Environment and natural resources

The forests around Cambodia’s iconic Angkor Temple Complex will soon be home once more to a species of deer that had disappeared from the area due to excessive hunting during the latter part of the last century. ...

An inspection of a truck transporting cassava through Siem Reap province’s Kralanh district on Tuesday revealed a massive haul of luxury rosewood. ...

CNRP lawmaker Un Sam An sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asking for an investigation of Try Pheap’s Special Economic Zone in Ratanakkiri province, saying that the timber magnate is misusing the site to export illegally logged trees to Vietnam.   ...

A ban on the importation of chainsaws into Cambodia could be in the offing, after agriculture officials this week called for a nationwide crackdown on the illegal logging trade. ...

An illegal-meat dealer was arrested in Ratanakkiri province on Monday after 65 kg of gaur meat and two heads of the endangered bovine species were discovered along with two dried tiger skins during a raid of his home, an official said. ...

Preah Vihear province Try Pheap wants to turn over a new leaf.In an exclusive interview with the Post at the opening ceremony of his vast plantation in Preah Vihear province on Sunday, the media-shy tycoon spoke of a desire to cultivate a new image – ...

Environmental groups in Southeast Asia are urging governments of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to present a united and ambitious climate action plan for the upcoming climate conference in Paris this December. ...

An endangered gaur – a species of wild bovine – was reportedly shot dead near a protected forest last Wednesday in Stung Treng’s Siem Pang district. ...

Forests and wildlife near Pailin province’s O’Tavao Waterfall are being threatened by local deforestation and hunting, officials said yesterday. ...

Two men were arrested in Kompong Thom province on Tuesday after they drove their car to obstruct a team of officials in pursuit of a vehicle suspected of transporting illegally harvested luxury timber through Stung Sen City, police said. ...

After marching for Prey Lang forest, the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice now plans to station monks in the forest for two week anti-logging “patrols.” ...

A loacal NGO director and a village chief in Battambang’s Samlot district were summoned for questioning by district police today over a complaint filed by six loggers, who claim the men attempted to extort $6,000 from them under the threat of violence. ...

Farmers in Cambodia who depend on forest products for their livelihood face an uncertain future because of dwindling forests. ...

Ever since its designation as a UNESCO heritage site in 1992, the Angkor Archaeological Park has been a tourism magnet for the Kingdom. In the high season, it isn’t uncommon to see tuk-tuks, private taxis and busloads of tourists flooding the temple complex, causing traffic jams ...

CNRP lawmakers have written to Prime Minister Hun Sen asking him to stop the ongoing illegal logging of northeast Cambodia’s Virachey National Park, which they said they witnessed during a recent trip and blamed on businessmen An Mady and Try Pheap. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni will participate in a tree-planting event in Kampong Thom today, along with government officials and members of the public, as part of a nationwide celebration that aims to draw attention to conversation of Cambodia’s forests. ...

China’s state-owned dam builders are failing to keep their promises to protect the planet when developing hydropower projects abroad – increasing the threat of environmental and social problems, according to a new study by green group International Rivers. ...

Members of the ethnic Jarai community in Ratanakkiri’s Andong Meas district have lodged a complaint with the provincial court, demanding that it take legal action against four Vietnamese nationals and two Cambodian border officials for offences related to illegal logging. ...

Gunshots were fired in a tense standoff between two armed groups in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary last month, prompting a court investigation into what happened. ...

Around 100 activists, including Buddhist monks, gathered in front of Cambodia’s parliament Monday to demand that lawmakers and the country’s Forestry Administration take action against illegal logging in endangered Prey Lang forest. ...

A Japanese company, A2A Town (Cambodia), has submitted a request to the Cambodian Ministry of Environment to establish helicopter flights from Phnom Penh to Preah Soramrit Kossamak Kirirom National Park in Kampong Speu province.​​ ...

Forestry officials in Oddar Meanchey province on Wednesday discovered a timber processing plant and thousands of lengths of luxury-grade wood in a remote forested area populated only by soldiers, officials said Thursday. ...

Despite a minor car crash on the way to Preah Vihear yesterday, more than 100 environmental activist monks will today march into Prey Lang forest to ordain trees and promote environmental awareness. ...

Facing snares, hunters and deforestation, sun bears are in danger of being classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – and deforestation is their main threat. ...