Forest products
Forestry Industry
Police official avoids prosecution for rosewood smuggling
A police official in Kompong Thom province has so far avoided prosecution in a weekend timber smuggling case involving his brother, three unidentified loggers and three carloads of rosewood logs marked with his name. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-official-avoids-prosecution-for-rosewood-smuggling-109650/
Court summons businessmen in connection to timber
Although they remain publicly unnamed, nine businessmen in the timber industry were summoned to appear at the Tbong Khmum provincial court today for alleged deforestation crimes and illegal business dealings, according to officials. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22346/court-summons-businessmen-in-connection-to-timber/
Environmental campaigner convicted of forestry crime
A prominent anti-dam activist in Koh Kong province who has been jailed since October was convicted Thursday of illegal logging and given a suspended prison sentence, allowing him to walk free but leaving the shadow of a criminal conviction hanging over him. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/109399-109399/
City hall planning to privatize 280-hectare development site
City Hall plans to privatize a 280-hectare plot of public land set aside for a $3 billion development by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district, officials said Thursday. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-planning-to-privatize-280-hectare-development-site-109413/
NGO backs crackdown on logging, wants more
The Indigenous Peoples and Forestry Network (IPFN) yesterday released a statement praising the government’s ongoing purported crackdown on illegal logging, but saying far more needs to be done. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngo-backs-crackdown-logging-wants-more
Preah Vihear blaze razes timber
A blaze authorities have attributed to a forest fire ripped through a nearly 4,000-cubic-metre timber stockpile on a social land concession in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district on the weekend, although the company yesterday said it suspected a case of arson. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/preah-vihear-blaze-razes-timber
PM gives ministers an 'F', lashes out at illegal logging task force
Prime Minister Hun Sen unleashed a tirade against underperforming government officials in a pair of speeches yesterday – musing aloud about reshuffling his Council of Ministers and wondering why rockets had not yet been deployed in the Kingdom’s recent “crackdown” on illegal logging. ...
Mech Dara, Lay Samean and Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-gives-ministers-f-lashes-out-illegal-logging-task-force
Gov’t names illegal logging profiteers, but courts won’t prosecute
More than a month has passed since National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) named the people it suspects of profiting from the trade in illegal timber, but not a single arrest warrant or court summons has been issued since. As perpetrators continue to go unpunished, the illegal ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21780/gov---t-names-illegal-logging-profiteers--but-courts-won---t-prosecute/
Task force for illegal logging begins sending cases to court
An ad hoc task force set up by Prime Minister Hun Sun last month to go after illegal timber stocks in eastern Cambodia has started sending cases to the provincial courts for prosecution, National Police spokesman Eng Hy said on Monday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/task-force-for-illegal-logging-begins-sending-cases-to-court-108847/
NGOs, military police join forces in logging crackdown
Six prominent conservation groups yesterday vowed to help a military police task force fight illegal logging near the eastern border yesterday. However, scepticism persists that the highly publicised operation, which has resulted in few arrests, is merely for show. ...
Mech Dara and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-military-police-join-forces-logging-crackdown
Illegal Cambodian loggers detained in Thailand
Four Cambodian nationals were arrested by Thai authorities on illegal logging allegations after the suspects were caught in a Surin province wildlife sanctuary with felled Siamese Rosewood trees and logging tools on Monday, according to officials. ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21479/illegal-cambodian-loggers-detained-in-thailand/
Rubber company denies any illegal logging
A rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province targeted by a new government task force sweeping the eastern provinces for illicit timber stocks has denied any involvement in the illegal logging trade. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-company-denies-any-illegal-logging-108555/
Official gets called out in sanctuary logging case
Two men have been arrested over, and a military official implicated in, illegal logging that took place at the protected Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary last week. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/official-gets-called-out-sanctuary-logging-case
Logs seized in Stung Treng
The recently created nationwide anti-logging commission seized 300 logs of illegal timber at a sawmill near a Vietnamese graveyard in Stung Treng province on Friday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/logs-seized-stung-treng
Journalist detained over logging story
A journalist who accused a military police commander of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in Mondolkiri province was arrested and briefly detained on Thursday on the commander’s orders, a move that was criticized by the Ministry of Information. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/journalist-detained-over-logging-story-108258/
Another cache of buried logs found near Oknha’s sawmill
Authorities have unearthed another cache of high-grade logs buried near a well-known timber dealer’s sawmill in Tbong Khmum province, weeks after finding a stockpile of buried logs on the businessman’s property in the same district. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/another-cache-of-buried-logs-found-near-oknhas-sawmill-107986/
Prey Lang network calls for protections in logging crackdown
The Prey Lang Community Network has called on the government to include the protection of the sprawling Prey Lang forest in the remit of the recently established committee to crack down on illegal logging. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prey-lang-network-calls-protections-logging-crackdown
Shots fired in Mondulkiri timber chase
A former Mondulkiri provincial military police officer, Sou Marith, fired on authorities who had chased a car carrying timber to his home, but managed to make good his escape in the hours it took authorities to procure an arrest warrant, local authorities said. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/shots-fired-mondulkiri-timber-chase
Shots fired in Mondulkiri timber chase
A former Mondulkiri provincial military police officer, Sou Marith, fired on authorities who had chased a car carrying timber to his home, but managed to make good his escape in the hours it took authorities to procure an arrest warrant, local authorities said. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/shots-fired-mondulkiri-timber-chase
Illegal logging has become more violent than ever
Criminal loggers and land snatchers are committing more murders around the world, but they almost always escape justice. ...
Rachel Nuwer
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160202-Illegal-loggers-murders-violence-defending-land/
Samrin blocks letter about Vietnamese army ELCs
National Assembly President Heng Samrin has refused to forward to Prime Minister Hun Sen a letter from an opposition lawmaker asking that a group of rubber plantations owned by Vietnamese Army commanders be canceled because they violate the Constitution. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/samrin-blocks-letter-about-vietnamese-army-elcs-107250/
Timber burned at Mondulkiri ELC
Hundreds of logs of timber, including luxury wood, as well as sawmill camps were torched at a controversial Vietnamese-owned economic land concession in Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima district in an apparent bid to destroy evidence of illegal logging ahead of a raid by a new ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/timber-burned-mondulkiri-elc
National Police add weight to logging crackdown
Cambodia’s National Police have joined the fray in an ongoing crackdown against illegal logging, starting their own “mission group” following the creation of a military police task force last week. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/national-police-add-weight-logging-crackdown
Pheap timber under scrutiny
Authorities from the government’s new anti-logging task force swooped into Stung Treng yesterday and inspected timber stockpiles belonging to the Kingdom’s most prominent logging magnate, Try Pheap, who has been accused of reaping immense profits from the clear-cutting of Cambodian forests for years. ...
Mech Dara and Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pheap-timber-under-scrutiny