Environment and natural resources

Activists in Prey Lang forest yesterday seized chainsaws and illegally felled timber from a group of loggers as they continued to “ordain” the woodland’s largest trees in an effort to stop further offences. ...

The National Assembly of Cambodia on Monday adopted a draft law on disaster management, aiming to effectively control any natural or man-made disasters through preparedness, mitigation, and timely response. ...

The Ministry of Defense plans to work with a Singaporean company to plant six million trees in Cambodia that will eventually be turned into high-end perfume, medicine, tea, incense and furniture, an official said Thursday. One Plantation Holdings signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month ...

More and more wood is being smuggled across the southwestern border. Smuggling prevention agencies said they had discovered many consignments of wood illegally imported from Laos and Cambodia across the border. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has dismissed calls from opposition lawmakers to ensure that Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley is turned into an eco-tour destination, saying in a letter that he had already twice addressed the future of the valley. ...

Forestry officials in the provinces of Kratie and Stung Treng confiscated more than 40 pieces of horns and bones, along with over 40 live animals, in raids against wildlife smugglers on Tuesday with the help of the NGO Wildlife Alliance. ...

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Yim Sovann gave the government four recommendations on what to do to control the response to natural disasters. ...

Cambodian officials from two provinces bordering Thailand say they are awaiting confirmation of a meeting with Thai counterparts, to discuss illegal export of timber. ...

An official at the National Committee for Disaster Management said Monday that abnormal weather conditions this year could lead to food shortages and that El Nino could be to blame. ...

In anticipation of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, Phnom Penh’s City Hall called upon tobacco companies to stop the illegal advertisement of cigarettes and for district officials to start enforcing non-smoking zones, in an event at Wat Phnom on Friday. ...

A 34-year-old man was killed by lightning yesterday while attempting to construct a waterway under his house during a morning storm, local police said. ...

After a storm damaged utility poles in Siem Reap province last week, leading to nearly four days of power outages, officials said Sunday that electricity had been fully restored to the area. ...

At least 30 houses were damaged due to heavy rainstorm yesterday in Siem Reap province, but no one were killed in the accident, an official said today. ...

A military police officer was arrested Monday night at a border checkpoint in Kampot province as he attempted to cross into Vietnam with almost 700 kg of illegally logged wood, police said Wednesday. ...

At least eight people were confirmed injured after storms battered four provinces across Cambodia on Tuesday, leaving almost 800 houses destroyed or badly damaged.​ ...

Four Cambodian migrant workers who were arrested earlier this month for allegedly trying to re-enter Cambodia with fake documents were exonerated by a Thai court and released yesterday, Banteay Meanchey Deputy Governor Um Reatrey has said. ...

Disaster management officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered here Tuesday to discuss ways to promote regional cooperation in response to disasters, a senior Cambodian official said. ...

An environmental nongovernmental organization and young Cambodians opposed to sand dredging will petition the country’s parliament and relevant ministries to stop companies from digging up sand in a southwestern province, activists said. ...

Villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district last week seized several logs of illegal timber, ending what they said had been a lull in illegal logging since the arrests of two officials accused of colluding with loggers. ...

A booming natural rubber market fueled by the global tire industry is proving “catastrophic” for endangered species in Cambodia and the rest of Southeast Asia, U.K. researchers argue in a new paper. ...

Officials charged with protecting Cambodia’s Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary are colluding with loggers responsible for felling at least 300 trees each day, according to activists in the area. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday told provincial governors to take responsibility for curbing forestry crimes in their respective provinces and scolded officials who blame one another when illegal logging is uncovered. ...

The World Wildlife Fund has called for closer cooperation between Cambodia and Laos to protect the Mekong River dolphin, in the wake of the death this week of a female thought to be one of less than 85 left in the river. ...

More than 50 houses were left in shambles after a storm tore through Banteay Meanchey province on Tuesday. ...