Environment and natural resources

Cambodia exported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of threatened Siamese rosewood in the 18 months after ratifying a 2013 international protocol designed to protect the species from destructive trade, according to a report released on Friday.   ...

The government has proposed slugging shoppers 500 riel for plastic bags in a bid to reduce environmental pollution. A draft prakas on plastic bags that would include the fee was reviewed yesterday in a Department of Environment workshop attended by government representatives along with mall and ...

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday called for the closure of 2.25 million hectares of natural forest in the country’s Central Highlands as well as the shuttering of wood processing facilities across the country, regional news outlets reported. ...

Authorities seized 100 kilograms of endangered wildlife meat this weekend on Kratie province’s National Road 7.  The haul, which contained 60 kg of wild pig and 36 kg of deer meat, was discovered after a local environmental NGO stopped an SUV traveling in Chit Borei’s Sambok ...

The Cambodian government has signed off on the Kingdom’s first dedicated marine protection area in a bid to save the Koh Rong Archipelago’s coral reef and sea life. ...

Cambodia’s freshwater Mekong dolphin population has increased by four, adding a quartet of calves in the first five months of 2016 while also seeing a drop in the mortality rate compared with last year. ...

 Tuy Sereivathana sits at his desk transfixed by the glow of his computer screen. On the walls of the environmentalist’s modest office are hung pictures of rare species of plants and animals found in the Cardamom Mountains, one of Cambodia’s few remaining wildernesses. ...

According to a 2013 United Nations Environmental Protection report, a water hyacinth plant releases more than 3,000 seeds every year and, because its roots are floating, it does not need to be in shallow water to survive. Water hyacinth has moved rapidly across South America, ...

The National Committee for Coastal Management and Development will build 17 sea gates along the coastal areas in Sihanoukville province to protect beaches in the area against sea erosion and boost tourism. ...

When French pharmacologist Francois Chassagne set out to catalogue traditional medicine used by Cambodia’s Bunong ethnic minority group in 2013, he came across a surprising remedy for burns: tiger breastmilk. ...

Cambodia suffers from one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with an average of one percent of the country’s forest lost each year. But in an initiative funded by USAID Supporting Forests and Biodiversity (SFB), Winrock International hopes to help solve the problem ...

The government has set the dates to auction off the last of the 71,000 cubic meters of illegally logged timber seized by authorities this year, carrying on a practice riddled with signs of corruption in the past.   ...

Conservationists have warned a new road could threaten endangered bird species in Stung Treng’s Siem Pang wildlife sanctuary.   ...

While the luxury timber trade continues to eat away at Cambodia’s forests, there is another industry that poses a growing threat to the Kingdom’s trees: pepper farms.   ...

Three military trucks were caught transporting illegally logged rosewood by Tbong Khmum authorities yesterday, according to the National Police website. ...

Dam Chan handed over the food in exchange for riel as she described hearing the loud bangs of dynamite in the distance. The 55-year-old has farmed and sold food in Preah Rumkel commune her entire life and is concerned about the future of her home ...

Kampot’s Ta Reach bridge was severely damaged by a truck overloaded with illegal luxury timber over the weekend, prompting a manhunt for the truck’s driver, who was apparently on his way to Vietnam at the time of the accident. ...

Monday’s World Environment Day was recognized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) when the organization’s headquarters in Cambodia issued a press release outlining the importance of environmental protection in the Kingdom. ...

As the government prepares to start auctioning off the 70,000 cubic meters of illegal timber it has seized so far this year, not one of the companies on whose property it was found—nor anyone else—has been charged over the wood, following months of court procedures. ...

Multiple animal species are in “dramatic decline” on Cambodia’s Eastern Plains as a result of habitat loss, road incursion, insufficient law enforcement and poaching, the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement yesterday. ...

Structures considered to be encroaching on state-owned beach areas in Sihanoukville will be demolished, according to a letter sent on Sunday from the Minister of Land Management to the Committee for Cambodia Coastal Management and Development. ...

A local newspaper publisher has appealed directly to Prime Minister Hun Sen for help after provincial officials allegedly crashed into his car and threatened him in order to hide timber smuggling activities. ...

The Mondulkiri Provincial Court yesterday released on bail three ethnic Phnong villagers charged with illegally clearing state land on the condition that they agree not to return to their homes and farms. ...

A major water, hygiene and sanitation project co-funded by industry charity Meeting Needs is bringing clean water to almost 1,000 people in the Siem Reap Province of Cambodia. ...