Officials to Be Questioned Over Destruction of Flooded Forest

27 August 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Agriculture and fishing / Disasters / Environment and natural resources / Environmental and biodiversity protection / Fishing, fisheries and aquaculture / Floods / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Land / Logging and timber / Protected areas / Rivers and lakes / Water resources
fishery forests / flooded forest / forest clearing / forest destruction / Forests / Kampong Thom Province / Tonle Sap river

A district governor and two fisheries officials are among 10 people who will be questioned at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court next week over the destruction of flooded forest to make way for dry-season rice fields in Kampong Thom province, an official said yesterday. On July 27, the court charged six people, including Samprorch commune chief Peanh Poul, provincial director of water resources Cheat Syvutha and four farmers for their role in clearing flooded forest. … Military police said on July 5 that in just one week, they confiscated 38 mechanical excavators near the Tonle Sap river that they believed were being used to clear flooded forest, which is crucial to maintaining healthy fish stocks in the Tonle Sap, as fish use the roots of such trees as hatcheries during the wet season.