Environment and natural resources
Water resources
PM ready to maroon island investors
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his officials to revoke the licenses of any investment and construction firms found doing little or nothing with the islands or land they said they would develop. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28106/pm-ready-to-maroon-island-investors/
River of change: Hydropower dams and the Mekong River’s uncertain future
From the snowy plateaus of Tibet to the mountain gorges of China’s Yunnan province and beyond to the jungled borders of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and down to the plains of Cambodia and paddy fields of Vietnam – the Mekong River is of crucial importance to ...
Ten Soksreinith
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/river-of-change-hydropower-dams-and-the-mekong-river-uncertain-future/3436827.html
Irrigation in Mekong basin threatens VN’s delta
The lower basin of the trans-boundary Mekong River starts from Laos and runs through Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam before emptying into the East Sea (South China Sea). Any attempts to interrupt the natural status of the river would pose risks to Viet Nam’s Cuu ...
VietNamNet Bridge Team
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/160889/irrigation-in-mekong-basin-threatens-vn-s-delta.html
Tonle Sap wetland on the brink of a crisis
In a statement last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature identified ongoing fires in flooded forests as a major threat to the Tonle Sap lake. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/tonle-sap-wetland-brink-crisis?utm_content=buffer27079&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Kandal drinking water contaminated with fecal matter, study says
A study of drinking water sources in Kandal province found widespread contamination from human excrement, posing a health risk to residents that likely mirrors the situation across Cambodia, the authors say. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kandal-drinking-water-contaminated-with-fecal-matter-study-115337/
Gov’t signs off on Koh Rong protected habitat
The Cambodian government has signed off on the Kingdom’s first dedicated marine protection area in a bid to save the Koh Rong Archipelago’s coral reef and sea life. ...
A watery problem and solution
According to a 2013 United Nations Environmental Protection report, a water hyacinth plant releases more than 3,000 seeds every year and, because its roots are floating, it does not need to be in shallow water to survive. Water hyacinth has moved rapidly across South America, ...
Khmer Time Stuff
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26219/a-watery-problem-and-solution/
Sea gates to protect coastline
The National Committee for Coastal Management and Development will build 17 sea gates along the coastal areas in Sihanoukville province to protect beaches in the area against sea erosion and boost tourism. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26165/sea-gates-to-protect-coastline/
Beach buildings to be destroyed
Structures considered to be encroaching on state-owned beach areas in Sihanoukville will be demolished, according to a letter sent on Sunday from the Minister of Land Management to the Committee for Cambodia Coastal Management and Development. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25870/beach-buildings-to-be-destroyed/
Meeting Needs sees Cambodia water project near completion
A major water, hygiene and sanitation project co-funded by industry charity Meeting Needs is bringing clean water to almost 1,000 people in the Siem Reap Province of Cambodia. ...
Meet Pie's Team
http://www.meetpie.com/Modules/NewsModule/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=23028
Ground water may be over-exploited: NGOs
Over-exploitation of the Kingdom’s underground water sources has contributed to the water scarcity problem faced by the country during the past two years of drought, relief organisations said yesterday. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ground-water-may-be-over-exploited-ngos
Algae bloom was natural, says ministry
The Environment Ministry on Friday released its final study on the algal bloom that forced swimmers out of the water in Kep province in early April, stating no chemical substances were found in the bloom that would have negatively affected human or animal health. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25239/algae-bloom-was-natural--says-ministry/
Up to 1,000 hectares of flooded forest threatened
About 1,000 hectares of flooded forest in Preah Sihanouk’s Prey Nup district, all of which is overseen by the provincial fisheries department, is under threat of being systemically divided and sold to a private company, according to officials. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24808/up-to-1-000-hectares-of-flooded-forest-threatened/
Government says Kep water safe; tourists pour back in
After issuing a public health warning earlier this month for Kep province due to an algal bloom in the coastal water, the government on Friday lifted its precautionary ban on swimming, fishing and eating seafood in the province, according to a statement. ...
Kang Sothear and Hannah Hawkins
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-says-kep-water-safe-tourists-pour-back-in-111115/
Mekong dams’ annual impact put at $450M
A 30-month study by Vietnamese researchers on the impact of 11 proposed hydroelectric dams in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) has found that the economic damage to Cambodia alone will be worth some $450 million per year. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mekong-dams-annual-impact-put-450m
Plenty of fish, but no buyers
At what should be a boom time ahead of the New Year, seafood vendors in Kampot have full baskets but no buyers as the algae bloom around Kep turns the water bright green and dead fish wash ashore. The government has issued a warning against swimming ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23571/plenty-of-fish--but-no-buyers/
China dams blamed for exacerbating SE Asia water shortage
As China opened one of its six dams on the upper Mekong River last month to help parched Southeast Asian countries down river cope with a record drought, it was hailed as benevolent water diplomacy. But to critics of hydroelectric dams built on the Mekong over ...
Tran Van Minh and Stephen Wright
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national-news/2016/04/04/462555/China-dams.htm
Algal blooms off Kep coast lead to swimming and seafood scares
A massive algal bloom off the coast of Kep that has left scores of dead coastal crabs and fish in its wake resulted in warnings from the Ministry of Environment and Prime Minister Hun Sen this weekend to avoid eating seafood or swimming in the ...
Brent Crane and Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/algal-blooms-kep-coast-lead-swimming-and-seafood-scares
Residents, activists call for city to stop filling in lakes
Protesters from Phnom Penh’s lakeside communities spent an hour facing off with police on Thursday on a road on the former Boeng Kak lake before turning around and taking a different route to the National Assembly, where they demanded an end to the infilling and ...
Centre in China to aid Mekong management
The governments of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to set up a centre in China where the six countries can work together to find solutions to water resource management problems, the Mekong River Commission said in a statement released yesterday. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/centre-china-aid-mekong-management
Lower Mekong thirsts for more water
The amount of water that will be released from a Chinese dam until 10 April could be too low to help alleviate drought-stricken South-East Asia. ...
Fatima Arkin
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/water/news/lower-mekong-thirsts-for-more-water.html
Drought hits district in Mondulkiri
Up to 4,000 mostly ethnic minority people in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima district are facing a water shortage after the local supplier announced service would be suspended due to impending widescale drought. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/drought-hits-district-mondulkiri
No great hopes for China's Mekong release
Though praised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China’s release of Mekong River water from the Jinghong dam on March 15 is unlikely to bring much relief to downstream countries like Cambodia, water experts said yesterday. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-great-hopes-chinas-mekong-release
Lancang-Mekong Cooperation vital to regional stability, boosting economic development: Cambodia
With the inaugural Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) leaders’ meeting scheduled to open next week in China, Cambodia said the LMC is important for all Lancang-Mekong countries to maintain regional peace and stability and to boost economic development. ...
Xin Hua Team
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/19/c_135203233.htm