Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Environment
‘Eco-schools’ to try for a clean sweep in coming year
The Environment and Education Ministries will expand their eco-school program to all primary and secondary schools across the country over the course of 2017, provided they have the necessary human and financial resources to do so. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23235/---eco-schools----to-try-for-a----clean-sweep-in-coming-year/
Ministry encourages conservation, domestication of wild animals
The Ministry of Environment is encouraging people living in or around protected areas to start feeding and domesticating wild animals, and to abstain from eating them, with similar strategies in animal conservation being attempted in communities in Preah Vihear province. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23236/ministry-encourages-conservation--domestication-of-wild-animals/
Bodies swap control over ELCs, preserves
Authority over economic land concessions (ELCs) currently under the purview of the Ministry of Environment will be transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, while all protected areas and nature preserves currently under the Ministry of Agriculture will pass to the Ministry of Environment, according to ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bodies-swap-control-over-elcs-preserves
Tonle bassac dredging necessary, say officials
In order to aid waterway transport, sand-dredging – largely banned since a 2011 decree – will soon begin reappearing at dozens of locations along the Tonle Bassac river, a spokesman from the Ministry of Mines and Energy confirmed yesterday. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/tonle-bassac-dredging-necessary-say-officials
Kingdom ranks low on global green list
Cambodia has performed poorly in the 2016 edition of a recent environmental report, ranking a dismal 146 out of 180 countries.The Kingdom returned one of the lowest Environmental Performance Index (EPI) scores in the region, narrowly edging ahead of Myanmar and Laos. ...
Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-ranks-low-global-green-list
Ministry of environment opens new building
The Ministry of Environment on Monday inaugurated its palatial new headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, the result of a state-private land swap. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-of-environment-opens-new-building-104401/
Mother nature’s youthful ambassadors get to work
Forty young environmental envoys began training on December 5 to become Young Eco Ambassadors, tasked with raising awareness of the need to protect the environment. ...
Duch Lalin
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18498/mother-nature---s-youthful-ambassadors-get-to-work/
Prek Toal wetlands sanctuary gets international recognition
Sixteen years after the Ministry of Environment and conservation groups began to protect the Prek Toal wetlands on the western edge of Tonle Sap Lake, the area has been designated a site of global importance. ...
James Reddick
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18304/prek-toal-wetlands-sanctuary-gets-international-recognition/
Minister calls for more reporting on climate change
In the lead-up to the global climate change conference in Paris later this month, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith yesterday urged the media to increase reporting on the effects of climate change in Cambodia so that citizens can be better prepared for it. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17957/minister-calls-for-more-reporting-on-climate-change/
City meets with Cintri to draft new waste disposal contract
Phnom Penh municipal authorities met on Wednesday with the city’s embattled trash-collection company, Cintri, to draft a new contract, according to a statement posted to City Hall’s Facebook page. ...
Minister vows justice for slain forest rangers
Minister of Environment Say Samal yesterday vowed that those responsible for the murder of two forest rangers shot dead while patrolling a protected forest near Preah Vihear temple Saturday morning will be brought to justice. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17610/minister-vows-justice-for-slain-forest-rangers/
Environment ministry ends ELC assessments
The Environment Ministry has reduced the terms of six economic land concessions (ELCs) to 50 years from between 70 and 90 years after seven of eight carbon credit investment projects were revoked. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16889/environment-ministry-ends-elc-assessments/
Indonesian haze may be choking Cambodia
Fires set by plantation owners in Indonesia may be to blame for the smog hanging over Phnom Penh, the Ministry of the Environment said yesterday. “I know there is a serious problem with haze,” Ministry spokesman Sao Sopheap told Khmer Times. “We have noticed haze ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16585/indonesian-haze-may-be-choking-cambodia/
Gov’t gets tough on environment
Cambodian environmental leaders came together yesterday to discuss the country’s contributions to the upcoming Paris Climate Conference in December. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15818/gov---t-gets-tough-on-environment/
Cambodia turns to Malaysia for renewable energy boost
Cambodia and Malaysia have reached an agreement to collaborate on renewable energy and green technology, officials confirmed yesterday. ...
James Reddick
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15751/cambodia-turns-to-malaysia-for-renewable-energy-boost/
Gov’t and NGOs join to settle land dispute
Environment Minister Say Sam Al and a group of NGOs on Monday agreed to cooperate to resolve a years long dispute between hundreds of families in Koh Kong province and a Chinese company they accuse of stealing their land. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-and-ngos-join-to-settle-land-dispute-92392/
Ministry of environment collects inputs for a draft on environmental code
The Ministry of Environment today held a workshop to collect inputs from all stakeholders for drafting the environmental code for orienting Cambodia in walking in the right way, and reflecting the people’ need. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/ministry-of-environment-collects-inputs-for-a-draft-on-environmental-code-8864
Minister helps open controversial tycoon’s new rubber farm
Environment Minister Say Sam Al was in Preah Vihear province on Sunday to help inaugurate Try Pheap’s newest project, a $52-million rubber plantation and additional facilities that the timber magnate has cleared thousands of hectares of protected forest to build. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/minister-helps-open-controversial-tycoons-new-rubber-farm-88896/
Gov’t mulls green incentives
The Ministry of Environment said it is working to make eco-friendly and green technologies tax-free, in order to reduce the cost barriers associated with importing and implementing these technologies, such as the use of solar panels. Speaking at EuroCham’s Green Business Forum in Phnom Penh, Environment ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-mulls-green-incentives
Gov’t to raise taxes to clean up litter in cities
Environment Minister Say Sam Al on Wednesday announced the creation of a recurring annual $5-million fund to help Phnom Penh and every provincial capital clean up their trash-strewn streets, especially outside homes and restaurants. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-to-raise-taxes-to-clean-up-
Meeting between Koh Kong families, development firm fruitless
Representatives for some 200 families in a yearslong land dispute with the Union Development Group (UDG) in Koh Kong province met for the first time with both company and government officials Tuesday but left with little to show. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/meeting-between-koh-kong-families-development-firm-fruitless-81149/
New Sesan, new study: NGO
Rights advocates have called for construction of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province to be halted until new environmental and social impact assessments can be carried following changes allegedly made to the project’s plans. ...
Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/new-sesan-new-study-ngo
Cambodia orders temporary halt to sand dredging
Cambodia has ordered a temporary halt to all sand dredging operations in the country’s rivers and lakes in order to study the environment and social impact of a practice that has caused deadly river bank collapse incidents. ...
Samean Yun
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-dredging-03252015170821.html
Minister says minorities should rely less on forests
Environment Minister Say Sam Al on Friday pledged to protect the culture of Cambodia’s indigenous minorities, before going on to say that those groups need to learn to survive without relying on the forests they have depended on for centuries. ...
Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/minister-says-minorities-should-rely-less-on-forests-80498/