Environment and natural resources

The death toll from recent floods has climbed to 20 while rivers engorged with floodwater have completely swept away 10 houses, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. In Prey Veng, the body of a police officer who slipped into a river while helping people ...

Most of the infrastructure required for enhanced connectivity in the Greater Mekong Subregion has been put in place, particularly the transport links that form the base of the envisaged economic corridors, Bindu Lohani, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, said yesterday. He made the remark ...

At least 19 people were killed and thousands have been evacuated from their homes in Cambodia due floods caused by heavy rains and overflowing rivers, an official said Saturday. According to the official, more than 8,000 families have been evacuated to higher grounds, Xinhua reported. ...

An annual vulture census carried out across Cambodia has recorded the second lowest population estimate for ten years. The new figures follow a major vulture poisoning incident that occurred in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri Protected Forest back in february when 13 vultures were found dead. This is the largest ...

Villagers in Mondolkiri province this week seized four trucks transporting luxury-grade timber out of a plantation they accuse of logging outside its government-granted land concession and turned the haul over to local authorities. The ethnic minority Banong villagers accuse Villa Development, which owns a local rubber ...

Six people across the country, including two young children, died in flood-related incidents yesterday, bringing the total number killed so far this rainy season to 17, according to government figures. Keo Vy, cabinet director at the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that fatalities were recorded ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has ordered provincial authorities to stop Vattanac Properties, a land developer, from filling in a lake in Kandal’s Kien Svay district because it would affect water supplies to farms of nearby residents. ...

The Mekong River Commission issued flood warnings on Wednesday for Kratie, Kampong Cham and Stung Treng as well as the southern Lao city of Pakse. After surpassing alarm levels in recent days, the Mekong is expected to reach the flood stage in Kratie on Saturday, according ...

A provincial police officer appeared for questioning at the Pailin Provincial Court on Tuesday after military police, led by a local wildlife NGO founded by U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, caught him transporting more than 177 kg of illegally logged rosewood on Sunday. Sor Phalla was arrested ...

Cambodian officials say flooding across 12 provinces has left at least eight people dead. The flooding has been caused by major rain due to Typhoon Rammasun, which has hit coastal China hard. Authorities say they expect the waters to recede in coming days, making this year’s ...

The death toll from recent floods has reached six people, while inundations have caused more than 4,400 families across four provinces to be evacuated from their homes, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management. “The full extent of the damage is not known yet,” said ...

Rainfall over the weekend, which caused flooding in 13 provinces, could improve crop yields for rice growers, provincial authorities say. Agricultural departments in Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces – some of the worst hit on the weekend – all said water was ...

Boeung Kak residents delivered a petition to the Singaporean Embassy yesterday, calling on it to pressure Singapore-listed HLH Group to halt dealings with a controversial development project at the site until a land row is settled. HLH Group entered a $14.9 million purchase deal in June ...

A conservation group may release 20 baby Siamese crocodiles into the Areng Valley amid an ongoing stand-off between villagers and a Chinese firm over the construction of a controversial hydropower dam in Koh Kong province. Tuy Serey Vathana, country directory at Fauna and Flora International, said ...

Fish and rice are staple foods for all Cambodians. Historical records show that Cambodia’s fisheries have been of major importance for centuries. Fish is a major source of nutritious food in the daily diet, a primary source of employment and income and has strong cultural ...

Heavy rains may cause dangerous flooding along the upper parts of the Mekong River in Cambodia in the coming days, a senior official at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology warned yesterday. Mao Hak, deputy director of technical works at the Department of Hydrology and ...

Military officials in Banteay Meanchey province have removed a local platoon commander from his post for alleged wood smuggling after he evaded detention by fellow soldiers earlier in the week, but it remained unclear whether he would be fired or prosecuted. Phork Sambath, a deputy military ...

Try Chamroeun, a 19-year-old student, was planting soybeans on Sunday along with fellow villagers on a two-hectare (half-acre) plot in Preah Vihear province, when soldier Poeun Tash demanded that he stop, claiming the land belonged to his military boss, according to London-based environmental advocacy group ...

Discussion about hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia tends to focus on two aspects, both negative. One is an overdependence on Chinese investment, and the other is a relatively disproportionate focus on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric power. Chinese Influence Most hydroelectric power plants in Cambodia are associated ...

In what is the government’s latest pledge to hold tycoons and foreign investors to account for their business practices, the Ministry of Environment will begin assessing existing and proposed economic land concessions (ELCs), cancelling or rejecting those that have negative social or environment impacts, a ...

Rights groups have called on the government to increase tax rates for logging companies amid the latest domestic revenue figures. According to the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, timber exports produced $9.4 million in government tax revenue during the first half of the year, up ...

Erosion along the banks of the Mekong River in Kompong Cham province’s Srei Santhor district has caused 16 families to move their homes and is threatening hundreds more, officials warned Sunday. Koh Andet commune chief Yan Yet said at least 16 homes have been dismantled since ...

The planned construction of 88 hydroelectric dams in the lower Mekong basin by 2030 will cause food security challenges in Cambodia, experts say. “Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam development basin-wide, to the point of affecting the food security of its 80 ...

In southwest Cambodia, at the foot of the Cardamom Mountains, is a single dirt road that meanders through the heart of the pristine Areng valley. Ten miles down this road, villagers have set up an encampment to stop a hydroelectric dam project that they fear ...