Villagers Restart Prey Long Forest Patrol for Illicit Activity

About 100 villagers in Kompong Thom province set out yesterday on a three-day patrol of Prey Long forest in search of illegal logging, their second since the April 26 shooting death of conservationist Chut Wutty. who was the organizer of the first patrols. Soem Sean, a member of the Prey Long People’s Network, said the villagers were focusing their patrol of the forest-which spans four provinces-on Kampong Thom’s Sandan district, where they say an increase in activity at a local sawmill has been noticed. The villagers have long suspected a Vietnamese company that owns a rubber plantation in the district of illegally logging. …