Environment and natural resources

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries saw at least 2,400 cases of forest- and wildlife-related crimes in 2014, of which almost 1,800 were forwarded to the courts, though fewer than 10 people were sentenced in relation to the crimes, ministry figures say. ...

Cambodia is launching its first university-level climate change curriculum, according to USAID, which is supporting the pilot program.​ ...

Many visit Siem Reap province’s Angkorian-era temples for the views and the atmosphere, but the Apsara Authority wants to find out if that atmosphere is toxic. ...

The government seized more than 7,000 cubic meters of illegally logged wood last year, according to a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday. ...

Newly released maps using U.S. satellite data show that Cambodia continued to suffer major deforestation in 2013, much of it in nominally protected forests and wildlife sanctuaries. In November 2013, the University of Maryland released what it said was the first study to combine a consistent ...

Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi has been called on to investigate and seek justice for human rights violations caused by the development of two large-scale hydropower dams in Cambodia. ...

Members of a community in Preah Vihear province chased down a group of illegal loggers and briefly detained one of them yesterday, less than a week after the community accused the local wildlife sanctuary director of destroying their patrol station. ...

Authorities in Oddar Meanchey province found a haul of valuable luxury wood inside the luggage compartment of a passenger bus on Friday, but let the driver go although he later admitted to smuggling the wood. Chongkal district military police chief Un Kimseng said the Rith Mony ...

Illegal logging and destructive farming practices have archaeologists racing to rescue an ecologically crucial mountain and its hidden temples. Some 80 per cent of the forest on Phnom Kulen – one of Cambodia’s National Parks – has disappeared due to a combination of illegal logging, ...

Last year saw a 70 per cent drop in fatalities caused by natural disasters compared with 2013, the government’s National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said yesterday. ...

Police in Kandal province on Tuesday confiscated a haul of wood, including a few pieces of precious rosewood, that was being unlawfully transported to Phnom Penh by the military for the construction of a Brigade 90 commander’s office. The commander has appealed to Royal Cambodian Armed ...

Police in Stung Treng province confiscated a truckload of illegally logged wood on Sunday and are investigating a Forestry Administration official who tried to take the haul off their hands following the seizure. ...

Deep in the forest, about an hour from Stung Treng’s provincial capital through a rough and difficult road, just over half of the houses in an ethnic minority village have been tagged with bright orange spray paint saying, “LSS2”. According to a 2010 environmental impact ...

The Korea Forest Service on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia to prevent deforestation and degradation in the Southeast Asian country, government officials said Thursday. Under the MOU, the two countries will cooperate on United Nations-led REDD+ programs ― standing for Reducing Emissions from ...

Phom Penh was selected on Wednesday as one of 35 cities joining a $100 million “resiliency” program meant to strengthen urban centres’ abilities to respond to shocks and stresses, including climate change, natural disasters, pollution and resource scarcity. “The intense growth occurring and projected for ...

ANGKOR GOLD CORP. (ANK) (“ANGKOR” or “ANGKOR GOLD”) announces that approval from Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has been received to proceed with an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on Cambodia’s first royalty-generating gold mine at Phum Syarung. The total area of 12 sq km ...

A python escaped from the house of a government official and is on the loose in the Cambodian capital, a local newspaper reported Monday. It is the second such serpent to escape from the Phnom Penh home of Nhim Vanda, the first vice chairman of Cambodia’s ...

High prices and lax law enforcement have created a booming transnational trade in otter skins, where the endangered mammals are hunted in the wild to be sold on to buyers in neighbouring countries, according to a new report. ...

Citing Cambodia’s vulnerability to climate change, civil society groups have called for global responses to the issue as the United Nations prepares for its annual climate change convention in Lima, Peru. ...

A 25-year-old police officer in Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom commune was killed in a car crash while transporting timber to sell in a nearby district on Sunday, police and authorities confirmed yesterday. Un Sokim was driving a Toyota Camry sedan loaded with timber to Keo Seima district ...

Despite one success story emerging in the trade of Cambodia-generated carbon credits, immediate prospects for the environmental trading scheme in Kingdom remain few. Securing buyers of carbon credits for Cambodian projects is a well-known difficulty. Pact, however, left the project in July 2013 when the ...

Phnom Penh’s only working elephant was blessed by a crowd of chanting Buddhist monks on Tuesday (Nov 25) as she prepared for a life of comfortable jungle retirement after three decades of giving rides to tourists. Sambo’s new home will be an ecotourism venture – ...

A group of conservationists in Kratie province submitted on Friday a formal request asking Defence Minister Tea Banh to discipline two Kratie-based military commanders. They accuse the officers of profiting from illegal logging and threatening to kill an activist should he continue his work. ...

Four Ministers have been summoned to answer orally to members of the National Assembly’s third and seventh commissions this month over their position fulfillment. ...