Forestry Industry

Villagers and NGOs have accused local authorities, including forestry and environmental officials, of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in exchange for unfettered logging expeditions in Preah Vihear province’s Preah Roka protected forest. ...

Nearly 3,000 cases have been detected in a crackdown on fisheries and forest crime in the first nine months of this year.​ The results were in a Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery report published on Friday. ...

Six Vietnamese nationals were arrested on Wednesday afternoon in a Military Police raid that saw 30 officers confiscating at least 100 illegally felled trees and 10 logging vehicles from an economic land concession in Kratie province’s Snuol district near the border with Vietnam. ...

The Ministry of Environment released a statement late Tuesday night vehemently refuting University of Maryland data that showed a 30 percent spike in forest cover loss in 2016 over the year before, pointing instead to its own data showing only minimal deforestation over the same ...

The new data, released by the University of Maryland, tracks forest cover loss globally using satellite imagery. Results showed that not only was 2016 worse than 2015, but of the 16 years for which deforestation was recorded, last year was the fourth worst – with ...

Ratanakkiri province police seized 285 logs of first-grade timber in a raid at a cashew farm in a remote area of the province yesterday, although no loggers were arrested. ...

Police raided a warehouse in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district on Friday, seizing tonnes of illegal luxury timber after the owner fled.​ ...

National and Provincial Military Police in Kampong Speu seized hauls of illicit timber and arrested two suspects in separate cases over the weekend. A Provincial Military Police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the ...

Authorities yesterday discovered at least 20 tonnes of rosewood and other luxury timber after raiding a warehouse in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district. ...

A Khmer-Vietnamese Association representative in Ratanakkiri yesterday denied that illegally logged timber confiscated from the group’s office in Tes Anglong village on Tuesday belonged to the association. ...

The Ministry of Environment has disputed an environmental NGO report that large-scale illegal logging continues unabated, with large quantities of timber being transported to Vietnam. ...

Cambodian timber exports to Vietnam over the first six months of the year have almost surpassed the total amount for all of last year, according to Vietnamese customs data, despite an existing ban on the trade – which one analyst said had “entirely failed” in ...

The government has granted a private company an export licence to transport $15 million worth of illegal timber bought at an auction last year to Vietnam, documents show. ...

Police are investigating after a mob of villagers in Preah Vihear province let fly with fence posts in a clash with environmental officials following a logging bust, leaving the chief of Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary with a serious head injury. ...

A newly leaked document attesting to a $15,000 deal between representatives of Ratanakkiri’s Samut Krom village and a timber trader to allow Vietnamese-backed logging in the community’s forest appears to add further weight to its critique. ...

The ostensibly-outlawed export of logs to Vietnam increased in May, while the trade in sawn timber, also supposedly banned, remained substantial, new Vietnamese customs data shows. ...

A court investigation into illegal timber trafficking has targeted 11 provincial officials—including Mondolkiri’s heads of the military and military police, and potentially a court prosecutor—prompting the case’s transfer to Phnom Penh at the request of the justice minister, officials said on Tuesday. ...

A high-profile investigation into corruption charges levelled against Mondulkiri police officials for colluding with Vietnamese timber traders has been transferred from the provincial court to Phnom Penh due to a lethargic investigation by local police, many of whom are involved in the case, a court ...

King Norodom Sihamoni yesterday oversaw a tree planting ceremony in Kandal province to mark the 27th Arbor Day, pleading for all citizens to protect the country’s forests. ...

The Kratie provincial government yesterday denied reports that the provincial forestry chief was being removed from his position following allegations that he was colluding with illegal timber traders. ...

Environmental activist Ven Vorn has been given a second chance to have an illegal logging conviction overturned after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his case sent back to the Appeal Court for review. ...

The Environment Ministry plans to plant 500,000 trees in protected areas across the country this year, to boost forest cover and improve the livelihoods of communities. ...

Three men were sent to court yesterday for allegedly hauling more than 18 tonnes of illegally logged first-grade timber in Kampong Thom province. ...

Police have arrested three people and seized ten tonnes of thnong wood from a truck near the Thai border in Preah Vihear province.   ...