Forests and forestry

Kampomg Chhnang provincial joint taskforces have detained four suspects and impounded agricultural equipment used to clear forest and wetland in Kampong Leng district. Chin Sophat, the provincial chief of economic crime police, told The Post on Tuesday that the crackdown was part of a three-day ...

More than 15 cubic metres of timber and a total of 15 trucks were seized by the National Committee for the Prevention of and Crackdown on Natural Resources Crimes in eight cases on Sunday, while six people were released in Pursat province after paying fines. ...

Six people were arrested, nearly 20 vehicles destroyed and over 2,000 first-grade timber logs were impounded in a span of four days last week. This was the result of a series of crackdowns on forestry crimes carried out by the National Committee for Prevention and ...

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 ...

Mondulkiri provincial court prosecutor Hieng Sopheak on Wednesday summoned three Forestry Administration officials to appear at the provincial Military Police headquarters by August 24 for questioning over misconduct and alleged collusion with timber traders. ...

The government has decided to develop Bokor National Park into a futuristic and historic tourism city, a sub-decree on the introduction of the master plan for Bokor town’s development said. The area will be connected to the Kingdom’s southern coastal tourism corridor. ...

Eng Hy, the spokesperson for the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes, told The Post on Monday that the four went into hiding after Military Police arrested Sam Ol, who holds the honorific oknha, and impounded more than 40 vehicles reportedly ...

Tycoon Soeng Sam Ol and three alleged accomplices have been placed in pre-trial detention after being charged with illegal logging, while more than 40 vehicles reportedly used to carry out the offences were handed over to Mondulkiri provincial authorities on Sunday. ...

Following their arrest on Tuesday, tycoon Soeng Sam Ol, owner of the Master K Sun company, two supervisors and a driver were sent to Mondulkiri provincial court on Thursday on grounds of alleged illegal logging. Meanwhile, National Military Police commander Sao Sokha announced that the ...

Vehicles used in the alleged illegal logging that led to the arrest of Soeng Sam Ol were blown up on Wednesday, as the tycoon and three alleged accomplices were sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court by National Military Police. ...

International wildlife and forest conservation organisation, Wildlife Alliance, said on Monday that 2,300 chainsaws were seized from illegal loggers in the Southern Cardamom Mountains in the last two years. The seizing of the chainsaws is a joint programme initiated by the Ministry of Environment and ...

A senior forestry official, based in Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district, on Wednesday, denied villagers’ accusations that he had colluded with an alleged timber trader – a soldier who also denied any wrongdoing. Residents of Trapaing Prasat village say that Trapaing Prasat district Forestry ...

Tycoon Soeng Sam Ol, the owner of the Master K Sun company, two supervisors and a driver were arrested on Tuesday for illegal logging in a crackdown in Mondulkiri province which was led by Commander Sao Sokha, the chief of the National Military Police. ...

On a visit to Kratie province on Tuesday to celebrate Arbour Day, also known as National Tree Planting Day, King Norodom Sihamoni called on the people to plant trees in public areas and on their farmland and join together to prevent deforestation and environmental crimes. ...

The Agriculture Ministry has ordered officials to investigate and take action against people who illegally cleared state land in Kampong Chhnang province’s in Rolea Ba’ier district. Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon yesterday said that after receiving information about the land grab in the district’s Trapaing Ampil, Pra ...

The National Military Police vowed to act on the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ order to crack down on forestry crimes which allegedly occurred beyond the perimeter of concession land near the Vietnamese border in Mondulkiri province. Eng Hy, National Military Police spokesperson, claimed ...

In order to preserve the Kingdom’s forests, the National Committee for Forest Crime Prevention has warned it will take strict action against offenders by burning any vehicles used to transport timber at the crime scene itself. But environmental activists said this course of action would ...

The government has created a new national committee to tackle forest land clearing and grabbing. However, the move was immediately shot down by a prominent forest activist who said it would be ineffective, given the systemic collusion between the authorities and land grabbers. ...

The Environment Ministry yesterday noted that cases of illegal land encroachment and occupation of protected areas in four provinces have decreased due to measures implemented by national and local environment officials. Last year, the Environment Ministry took action against forestry crimes, such as illegal logging ...

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. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng urged authorities on Thursday to protect Prey Lang forest, saying it is the largest remaining woodland in mainland Southeast Asia, and that amendments to laws that protect natural resources would soon be finalised. ...

Battambang Provincial Court yesterday charged and jailed a well-known timber businessman living in Banan district for stocking and transporting luxury timber without authorisation in the province. Major General Cheth Vanny, deputy chief of provincial police, identified the accused as Im Borey, also known as Peach, ...

A forest protection community in Pech Chreada district’s Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province submitted a formal complaint on Tuesday against Saroeun Mab, the owner of four illegal sawmills who allegedly threatened three activists after they had taken photographs of suspected illegal logging in the ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) has received the prestigious 2019 Energy Globe Award, a group representative said on Monday. The awards are known as “Nature’s Nobel Prize”. Ek Sovanna, a PLCN representative in Kratie province, told The Post on Monday that PLCN had won ...