Forest policy and administration

A deputy district military police chief in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district is under scrutiny for allegedly clearing up to seven hectares of community forest land for personal gain, and district officials are investigating the case with the aim of presenting it at the provincial court ...

អង្គការ​ការពារ​ធនធាន​ធម្មជាតិ​ឈ្មោះ ក្លូបប៊ល វីតណែស្ស (Global Witness = GW) ចាត់​ទុក​កម្ពុជា ថា​ជា​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ដែល​មាន​សកម្មជន​ការពារ​បរិស្ថាន និង​ដីធ្លី​ជាច្រើន​ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​សម្លាប់។ ស្ថាប័ន​អន្តរជាតិ​មួយ​នេះ អំពាវនាវ​ឲ្យ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ចាត់​វិធាន​ការ​ឲ្យ​បាន​តឹងរ៉ឹង ដើម្បី​បញ្ឈប់​ការ​គំរាម​កំហែង​នានា​ទៅ​លើ​សកម្មជន​ការពារ​បរិស្ថាន និង​ដីធ្លី។ នៅ​ក្នុង​របាយការណ៍​សិក្សា​ចុះ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១៥ ខែ​មេសា ឆ្នាំ​២០១៤ អង្គការ​ក្លូបប៊ល វីតណែស្ស បាន​ផ្តល់​ចំណាត់​ថ្នាក់​ដល់​កម្ពុជា ស្ថិត​ក្នុង​លំដាប់​លេខ​៩ ក្នុង​ចំណោម​ប្រទេស​ទាំងអស់​ចំនួន​៣៥ ដែល​មាន​សកម្មជន​ការពារ​បរិស្ថាន និង​ដីធ្លី ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​សម្លាប់។ ក្នុង​ចំណោម​ប្រទេស​ទាំង​៣៥ នោះ ប្រទេស​ដែល​សកម្មជន​ការពារ​បរិស្ថាន និង​ដីធ្លី​ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​សម្លាប់​ច្រើន​ជាង​គេ រួម​មាន​ប្រទេស​ប្រេស៊ីល (Brazil) ប្រទេស​ហុងឌុយរ៉ាស់ (Honduras) ប្រទេស​ហ្វីលីពីន (Philippines) ប្រទេស​ប៉េរូ (Peru) និង​ប្រទេស​កូឡុំប៊ី (Columbia)។ ចំណែក​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា ជាប់​ចំណាត់​ថ្នាក់​លេខ​៩ គឺ​នៅ​ពី​ក្រោយ​ប្រទេស​ម៉ិចស៊ិក (Mexico) ហ្គាតេម៉ាឡា (Guatemala) និង​ប្រទេស​ថៃ (Thailand)។ ...

The scale of mass logging in once-dense woodlands in Cambodia’s north now more closely resembles the free-for-all of a gold rush than the sustainable forestry more often associated with these communities. With the financial backing of powerful businessmen, villagers in three districts of Preah Vihear are ...

Siem Reap Provincial Court on Wednesday charged four soldiers from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) with illegally logging rosewood and placed them in pre-trial detention, an official said. “We charged them under article 96 of the Forestry Law,” said Hok Pov, an investigating judge at ...

Police raided a guesthouse in Poipet City on Monday and arrested 23 men as they waited to be paid for illegally logging rosewood across Cambodia’s border with Thailand, police officials said. Um Sophal, Poipet City police chief, said the men were arrested Monday following a tip-off ...

Ethnic Jarai villagers in Ratanakkiri province have once again accused the Vietnamese owners of a rubber plantation of illegally logging their ancestral forests in a complaint filed with rights group Adhoc. A district official, however, said the plantation owner, Company 72, was granted an extension on ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s brother Hun Neng and a Vietnamese state-owned rubber firm are involved in an illegal logging cartel involving several well-connected companies operating on a “massive scale” in the embattled Prey Lang forest, forest monitors working in the area allege. Video footage and photographs ...

