Environment and natural resources
El Niño raises drought fears
Cambodia is looking at a delayed onset of the rainy season, with experts and government officials having raised concerns of a prolonged dry season affecting agricultural production, as the Pacific weather pattern El Niño threatens to bring drought-like conditions. Ngin Chhay, director of the Rice Department ...
Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/el-nino-raises-drought-fears
Illicit wood seized despite opposition
Nearly 20 cubic metres of timber were seized by local authorities in Stung Treng’s Thala Barivat district yesterday, despite alleged interference by a military police officer from Preah Vihear province, police said. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illicit-wood-seized-despite-opposition
Gov't backs prioritising nature crimes
Cambodia has called for ASEAN countries to support a proposal from Thailand that would recognise wildlife and forest crimes as a new priority in the Southeast Asian association’s transnational crime enforcement program. At a meeting of senior law enforcement officials from ASEAN countries held this week ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-backs-prioritising-nature-crimes
Cambodian villagers demand raid on illegal saw mills, protection from loggers
A group of indigenous villagers in northeastern Cambodia’s Stung Treng province called on local forestry officials Wednesday to crackdown on illegal saw mills and to provide them with protection after they received death threats from unsanctioned loggers of luxury timber. ...
Men Sothy
http://bit.ly/1IGh6eM
NGO gives Hun Sen’s land titling project mixed marks
In perhaps the most comprehensive review to date of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s 2012 land titling project, the NGO Forum on Tuesday said the campaign has yielded major benefits, but not without some serious costs—particularly for the country’s beleaguered indigenous communities. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ngo-gives-hun-sens-land-titling-project-mixed-marks-85297/
Program aims to boost rice resilience to climate change
As climate change increases the severity of droughts and floods across the Kingdom, a push is being made for farmers to adopt more resistant rice varieties. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute launched a USAID-financed project in Phnom Penh yesterday in a bid to “accelerate the ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/program-aims-boost-rice-resilience-climate-change
Activists seize timber
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. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activists-seize-timber
Cambodian parliament passes draft law on disaster management
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. ...
Xinhua team
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12092/cambodian-parliament-passes-draft-law-on-disaster-management/
Soldiers, Singaporean firm to plant 6 million trees
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 ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/soldiers-singaporean-firm-to-plant-6-million-trees-85039/
Smugglers of wood are busy before rainy season
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. ...
Vietnamnet News Staff
http://bit.ly/1Qrrkyq
PM rebuffs calls for Areng to serve as Eco-tour site
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. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pm-rebuffs-calls-for-areng-to-serve-as-eco-tour-site-84976/
Wildlife smugglers snared, parts confiscated
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. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/wildlife-smugglers-snared-parts-confiscated-84962/
CNRP recommends changes to disaster plan
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Yim Sovann gave the government four recommendations on what to do to control the response to natural disasters. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/11952/cnrp-recommends-changes-to-disaster-plan/
Cambodian officials awaiting official invite for border meeting
Cambodian officials from two provinces bordering Thailand say they are awaiting confirmation of a meeting with Thai counterparts, to discuss illegal export of timber. ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://bit.ly/1GUQAMW
Concerns rise over El Nino weather effects on food supply
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. ...
Ouch Sony and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/concerns-rise-over-el-nino-weather-effects-on-food-supply-84810/
City hall pushes to reduce smoking in Phnom Penh
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. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-pushes-to-reduce-smoking-in-phnom-penh-84632/
Natural disaster: One dead, several hurt by storms
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. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/natural-disaster-one-dead-several-hurt-storms
After days without power, electricity restored to Siem Reap
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. ...
Over 30 houses damaged in Siem Reap storms
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. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://bit.ly/1IPmBUP
Military police officer caught smuggling wood
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. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/military-police-officer-caught-smuggling-wood-82443
Rainstorm slams into 800 homes, injuring 8
At least eight people were confirmed injured after storms battered four provinces across Cambodia on Tuesday, leaving almost 800 houses destroyed or badly damaged. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainstorm-slams-800-homes-injuring-8
Loggers sent back from Thailand
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. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/loggers-sent-back-thailand
ASEAN disaster control officials meet in Cambodia to enhance cooperaiton
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. ...
Global Post News Staff
http://bit.ly/1OdcoIo
Green group, Cambodian youth petition government to stop sand dredging
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. ...
RFA Khmer News Staff
http://bit.ly/1JsDowV