Forests and forestry
Forest protection
Awards for environment defenders
Eleven Cambodian environmental campaigners received “moniseraphon” medals from the government last month in recognition of their work to support the nation, according to a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen. But Buntenh, the founder of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, and social media ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29889/awards--for-environment-defenders/
Activists tell US to step up forest protection efforts
Conservationist Marcus Hardtke yesterday blasted USAID and Winrock for “four years of mismanagement” as the Forest Monitoring Working Group put out a call for “urgent action” from the American bodies. “They’re not addressing the core problem,” Hardtke said, adding that the two groups were ignoring the ...
Andrew Nachemson and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activists-tell-us-step-forest-protection-efforts
US urged to save trees
A group of environmental NGOs working to protect the Prey Lang forest called on the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to intervene and protect the region’s resin trees, or they will all be logged within six months, they claimed in a joint-statement issued yesterday. The ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29843/us-urged-to-save-trees/
General implicated in Prey Lang logging
Newly declared protected areas in Prey Lang forest are being illegally logged by companies belonging to a three-star general and his sister, according to Goldman Environmental Prize-winning conservationist Ouch Leng and NGOs with which he is working. Leng, along with 15 NGO officers, patrollers and ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/general-implicated-prey-lang-logging
Troops mobilized to ‘disperse’ farmers clearing state forest
The governor of Kompong Speu on Tuesday ordered 10 armed soldiers to help a team of environmental officials confront a group of “anarchic” farmers clearing state forestland in the province. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/troops-mobilized-disperse-farmers-clearing-state-forest-117983/
Cambodia rangers get S. African help
Sixty Cambodian wildlife park rangers will be trained by South African experts next year, funded by video streaming content revenue generated by a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International and the Canadian-based international English-language TV channel, Love Nature. WWF International will leverage scenes from ...
Peter Olszewski
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29629/cambodia-rangers-get--s--african-help/
Ethnic minority forest being gutted: activists
Half of a Kuoy ethnic community forest in Stung Treng province – for which villagers are seeking official recognition – has been logged in the past three years for private commercial gain, according to recently returned environmental activist twins Chum Hout and Chum Hour. Seven ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ethnic-minority-forest-being-gutted-activists
Government pledges thirty percent boost in forest rangers by 2017
The government said this week it wanted to increase by at least 30 percent the number of forest rangers working next year in Cambodia’s wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and other protected areas to guard against encroaching logging, poaching and farming. ...
Rayna Stackhouse
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-pledges-thirty-percent-boost-forest-rangers-2017-117134/
Civil society groups secure pledges from PM Hun Sen at forestry forum
Billed as a Cambodian first, the invitation of 500 civil society and community representatives to a forum on environmental issues with Prime Minister Hun Sen proved largely a platform for the premier to hold forth on policy and politics, with many observers bemoaning the sidelining ...
Jack Davies and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/civil-society-groups-secure-pledges-pm-hun-sen-forestry-forum
Environment officials deny forest crimes
A letter sent to authorities in Siem Reap province on Monday by nine park rangers accusing two senior environment officials of involvement in illegally cutting down six trees for profit was dismissed as a lie by one of the accused yesterday, who instead insisted it ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28636/environment-officials-deny-forest-crimes/
USAID to consult public before next round of Prey Lang funding
The next round of USAID funding for protection of the Prey Lang forest will be preceded by a consultation process that environmentalists and experts studying the area are calling crucial. ...
Cristina Maza and Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/usaid-consult-public-next-round-prey-lang-funding
Wildlife Alliance celebrates zero poaching
To celebrate World Elephant Day today, the conservation group Wildlife Alliance (WA) celebrated its achievement of zero poaching of the Cardamom Rainforest’s Asian elephant population in the last decade, according to a press release on Wednesday. ...
Tin Sokhavuth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28419/wildlife-alliance-celebrates-zero-poaching/
Disney carbon deal sets stage for more partnerships
Cambodia’s first large-scale private-sector sale of carbon credits was finalised yesterday, with conservationists predicting that it could pave the way for more public-private partnerships, making millions of dollars of funding available for local carbon-based initiatives. US entertainment giant Walt Disney Company has officially purchased $2.6 ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/disney-carbon-deal-sets-stage-more-partnerships
Plans for Mondolkiri road on hold, minister tells EU
Interior Minister Sar Kheng informed European Ambassador George Edgar on Tuesday that plans to construct a controversial road and border checkpoint that would have cut straight through the Mondolkiri Protected Forest had been suspended. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/plans-mondolkiri-road-hold-minister-tells-eu-116533/
WWF slams lenience for civet caterers
The environmental protection group WWF has criticized the penalty imposed on three brothers arrested in Mondolkiri province over the weekend for filling the trunk of a car with turtles, lizards, snakes, a monkey and a civet—all of them meant to be food for a party. ...
Phan Soumy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/wwf-slams-lenience-civet-caterers-116537/
Load of wildlife busted in Mondulkiri
Rangers from the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province intercepted two men and a minor allegedly smuggling more than 50 wild animals on Saturday evening, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Koh Nhek district police. ...
Cristina Maza and Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/load-wildlife-busted-mondulkiri
Snared elephant dies of wounds in Cambodia
An endangered Asian elephant died in eastern Cambodia after sustaining a severe foot wound caused by a snare trap, officials said on Monday. ...
The Gulf Today Team
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/e1650b9b-2e56-4057-8f0d-d7b86cef2577.aspx
Wildlife book looks to put dent in poaching
World Wildlife Fund for Cambodia and the Ministry of Environment launched a glossy, 76-page picture booklet about the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province yesterday, with the goal of educating the public about the benefits of protecting wildlife and countering poaching. ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wildlife-book-looks-put-dent-poaching
Endangered gibbon born at Angkor Wat
A second pair of endangered pileated gibbons released into the forest near Angkor Wat last year have had a baby. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Donna M Airoldi
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/endangered-gibbon-born-angkor-wat
Two trapped gaurs die in sanctuary
Two rare gaurs, a mother and calf, have died after being found trapped in a snare in the Cardamom Mountains’ Samlot Protected Area, according to the sanctuary’s chief and an official from the Maddox Jolie-Pitt (MJP) Foundation, a wildlife NGO founded by Angelina Jolie. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26899/two-trapped-gaurs-die-in-sanctuary/
Prey Lang still logged: community
Continued widespread logging in the Prey Lang forest is evidence that the government’s recent push to have more than 400,000 hectares of land protected is toothless, according to activists as well as a Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) report released yesterday. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26693/prey-lang-still-logged--community/
Elephant herds spotted in Wildlife Sanctuary
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 ...
Safiya Charles
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26631/elephant-herds-spotted--in-wildlife-sanctuary
Cambodia’s leopards facing extinction by 2018: expert
Cambodia’s population of spotted Indochinese leopards will be extinct by 2018 unless action is taken to deal with the “snaring crisis” in Mondolkiri province, where the few remaining leopards live, according to the author of a forthcoming paper on the issue. ...
Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodias-leopards-facing-extinction-by-2018-expert-113182/
Government expands sanctuary in Prey Lang, adds Preah Vihear
The government has reversed course on a controversial decision to downsize the proposed boundaries of a long-awaited protected area for the beleaguered Prey Lang Forest, the largest lowland evergreen forest left in Southeast Asia. ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-expands-sanctuary-in-prey-lang-adds-preah-vihear-112723/