Environment and natural resources

Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Yun Min has ordered a local company to cease all development in the Prek Koh Khyong area within the Ream National Park, which the firm plans to turn into a tourist attraction. ...

Environmental rangers on Monday seized a pile of timber hidden in the forest behind a house in Pou Chrei commune’s Me Pai village in Mondulkiri province’s Pech Chreada district following reports from villagers. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday lauded the Chinese developer behind Koh Kong province’s $3.8 billion tourism project, despite it causing a decade-long dispute with the villagers there. “The Union Development Group [UDG] transformed the quiet area in Koh Kong province into an attractive tourist ...

Preah Vihear provincial court is taking action against three suspects for illegal forest clearing in Prey Lang and Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuaries and death threats following a complaint from a team of park rangers and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) on Tuesday, according to ...

The training will be conducted through a cooperation between the Ministry of Environment’s General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection and the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Office of Anti-Crime Programmes (INL/C), and US Forest Service. ...

Kratie provincial court granted Military Police permission to bring two suspects involved with operating an illegal charcoal kiln back to a provincial military police base on Sunday for further questioning. ...

Rangers and officials from the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) detained 12 loggers and confiscated seven chainsaws and three cubic meters of timber in Kampong Thom province’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The Office of the Council of Ministers (OCM) has approved plans to improve and add capacity to water treatment facilities in coastal and construction areas, sewage systems and mud drying facilities in Sihanoukville after they were inspected and assessed by government institutions. ...

The Ministry of Tourism last month recognised the Tmat Boey Thoeun Krasang community forest in Choam Ksan district’s Pring Thom commune, in Preah Vihear province, as a “Model Tourism Community” for its management’s efforts to conserve the rare white-shouldered ibis. ...

More than 100 families, including Bunong ethnic community members who have been impacted by the Lower Sesan II dam in Stung Treng province, complained on Monday about the shortage of clean water. The villagers, who have rejected compensation for relocation and currently live on higher ...

Military Police in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Sruoch district on Saturday seized nearly 90kg of wild meat during a raid led by a provincial court prosecutor and Forestry Administration officials in Ou commune’s Cheak village.​ ...

The Environment Ministry is urging people, especially youth, to take part in the protection of forests and natural resources as the government is lacking manpower and equipment. Kong Siek Ly, director of the community living department at the ministry, said on Saturday that a total ...

Germany and the EU continue to grant new funding, worth €8.92 million ($10.15 million), to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to enhance the Mekong cross-border water cooperation among the lower Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, said an MRC press release The Post ...

Foresty crimes continue unabated in the Kingdom. This week alone, two crackdowns on illegal logging took place in Ratanakkiri and Oddar Meanchey provinces. Authorities on Wednesday uncovered and seized dozens of timber from illegally-felled first-grade woods in Ratanakkiri province, following a tip from the locals. ...

Authorities in Kratie province’s Chhloung district yesterday ordered villagers not to build houses and to remove those already built along the riverbank after five houses collapsed into the river on Tuesday. District governor Heng Sitha yesterday said that the authorities have banned the construction of ...

Officials, scientists and conservationists from six countries yesterday gathered for a three-day conference in the capital to share their experience in conserving the endangered Eld’s deer. About 50 people from Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, where the species is found, will share their ...

The ministries of Interior, Environment, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday agreed on the amendment to the laws concerning forestry, fisheries and natural resource protection. They are set to send the draft to the Council of Ministers for revision before it can be passed ...

Despite numerous cases of illegal landfilling coming to light and an order from Prime Minister Hun Sen to put a stop to it, authorities are seemingly powerless to halt illegal beach developments in Preah Sihanouk province. ...

Mangroves and wetland areas in four coastal provinces are being illegally cleared and filled in order to grab land and build homes for private ownership, said a letter from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries dated November 19. ...

A former investigating judge at Kampong Speu provincial court has dropped charges against two senior environment officials who had been sued for “malicious denunciation, forest clearing and land grabbing for private ownership”. The case dates back to 2010. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has blamed local officials posted along the Cambodian-Thai border for failing to curb the flow of illegal loggers sneaking across the border to cut down trees in Thailand. Mr Kheng said on Saturday in Oddar Meanchey province that up to 100 Cambodian ...

With rapid growth in its economy and population, the Cambodian government was urged on Wednesday to recycle and reduce as it faces a growing volume of municipal and industrial waste. The call came from the country director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nick ...

The Forestry Administration and Military Police seized an assortment of wildlife parts, including those from rare and almost extinct species, from a sculpture shop in Chbar Ampov district, Phnom Penh on Monday. One military policeman who participated in the crackdown but asked to remain anonymous ...

Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities on Sunday seized more than 400kg of clams from fishermen in Prey Nub district’s Veal Rinh and O’Chrov communes and returned them to the sea. Provincial fisheries administration director Em Phea said on Monday that authorities patrolled the area on Sunday ...