Environment and natural resources

Local media in Mondulkiri province have accused established businessmen of being involved with logging in Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. Online newspaper Nokor Dragon said illegal logging became rampant in the national reserve, and claimed local tycoons Oeng Bunchin, San Choy, and Srieng Meng mobilized people ...

A conservation scheme begun eight years ago in Preah Vihear province, in which farmers are recruited to grow organic rice for the international market in exchange for protecting local ecology, has successfully signed up 43 new families in Stung Treng province over the last year, ...

Claims the military is involved in systematically clearing forest in Oddar Meanchey province in an area meant to be protected by a carbon credit scheme involving Virgin Atlantic have prompted the UK-based airline to launch an investigation into the program. ...

The European Union will be funding conservation efforts in Mondulkiri’s Srepok and Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuaries to the tune of $3.3 million over the next five years, according to a press release yesterday. The project, Advancing CSOs Capacity to Ensure Sustainability Solutions (ACCESS), will be ...

A research team comprised of members from the Environment Ministry, Wildlife Conservation Society and local communities has set up camera traps in Phnom Tbeng National Heritage Park in Preah Vihear province. ...

The government has reclassified 32,305 hectares of public land in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district to provide an economic land concession for the Lower Sesan II dam. According to a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 17, the land covers part of ...

Ratanakkiri Military Police officials yesterday denied multiple local media reports that thousands of logs of luxury timber were being transported on the Sesan River to be sent to Vietnam illegally. ...

Nineteen eggs of the globally endangered Asian giant softshell turtle have been discovered after conservationists found a nest on a sandbar along the Mekong River between Kratie and Stung Treng provinces. ...

Hydropower development will likely deal a serious economic blow to Cambodia, with dire outlooks for its fisheries and rice outputs predicted even under best-case scenarios, according to key findings from the Mekong River Commission (MRC). ...

The owner of a garbage collection company that recently took over trash pick-up in Sihanoukville admitted shortcomings in collection efforts yesterday, while pledging to improve services, following a petition by residents calling for the company’s contract to be rescinded. ...

CPP lawmaker Sar Sokha has denied any involvement in the timber trade in Prey Veng province after a depot owner used his name and that of Prime Minister Hun Sen to threaten local journalists. ...

After ignoring summonses for two months, a prominent timber tycoon accused of illegally trading luxury-grade wood in Mondulkiri province appeared at court to deny his involvement in the case.​ Sam Ol was summonsed on October 12 to testify after the authorities’ anti-logging task force found ...

The Environment Minister instructed his staff to cooperate with relevant ministries and institutions to improve management in the sector at the closing of the ministry’s annual meeting on Monday. ...

Cambodia’s solid waste collection has increased more than 40 percent over the last five years, according to an official and the Ministry of Environment’s annual report released on Monday. ...

Cambodia has not yet attained full water security, the water resources minister said yesterday at an Asia-Pacific summit. ...

Environmental NGOs expressed concerns this week about a requirement from the Ministry of Environment to get advanced permission to patrol the Prey Lang protected forest, saying doing so could lead to illegal loggers getting tipped off, given the history of collusion with officials in the ...

Cambodia’s beloved Irrawaddy dolphins are facing troubled waters, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) yesterday flagging the riverine mammal as ‘critically endangered’ in an update to its ‘Red List’. ...

Sihanoukville residents are benefiting from cheaper rubbish collections after Preah Sihanouk province changed the price of waste disposal services amid complaints it was too expensive. ...

Local authorities have agreed to allow the last families refusing to relocate from their homes near the Lower Sesan II dam to establish a new village on their community forest and ancestral lands. ...

Even as floodwaters pour into their villages and encroach upon their resettlement sites, villagers displaced by the controversial Lower Sesan II Dam in Stung Treng province say they are now facing shortages of potable water. ...

The Ministry of Environment has fined a Chinese garment factory in Takeo province $7,500 after villagers complained the factory was polluting nearby streams with untreated waste. ...

More than 30 families living in Koh Kong province’s Kiri Sakor district yesterday protested against the work of a Special Economic Zone company owned by tycoon Ly Yong Phat. ...

The Ministry of Environment has appealed to authorities and the community to protect a temple discovered in Prey Lang forest in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district. Minister of Environment Say Sam Al lead a delegation to visit Trapaing Prers temple in Prey Lang forest last ...

Two men were arrested Friday by Pursat Provincial Military Police for allegedly logging in a protected area, only to be released yesterday at the request of the provincial Military Police commander, officials said yesterday. The men were identified as Oum Ngat Say, 18, and Sou ...