Environment and natural resources

Illegal logging within the Prey Lang protected forest decreased significantly year-on-year over a six-month period ending in February, collected data show, though forest-clearing in the area remains rampant. ...

A river bird that was once a common sight along the Mekong River is now down to a population of just 50 to 60 individuals due to human interference and dam construction, conservationists and Environment Ministry officials said yesterday. ...

A task force made up of Preah Vihear provincial and district officials is set to begin a five-day investigation today into a slew of sawmills thought to be illegally milling and transporting timber from the protected Preah Roka forest after villagers and NGOs accused local ...

Families refusing to relocate from their homes near the Lower Sesan II dam have said they will all leave if they can establish a new village on their community forest and ancestral lands. ...

The Environment Ministry is to request the creation of six new protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and boost conservation in the country. Tim Sitha, deputy director of the general department of conservation, said the ministry has been studying the potential to establish the new areas.  ...

Villagers and NGOs have accused local authorities, including forestry and environmental officials, of accepting bribes from illegal loggers in exchange for unfettered logging expeditions in Preah Vihear province’s Preah Roka protected forest. ...

The last families refusing to relocate from two communes near the Lower Sesan II dam are considering asking the authorities to establish a new village on ancestral lands close to their original homes as flood waters in the area continue to rise. ...

Prey Veng province military police and the Wildlife Alliance on Friday night conducted a raid upon a truck transporting hundreds of kilograms of illegal wildlife destined for Vietnam. ...

Nearly 3,000 cases have been detected in a crackdown on fisheries and forest crime in the first nine months of this year.​ The results were in a Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery report published on Friday. ...

The Ministry of Environment is asking Japan for help mapping Cambodia’s forests using satellite imagery, one week after it vehemently refuted a report of such imagery showing accelerating forest loss in the Kingdom. ...

Six Vietnamese nationals were arrested on Wednesday afternoon in a Military Police raid that saw 30 officers confiscating at least 100 illegally felled trees and 10 logging vehicles from an economic land concession in Kratie province’s Snuol district near the border with Vietnam. ...

The Ministry of Environment released a statement late Tuesday night vehemently refuting University of Maryland data that showed a 30 percent spike in forest cover loss in 2016 over the year before, pointing instead to its own data showing only minimal deforestation over the same ...

The new data, released by the University of Maryland, tracks forest cover loss globally using satellite imagery. Results showed that not only was 2016 worse than 2015, but of the 16 years for which deforestation was recorded, last year was the fourth worst – with ...

Ratanakkiri province police seized 285 logs of first-grade timber in a raid at a cashew farm in a remote area of the province yesterday, although no loggers were arrested. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday announced the establishment of two community forest areas over 4,500 hectares in Kampong Thom province’s Santuk district. ...

Fifty endangered sarus cranes have hatched from 27 nests protected by conservationists and villagers in Cambodia’s Northern Plains, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The nests are in Kulen Promtep and Chhep wildlife sanctuaries. ...

The Global Center for Mekong Studies (GCMS) comprises six leading regional “think tanks”: the China Institute for International Studies (CIIS); the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP); the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV); the Laos Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA); the Myanmar Institute of ...

Police raided a warehouse in Pursat province’s Veal Veng district on Friday, seizing tonnes of illegal luxury timber after the owner fled.​ ...

Chamkamorn district authorities have been collecting garbage out of the Boeung Trabek canal this week, hauling nearly 200 truckloads of trash over two days and appealing to residents to stop discarding rubbish in the waterway. ...

The Apsara Authority has extended an agreement with China’s International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage to continue using its remote sensing technology to discover and preserve ancient temples in Siem Reap province.​ ...

National and Provincial Military Police in Kampong Speu seized hauls of illicit timber and arrested two suspects in separate cases over the weekend. A Provincial Military Police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the ...

Move over, Cintri – there’s a new garbage collector in town. For the first time in a dozen years, Sihanoukville has a new waste management company, and it has already started collecting trash ahead of the Pchum Ben holiday. ...

Kep and Pursat provinces were granted Asean environmental awards in Brunei on Tuesday evening, a first for Cambodia. According to the Environment Ministry, a committee consisting of all Asean member countries evaluated and chose Kep for the Asean Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award, while Pursat was granted ...

Four endangered hog deer, once thought to be extinct in Cambodia, were caught on camera in Kratie province for the first time in a decade, according to the World Wildlife Fund. ...