Forests and forestry

Tumpuon ethnic minorities residing in Seda commune, in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district, on Monday accused authorities of colluding to sell 100 hectares of protected land in the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary  that they say belongs to the community ...

The Senate yesterday approved a draft law to adopt the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation’s policies to help regulate existing measures to prevent forest crimes. The approval of the draft law followed a May 31 National Assembly session where all 112 lawmakers approved the draft law. ...

Nearly five cubic feet of highly priced wood was confiscated in Battambang province’s Samlot district after Military Police in Kampong Lapov commune stopped a truck on Wednesday, said Meas Sovan, the provincial Military Police commander. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday blamed the Kingdom’s rising population as a factor contributing to deforestation. He also told government critics who lived on deforested land to return it to the authorities for replanting. ...

More than one million cubic metres of illegal timber has flowed unhindered from protected areas in Cambodia’s northeast provinces to Vietnam as the latter continues its role as a serial illegal timber trade offender, according to a report issued by the Environmental Investigation Agency. ...

Police are on the lookout for an SUV driver who escaped after a chase by Rovieng District Forestry Administration (FA) officials in Preah Vihear province, who spotted his vehicle hauling two cubic metres of expensive thnong timber. ...

Ten men were caught engaged in illegal logging during a three-day patrol by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) that began on Friday. This led a representative of the group to declare that illegal logging at the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province ...

Several National Assembly commissions met yesterday to discuss a draft law adopting the policies of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation. The meeting was led by Chheang Vun, chairman of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Media; Yim Savy, chairman of the Commission ...

According to Gray, the snaring crisis is worst in Vietnam and Laos, but is increasing in Cambodia – where he works – as well as Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. In some places – even protected areas – it is so bad that scientists talk of ...

The owner of a timber handicraft workshop and one of his workers were arrested yesterday for allegedly handling illegal luxury wood. Eam Bunly, 45, owner of the workshop in Spean Meanchey commune in Mondulkiri province, and Doeun Sokhim, 35, were detained by Sen Monorom city ...

An endangered gaur was one of “many” wild animals found dead in “dozens” of illegal traps in Pailin province’s Phnom Khieu Wildlife Sanctuary, said Chit Thy, a military officer working with rangers to protect the conservation area, on Wednesday. ...

Apsara Authority officials and local police yesterday completed a three-day investigation into illegal logging on Angkor Archaeological Park grounds, noting that one man was detained and released after signing a contract to stop cutting trees. ...

A group of villagers from a community forest inside Preah Vihear province’s Phnom Tnout Wildlife Sanctuary are collecting thumbprints to evict a family that has been protecting the forest from illegal logging and preventing poaching of endangered species. ...

Chumnoab commune authorities in Koh Kong province have started to dismantle the Areng Valley community office despite appeals from the community to keep it. On March 21, Chumnoab commune officials advised the Areng Valley community to relocate their office because the land it was on ...

A new marine protected area has been established off the coast of Kep province to protect biodiversity and prevent illegal fishing, officials said on Sunday. A directive by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officially established the marine fisheries management area, which spans more ...

Eight environmental organisations yesterday asked the government to take immediate action against loggers and land speculators in a wildlife sanctuary in Preah Vihear province, worrying that more land will be encroached upon. ...

Kratie provincial authorities were searching on Wednesday for the owners of hundreds of cubic metres of first-grade timber found loaded onto seven heavy trucks during a raid on a warehouse in Snuol district. After getting a tip-off, Military Police, police, Forestry Administration and court officials ...

An environmental ranger and a community forest member on Tuesday were released from prison under court supervision following their brief detention after allegedly firing at a suspect hauling timber within a protected area supported by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in Battambang province. ...

The director of Kampong Speu’s protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and his predecessor have been charged with illegally clearing forest in a case dating back to 2013, and have been summoned to court for questioning. ...

Kratie’s Prek Prasap district authorities on Friday confiscated a bulldozer in connection with the clearing of 10 hectares of forestland near the protected Prey Lang forest, officials said on Sunday. ...

The European Union and WWF yesterday launched a $3.4 million project to conserve natural resources in Mondulkiri province. According to a press release issued yesterday, the EU and WWF have officially launched a project worth $3.4 million to support sustainable management of rich forest resources in ...

Environmental officials in Pursat are questioning rangers over how a group of local journalists discovered nearly 100 logs of luxury timber inside a wildlife sanctuary. After receiving a tip, the journalists, representing 24 small online media outlets, teamed up with five local policemen on Tuesday ...

An Areng Valley representative on Monday visited the Chumnoab commune office in Koh Kong province to plead with authorities not to remove a community office that has been slated for demolition to make way for a new commune office. ...

A complaint filed at the Preah Vihear Provincial Court accuses four Kuoy ethnic villagers of goading some 70 others into confiscating tractors being used to clear community land by a subsidiary of the Chinese sugar company Rui Feng, which has been involved in a series ...