Economic land concessionaires not abiding by their contracts could have their licences revoked if they have seriously breached the terms, Prime Minister Hun Sen has said. Illegally seizing forest land would be punished under the Law on Forestry, he said on Friday, speaking at an annual ...

A company in Mondulkiri’s Sok San commune has been gradually cutting down a community forest, pushing more than 100 families off their land, villagers said yesterday. “That land belongs to us, the government granted it to us in 1999. But the company invaded and let us ...

A forest patrol in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district spotted five loggers clearing the community’s ancestral forest on Tuesday, villagers and rights group Adhoc said yesterday. Adhoc provincial coordinator Chhay Thy said that three representatives of nearly 200 ethnic Jarai families in Pak Nhai commune asked for help ...

The director of the Lumphat district forestry department in Ratanakkiri province was charged and put in pre-trial detention on Monday for allegedly logging on protected land around Ou’Sinlair waterfall, police and court officials revealed yesterday. Deputy Police Chief Klol Thoeun said that Meung Bunthin was picked ...

For three days last week, the Preah Roka forest in Preah Vihear province was silent, the usual cacophony of chainsaws notably absent. The buzz of trucks arriving empty and later leaving heavily loaded with timber had been replaced by ethnic Kuoy villagers, about 300 in all, ...

Logging by Vietnamese-owned concessionaire Company 72 has once again spilled the boundaries of its land in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district, this time without paying proper taxes to the Forestry Administration (FA), local forest conservation activist Romas Svang said yesterday. ...

The Kratie Provincial Court on Sunday charged three villagers with illegally clearing community forest, and six more for clearing state-owned land, officials said Monday. The three people were arrested in Snoul district’s Khyoem commune and accused of clearing protected forest while the other six were arrested ...

An existing moratorium on economic land concessions should be no impediment to pouring more cash into the Kingdom’s booming, and highly criticised, rubber trade, industry executives in the capital heard yesterday, as many current ELCs can simply be recycled to a new crop of investors. Ly ...

The International Finance Corporation’s compliance ombudsman has officially accepted a complaint filed by ethnic minority families in Ratanakkiri province against the IFC for investing in rubber plantations accused of stealing land and clearing forests. In a letter sent to the families on Monday, the ombudsman deems ...

As illegal logging con­tinues to take a toll on the country’s woodlands, civil society groups yesterday called on the government to stay true to its commitment of providing an extra two million hectares of community forest by 2029. During a two-day conference in the capital, participants ...

In the latest case involving illegal logging in Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom district, two indigenous communities filed a lawsuit against three unidentified illegal loggers after confiscating a truck laden with luxury wood on Saturday, a rights monitor and villagers said yesterday. About 50 villagers turned over the ...

The Forestry Administration in Preah Vihear province on Saturday raided a remote cabin in Choam Ksan district where they found 200 pieces of illegally felled luxury wood, police said Sunday. The 15 cubic meters of wood uncovered included the Thnong, Beng and Neang Noun varieties, and ...

A brigadier general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) whose home and rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province were raided by police last week claimed Sunday that the authorities had apologized to him after he threatened them with a lawsuit. Police had raided Brigadier General Chhit ...

NGOS have accused logging tycoon Try Pheap’s MDS Import-Export Company – which had a licence to clear forest during the construction of the Stung Atai hydropower dam in Pursat – of continuing to log the area despite the dam being finished. Ouch Leng, director of the ...

More than a dozen ethnic minority communities from Cambodia’s northeast filed a complaint with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Monday, accusing it of breaking its own safeguard policies by investing in rubber plantations they say are stealing their land and illegally logging their forests. The ...

In the weeks that 17-year-old garment worker Yon Chea languished in prison, he spent hours staring out of the window at a concrete wall, certain that he would never see his home or his family again. “I never thought I would get out. There was a ...

Some of the hundreds of families losing land and community forest to Vietnamese-owned rubber plantations in Cambodia’s northeast will this week file a complaint with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) over the investment it has made in the plantations’ parent company. Eang Vuthy, executive director of ...