vehicles involved in forestry crimes in Mondulkiri province’s Koh Nhek district. Sokha, who also heads the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes, gave the order after ...

The government has said it will revoke the business licences and immediately halt the operations of five companies in Mondulkiri province’s Koh Nhek district if they are found to be involved in forestry crimes. The warning came as authorities probe the companies’ alleged involvement in logging ...

More than 100 villagers, representing 197 families from Chi Khor Krom and Chi Khor Leu communes in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel district, protested again on Wednesday and clashed with authorities in front of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction after the ...

Ratanakkiri provincial authorities and BirdLife International Cambodia Programme have urged Hoang Anh Lumphat Co Ltd to preserve the habitat of endangered fauna species in a protected area and discontinue forest clearing. ...

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng has proposed the establishment of a village and the construction of roads for the people living on a disputed land plot in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district. Metre Pheap received approval for an agro-industry ...

After years of protesting, two Cambodian farmers make their case this week in a Bangkok court against Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol, who they blame for the loss of their livelihoods. The stakes are high for the farmers and the company. The villagers from Cambodia are trying to convince the ...

Nearly 700 people from different communities in Kampong Speu province protested in front of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction on Thursday, seeking a solution to their long-running land dispute with three sugar companies. ...

The provincial government on Tuesday ordered the creation of a forum in a bid to find a resolution in the 10-year land dispute between 12 ethnic minority communities in Ratanakkiri province and Vietnamese agribusiness giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) over 20 ancestral “spirit mountains”. ...

Representatives of families embroiled in a land dispute with Union Development Group (UDG) on Monday gathered in front of the Ministry of Environment in a bid to bring about a speedy solution to the ongoing case. The villagers from Koh Kong province’s Koh Sdech and ...

Alleged victims of land grabbing in Oddar Meanchey province have filed a formal complaint to the UK government against Bonsucro, the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, accusing it of breaches of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. ...

Minister of Environment Say Sam Al said on Monday that his ministry is working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to identify whether transported timber is from legal or illegal sources. Cambodian Youth Party (CYP) president Pich Sros, who is also a member ...

The Preah Vihear provincial authority and other relevant parties issued a statement on Wednesday that contained five points aimed to end a land dispute between 330 families and private company Metrei Pheap. This follows the submission of a petition requesting Prime Minister Hun Sen to ...

Preah Vihear provincial authorities have requested villagers to stop clearing disputed land and wait for authorities to find a solution according to the “tiger skin formula”, which aims to reduce the impact of economic land concessions (ELCs) on villagers’ farming land. The villagers have been ...

Forest activists in Battambang province’s Samlot district said on Thursday that a company that has received an economic land concession (ELC) in the area is trading timber from outside its ELC boundary. ...

An indigenous minority group living in the eastern province of Ratanakkiri is expressing concerns regarding the use of an illegal chemical in fertilisers by some companies who were granted Economic Land Concessions by the government. The Cambodian Centre for Independent Media conducted a field survey ...

Representatives of about 400 families locked in a 670-hectare land dispute with NK Venture in Svay Rieng province’s Romeas Haek district have warned that protestors will return to Phnom Penh if negotiations with local authorities fail to yield results. ...

The government earned $6.6 million in revenue from economic land concessions (ELCs), despite the fact that less than half of the firms granted the concessions paid rental fees, according to a report presented to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights. ...

The victims of Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company development project in Kampong Speu province’s Oral district said they are “happy” to hear that ANZ Bank had declared to the Australian Parliamentary Committee that it would consider compensating those affected by the project. ...

The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction on Wednesday ordered 19 experts to identify the families locked in a land dispute in Snuol district, in Kratie province, and find solutions for them through economic land concessions. ...

A woman fainted on Wednesday following a confrontation with police while she and 800 other protesters were marching to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s residence in the capital to deliver a petition. The protesters were among 1,642 families who have been locked in a long-running land ...

The Kampong Speu provincial authority said on Wednesday that its task force has completed registering thousands of families in Oral district who have been locked in a long-running land dispute with a sugar plantation owned by a well-connected tycoon. ...

The ministry’s report, which it shared on its Facebook page, said CRCK II Rubber Development and Bean Heack Investment Co Ltd have been respectively allowed to develop 7,121.78ha and 4,128.66ha within Boeung Pear Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Thom province. Following the granting of the concessions, the ...