Forests and forestry

The government has created a new national committee to tackle forest land clearing and grabbing. However, the move was immediately shot down by a prominent forest activist who said it would be ineffective, given the systemic collusion between the authorities and land grabbers. ...

The Environment Ministry yesterday noted that cases of illegal land encroachment and occupation of protected areas in four provinces have decreased due to measures implemented by national and local environment officials. Last year, the Environment Ministry took action against forestry crimes, such as illegal logging ...

Ratanakkiri provincial authorities and BirdLife International Cambodia Programme have urged Hoang Anh Lumphat Co Ltd to preserve the habitat of endangered fauna species in a protected area and discontinue forest clearing. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng urged authorities on Thursday to protect Prey Lang forest, saying it is the largest remaining woodland in mainland Southeast Asia, and that amendments to laws that protect natural resources would soon be finalised. ...

Battambang Provincial Court yesterday charged and jailed a well-known timber businessman living in Banan district for stocking and transporting luxury timber without authorisation in the province. Major General Cheth Vanny, deputy chief of provincial police, identified the accused as Im Borey, also known as Peach, ...

A forest protection community in Pech Chreada district’s Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province submitted a formal complaint on Tuesday against Saroeun Mab, the owner of four illegal sawmills who allegedly threatened three activists after they had taken photographs of suspected illegal logging in the ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) has received the prestigious 2019 Energy Globe Award, a group representative said on Monday. The awards are known as “Nature’s Nobel Prize”. Ek Sovanna, a PLCN representative in Kratie province, told The Post on Monday that PLCN had won ...

As the impacts of climate change become more apparent worldwide, members of the public are connecting more weather events to the phenomenon. In March and April, for example, extreme heat baked mainland Southeast Asia. On April 20, Vietnam set an all-time observed record high temperature, 43 ...

Three community activists from Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province’s Pech Chreada district have claimed that they received death threats from the owner of four sawmills after they took photographs of alleged illegal logging from the community forest. ...

Another five people were arrested and five tractors seized in Preah Vihear province’s Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary late last week, but all were subsequently released after being educated and ordered to pay fines, an environmental ranger said on Sunday. ...

The government’s Auction Committee has announced a public auction of more than 1,500 cubic metres of illegally logged timber at a starting price of some 1.4 billion riel (approximately $353,000). This is based on a June 6 announcement by the Ministry of Environment’s General Department ...

More than 1,000 families living inside and near wildlife sanctuaries in the Kingdom’s northern provinces have seen their livelihood significantly boosted thanks to an NGO-initiated project. And most of the families have become role models for farmers and natural resource conservationists due to the efforts ...

The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) said that on behalf of rangers, it will formally request the Ministry of Environment next week to provide proper vehicles to transport evidence of forestry crimes. ...

The Kratie provincial Military Police raided a timber broker’s premises in Kratie town’s O’Russey commune on Tuesday, seizing eight vans which were allegedly attempting to transport logs illegally to Vietnam. Kratie Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Chea Sopheak told The Post on Tuesday that Kratie provincial ...

A prominent forest monitoring group on Monday urged the government to combat illegal logging and poaching in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, which it claimed had seen a drastic increase in forestry crimes during the first five months of this year. The Prey Lang Community ...

Five new chainsaws and six makeshift tractors were impounded by the Prey Preah Roka Forest Community Network (PPRFCN) and rangers during a three-day forest patrol from June 7-9 in Preah Vihear province. Sun Pov, a PPRFCN representative who also participated in the forest protection campaign, ...

The Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme for Cambodia (NTFP-EP Cambodia) considers non-timber forest product (NTFP) groups and associations the key to encouraging social and environmental protection in Cambodia, said an NTFP-EP Cambodia press release. ...

Authorities in Preah Vihear province have begun assigning plots of land to 180 families in Sra Em commune, ending a dispute between them and the Preah Vihear Temple Authority. Representatives of the 180 families have rallied multiple times in front of various government offices and ...

Environmental specialists are currently clearing the forest surrounding two recently discovered temples and preparing a road leading to them, Ratanakkiri provincial Department of Environment director Phon Khemerin said. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Saturday acknowledged that there had been illegal logging in the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in Pursat province. Civil society groups lauded the acknowledgement and urged the authorities to immediately combat the crimes. ...

Ecosystems play an important role in sustaining not only plants and animals, but also humans. But as demands for development continue, a balance between investments and sustainability remains elusive in Ream National Park. A forest ranger is geared with a bag behind his back and a ...

Authorities in Battambang province have stopped some 150 residents, led by a powerful official, from planting tree saplings in the Samlot Protected Area, amid allegations that the act was merely a pretext to seize protected land for private ownership. ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) is planning a joint patrol this month with activists from four provinces – Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear – to scout the protected area and crack down on forestry crimes. Kheng Kho, a PLCN representative in ...

Bunong indigenous residents in Dak Dam commune in Mondulkiri province’s O’Raing district have accused the authorities of ignoring the clearing of community forest land at Chrey Thom waterfall resort and a local cemetery despite repeated complaints since 2017. ...