Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Environment
Ministry sets out rules on disposal of batteries
The Ministry of Environment on Thursday issued its first prakas on safe battery management, laying out specific guidelines on the collection, storage, treatment, delivery and disposal of batteries by households and businesses alike. ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-sets-out-rules-disposal-batteries
Seized timber sold for $15 mil
A total of 60,000 cubic meters of illegally-felled luxury timber confiscated by the National Anti-Deforestation Committee (NADC) sold at auction yesterday for $15 million, $3 million above the reserve price. Soung Meng Kea, chairman of the subcommittee running the auction and undersecretary of state at the ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31435/seized-timber-sold-for--15-mil/
Forestry crimes triple, but fines down: report
Illegal forest clearing is taking place at about three times the rate it did last year, but fines for forestry and wildlife crimes have fallen dramatically, according to a progress report released last week by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries (MAFF). ...
Mech Dara and Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forestry-crimes-triple-fines-down-report
Gov’t studies new tree species
The Ministry of Environment signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday with two Chinese companies to study planting “Paulownia-Guotong” – an extremely fast-growing tree used to make furniture and wooden equipment – and practice growing it in Cambodia. Speaking at a workshop on a feasibility ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30205/gov---t-studies-new-tree-species/
Sambo hydro dam info urged
Youth groups and environmental activists have requested the government release the latest documents concerning the proposed Sambo hydroelectric dam in Kratie province, amid lingering concerns of the possible environmental damage the dam may cause. The dam, if constructed, will be the largest in the country and ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30164/sambo-hydro-dam-info-urged/
Civil society groups secure pledges from PM Hun Sen at forestry forum
Billed as a Cambodian first, the invitation of 500 civil society and community representatives to a forum on environmental issues with Prime Minister Hun Sen proved largely a platform for the premier to hold forth on policy and politics, with many observers bemoaning the sidelining ...
Jack Davies and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/civil-society-groups-secure-pledges-pm-hun-sen-forestry-forum
Mesco closes in on gold licence
After an unexpectedly lengthy review, the Ministry of Environment has approved the environmental and social impact study of Indian mining firm Mesco Gold, clearing the last major hurdle for the company to receive a licence to operate the Kingdom’s first royalty-generating mine. ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mesco-closes-gold-licence
Plastic waste to be put to good use
A Japanese firm, Gomi Recycle 110, plans to invest in a factory in Svay Rieng province to recycle plastic waste into finished products for local markets. Yusuke Okumura, director of Gomi, met with Cambodia’s Minister of Environment Say Samal on Tuesday seeking support from the government ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27468/plastic-waste-to-be-put-to-good-use/
Returned UDG evictees want double the land
The 529 families who in 2010 traded their homes inside a $3.8 billion Chinese development project in Koh Kong province for land about 20 km away have petitioned local authorities to double the size of their replacement plots, officials said on Wednesday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/returned-udg-evictees-want-double-land-115129/
Rosewood exports undercut UN protections
Cambodia exported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of threatened Siamese rosewood in the 18 months after ratifying a 2013 international protocol designed to protect the species from destructive trade, according to a report released on Friday. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rosewood-exports-undercut-un-protections-114612/
Fee proposed on plastic bags
The government has proposed slugging shoppers 500 riel for plastic bags in a bid to reduce environmental pollution. A draft prakas on plastic bags that would include the fee was reviewed yesterday in a Department of Environment workshop attended by government representatives along with mall and ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fee-proposed-plastic-bags
Government sets dates for auction of final lots of seized timber
The government has set the dates to auction off the last of the 71,000 cubic meters of illegally logged timber seized by authorities this year, carrying on a practice riddled with signs of corruption in the past. ...
Minister claims logging has ended
Environment Minister Say Samal claims Cambodia has put an end to illegal logging and timber exports to Vietnam, despite reports of continued, and even rising, levels of forest clearing and timber being transported to the Kingdom’s neighbor. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25786/minister-claims-logging-has-ended/
Government will start chipping away at protected areas
Between 2009 and 2012, the Ministry of Environment went on nationwide leasing spree, signing over vast swaths of the country’s nominally protected areas to private companies for rubber plantations and other agribusiness ventures. ...
Zsombor Peter and Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-will-start-chipping-away-at-protected-areas-113127/
Koh Kong families reach agreement with UDG
About 100 additional families have accepted compensation packages from Union Development Group (UDG) to relocate and make way for the massive development project the Chinese firm is building along the coast of Koh Kong province, according to the Environment Ministry. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/koh-kong-families-reach-agreement-with-udg-112713/
Nearly six million hectares to be protected
Minister of Environment Say Sam Al has sent a letter to the Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction asking to register nearly six million hectares of land as protected under the Ministry of the Environment. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24932/nearly-six-million-hectares-to-be-protected/
Preah Vihear excluded from protection plan
The Ministry of Environment conducted a workshop yesterday to discuss the government’s plan to designate five forest areas, totaling about one million hectares of land, as protected. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24212/preah-vihear-excluded-from-protection-plan/
Green light for protected forest plans
The Ministry of Environment has given two NGOs the go-ahead to implement their proposed management plans for five protected community forest areas in Battambang and Pursat provinces, projected to cover 1,064 families and 2,761 hectares. ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/green-light-protected-forest-plans
In Phnom Penh, a looming sewage crisis
Renderings of Casa Meridian, a new condominium complex, suggest that its wealthy buyers are investing in a glistening 414-unit skyscraper overlooking a placid, ocean-blue body of water surrounding Koh Pich island, which is sprouting a number of luxury towers developed by the Overseas Cambodian Investment ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111364-111364/
New protected forests test overstretched ministry
The nearly 1 million hectares of newly protected forests the Environment Ministry wants to create by the end of the year will add nearly a third more land to the portfolio of an agency already struggling to manage the 3.2 million hectares it has. And ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/111001-111001/
Environmental code aims to safeguard natural resources
A new plan to protect the environment started taking shape yesterday when the Environment Ministry held a workshop to discuss ideas on how to convert numerous laws into a single code to govern the county’s natural resources. It is expected the process will take two years ...
Ros Chanveasna
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23704/environmental-code-aims-to-safeguard-natural-resources/
Algal blooms off Kep coast lead to swimming and seafood scares
A massive algal bloom off the coast of Kep that has left scores of dead coastal crabs and fish in its wake resulted in warnings from the Ministry of Environment and Prime Minister Hun Sen this weekend to avoid eating seafood or swimming in the ...
Brent Crane and Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/algal-blooms-kep-coast-lead-swimming-and-seafood-scares
PM decides to protect 1 million hectares of forest
Prime Minister Hun Sen has agreed to legally protect nearly 1 million hectares of the Kingdom’s forest land, including the Prey Lang forest. Speaking during the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s annual meeting at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, Mr. Hun Sen said he ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23482/pm-decides-to-protect-1-million-hectares-of-forest/
Gov’t asked to protect nearly 1 million hectares of forest
The Ministry of Environment has proposed the government establish nearly one million hectares of newly protected forest, an area that will include the Prey Lang forest, according to ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23420/gov---t-asked-to-protect-nearly-1-million-hectares-of-forest/