Environment and natural resources

A Vietnamese national was charged with smuggling animal parts Tuesday after he was caught with 43 kg of ivory at Siem Reap International Airport on Sunday night, officials said. ...

In late November 2011, Minh Ny found himself in a brawl with a group of heavily-armed policemen in Kompong Thom province’s Sandan district as the police attempted to handcuff the late environmentalist Chut Wutty. When the network was named a winner of the Equator Prize, ...

Doubts have been cast on long-standing plans for a 34-hectare dumpsite in Pailin’s Samlot Protected Forest following an inspection by the environment minister on Saturday. Ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap yesterday said that following the inspection, the minister has called for further research before the project ...

Authorities at the Angkor Temple Complex in Siem Reap province yesterday announced the discovery of two statues dating from the 10th century, uncovered during the digging of a water channel. ...

The director of Hirakawa Zoo in Japan has reportedly publicly stated his zoo wishes to acquire two Asian elephants currently housed at Teuk Chhou Zoo in Kampot province as part of a controversial animal swap deal. ...

This year’s celebration of ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM) and International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) will be hosted by Cambodia on Oct. 9-10, aiming to raise people’s awareness of disaster risk reduction. ...

The Ministry of Environment submitted an ambitious national climate change plan to the United Nations yesterday ahead of scheduled climate talks in Paris (COP 21), though observers yesterday questioned the plan’s feasibility given a lack of both funding and political will.According to Sao Sopheap, spokesperson ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $60 million loan to modernize and rehabilitate irrigation systems in Kompong Thom and Battambang provinces. ...

The Prey Lang Community Network, which works to protect Cambodian forests, has been selected by UNDP for an Equator Prize, for outstanding community organizing. In an interview with VOA Khmer, the group’s spokesman, Seng Sok Heng, says the government is “inactive” in protecting Cambodian forests, some ...

Cambodians authorities have cracked down on villagers in three forest communities, arresting them or forcing them to stop clearing land for subsistence agriculture, while companies, military personnel and the government continue to encroach upon the areas, according to commune leaders and rights group officials. ...

Community forest monitors in Preah Vihear province who seized more than 20 chainsaws over the course of a recent weeklong patrol of the Preah Roka forest now plan to ask local officials to join them in publicly setting the confiscated equipment ablaze, according to community ...

Authorities have seized large amounts of luxury wood following busts on two separate illegal timber transporters in Pursat and Ratanakkiri provinces.Local Forestry Administration officials together with Phnom Kravanh district police forces on Friday reported intercepting some five tractor loads containing 29 tbeng logs. ...

Elephant conservation NGO Ears Asia has been ejected from Teuk Chhou Zoo in Kampot province and forbidden from caring for its two elephants, amid mounting pressure for a proposed animal swap involving the pair to be called off.In a statement posted on their Facebook page ...

As world leaders prepare for a major summit on climate change in Paris this December, Cambodian officials say industrialized nations should provide support to lesser developed countries, to offset their contributions to global warming. ...

Environmental groups yesterday urged the government to seek greater legal clarity among the Mekong River countries about how they should share its resources. ...

Battambang provincial forestry officials intercepted a large load of illegal luxury timber being transported in a government-plated car on Monday night. ...

Thai police on Monday repatriated 23 Cambodian men who were tricked into traveling to Thailand to log rosewood, according to an official. ...

Four people were arrested and more than 1,000 pieces of illegally logged timber seized in Mondolkiri province during a coordinated series of raids on three warehouses over the past three days, an official said Sunday. ...

Forestry officials raided two locations in Mondulkiri province on Friday, confiscating more than 1,000 logs from suspected illegal timber dealers. ...

Nine forest communities across Cambodia on Friday expressed concern about illegal land encroachment and logging operations as a European Union-funded sustainable forest management project which helped communities in wooded areas thrive comes to an end. ...

At least 100 cubic metres of luxury timber allegedly belonging to powerful tycoon Na Marady was intercepted in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district yesterday, officials said. ...

Members of a community-based organization in Cambodia responsible for protecting local forest resources have confessed to illegally cutting down trees to sell to local businessmen, prompting the group’s leader to threaten to resign. ...

Senior officials from the Environment Ministry have called on the developed world to provide more assistance in the battle against climate change, which they said Cambodia is working hard to address. ...

Over 100 logs of luxury timber from Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Speu province were seized by authorities in Chbar Mon town on Tuesday. ...