Environment and natural resources policy and administration

The Mekong River Commission held its second stakeholder meeting on Laos’s controversial proposed Pak Beng dam on Friday, giving involved parties the opportunity to hear responses to concerns raised at the first meeting in February. ...

Japan has signed a three-year deal to help train government officials on attracting environmentally friendly investment. The Environment Ministry and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) yesterday signed the agreement to educate officials about how to use environmental impact assessments and enforce pollution controls. ...

Environmental organizations and civil society groups have expressed concern at plans to build another dam along the Mekong River in Laos and asked the Lao government to suspend the project due to the effects it will have on communities, water flow and fishery resources in ...

Pursat environmental officials sent five suspects to the provincial court yesterday afternoon for allegedly attempting to farm on flooded forestland illegally, a provincial environmental officer said. ...

The new Environmental Code, a sweeping piece of legislation that is set to overhaul how protected and communal land are governed and give unprecedented control to the Environment Ministry, was finalized on Sunday and will be released to the public this week, those involved in ...

The Environment Ministry’s annual report revealed 600 forestry crimes in protected areas, while there were nearly 700 cases of fishing, wildlife and land crimes. The report, released yesterday, showed that rangers, in collaboration with relevant parties, managed to prevent and suppress offenses at national parks, wildlife ...

An environmental impact assessment released on Friday for a $245 million mining project slated to begin operations in Mondolkiri province next year has raised concerns about its potential effects on the environment and local communities. The project, proposed by the Chinese-owned Alex Corporation, would see a ...

The government created a national commission last week to prevent and crack down on crimes involving natural resources. National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha will head the commission and Hou Sakun, the deputy commissioner general of the National Police, will be second in command. Environment Ministry and ...

The Preah Sihanouk provincial hall has started providing land to nearly 300 families living illegally around the Kbal Chhay waterfall in Sihanoukville’s Muoy commune. The decision to provide land came after villagers blocked National Road 4 in September, burning tires in protest of resettlement from the ...

The owners of Hong Sopheap Development Company in Preah Vihear have been arrested days after military police carried out a massive raid on a 4,000 hectare social land concession (SLC) that the company holds a licence to log. ...

Civil society groups are getting closer to unveiling a new set of guidelines that will change how the impact of big development projects is assessed across the Mekong region, NGOs said yesterday, following the end of a two-month public consultation period. ...

Despite numerous laws and committees created to tackle deforestation and illegal logging in Cambodia, the timber trade has continued unabated. In another attempt to deal with the issue, authorities across the country have been ordered to ensure they execute their responsibilities to oversee the enforcement of ...

Youth groups and environmental activists have requested the government release the latest documents concerning the proposed Sambo hydroelectric dam in Kratie province, amid lingering concerns of the possible environmental damage the dam may cause. The dam, if constructed, will be the largest in the country and ...

Researchers have released new photos offering a rare glimpse of endangered elephant herds seen traveling with calves through the Tonle Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province earlier this month. The photos are part of a conservation supervisory project undertaken by Winrock International and the World Wildlife ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Monday that the government will block all illegal rice imports at its borders and limit legal rice shipments from Vietnam based on production cost. ...

Over 20 Cambodian NGOs, Chinese government officials, public and private Chinese companies, and Chinese NGOs held a roundtable discussion on Friday in Phnom Penh to talk about Chinese investment in Cambodia. ...

Minister of Environment Say Sam Al has sent a letter to the Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction asking to register nearly six million  hectares of land as protected under the Ministry of the Environment.    ...

Touch Tren used to fish the Tonle Sap Lake’s flooded Ek Phnom district for a living, but after finding the bodies of 30 black monkeys, dead from thirst in the nearby Veal Don Om forest earlier this year, he had a change of heart and ...

A new plan to protect the environment started taking shape yesterday when the Environment Ministry held a workshop to discuss ideas on how to convert numerous laws into a single code to govern the county’s natural resources. It is expected the process will take two years ...

Security forces on Thursday blocked two mothers and a wife of jailed activists from the environmental group Mother Nature from walking to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house to protest their family members’ imprisonment, before a representative of the premier’s cabinet chastised them for using the ...

With the inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) leaders’ meeting scheduled to open next week in China, Cambodia said the LMC is important for all Lancang-Mekong countries to maintain regional peace and stability and to boost economic development. ...

Cambodia has performed poorly in the 2016 edition of a recent environmental report, ranking a dismal 146 out of 180 countries.The Kingdom returned one of the lowest Environmental Performance Index (EPI) scores in the region, narrowly edging ahead of Myanmar and Laos. ...

Civil society groups are calling for Laos’ Don Sahong hydropower dam project to be discussed when Southeast Asian leaders meet with U.S. President Barack Obama next week. ...

Cambodia is suffering disproportionately from the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from more developed nations, according to a new study published in the journal Nature on Friday. ...