Loss of Forest in Cambodia Among Worst in the World
Cambodia lost more than 7 percent of its forest cover over the past 12 years—the fifth fastest rate in the world—according to a new study of global forest cover change that sharply contradicts the government’s own rosier figures. Published Friday in the journal Science and led by researchers at the University of Maryland, the study draws on U.S. satellite data to track changes in forest cover around the world between 2000 and 2012. … According to the study, Cambodia lost nearly 12,600 square km of forest during those dozen years and gained only 1,100 square km of new forest in return, a total loss of 7.1 percent of the country’s forests. … In its 2010 “Strategic Framework,” the government’s Forestry Administration said Cambodia had lost only 0.5 percent of its forests between 2002 and 2006. After the government assessed its forest cover again later that same year, it upped the figures and said Cambodia lost 2 percent of its forests since its last assessment in 2005/2006. Thun Sarath, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Administration, said he did not know what the latest official figures on forest cover were, and he would not comment on the numbers in the new study because he had not seen it yet. Mr. Sarath said the Forestry Administration was in the middle of yet another assessment, but he did not know when new figures would be ready. … The maps also show some of the heaviest deforestation in the central and eastern provinces of Kompong Cham, Kompong Thom and Stung Treng. What is more, the deforestation appears to have picked up pace over the 12 years with most of it taking place in the past few years, according to the maps. …
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/loss-of-forest-in-cambodia-among-worst-in-the-world-47259/
