Environment and natural resources

A senior environmental official on March 17 floated bolstering links between climate change and religious teachings and standards as a means to improve attitudes towards the environment and sustainable development in Cambodia. ...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a $43 million project in Cambodia to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers, local communities and other value chain actors of the Northern Tonle Sap Basin to the increasing threats associated with climate change. ...

The Ministry of Environment and Preah Vihear Provincial Administration called on the authorities in villages and communes near the Phnom Tnaot-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary to increase their cooperation with forest rangers. ...

The most challenging task facing Wildlife Alliance is dealing with encroachment in the Cardamom mountain forest by high-ranking officials, its founder and CEO, Suwanna Gauntlett claimed. ...

Cambodia has launched its first strategic plan on cooling, seen as one of the largest contributors to global warming, to steer the nation towards a greener and cleaner future. ...

Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). ...

The Ministry of Environment, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on March 9 held a forum on Cambodia’s Cooling Action Plan and Passive Cooling Strategies for Sustainable Development in Cambodia. ...

Environment officials and authorities in Preah Vihear province are investigating a wildfire in the Phnom Tnaot-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary that damaged more than 4,000ha of forest in recent days, said officials on March 6. ...

A former member of the prominent environmental group Mother Nature apologized to the government, denounced his former organization and announced he would start a new NGO with the same name in a video on February 28. ...

BirdLife International Cambodia has restored 10 trapaing (watering holes) in the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The second phase of the zero-snaring campaign in protected areas was launched on March 3 in the presence of Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra. The first phase of the campaign was considered a “resounding success”. ...

A delegation of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on March 4 inspected the Kamping Puoy reservoir irrigation improvement project in Battambang province. ...

The second phase of “Zero Snaring in Protected Areas Campaign” is getting underway this spring. ...

The government has issued a sub-decree designating Mekong River Dolphin Management Areas in Stung Treng and Kratie provinces to protect and conserve the freshwater dolphins, while environmental and civil society officials said the sub-decree will make law enforcement more effective and may help increase their ...

Minister of Environment Say Samal requested that the Mondulkiri provincial governor remove Han Sokhorn from his position as director of the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary office after determining that he was guilty of “professional misconduct”. ...

Cambodia on Monday created Irrawaddy dolphin conservation and protection zones covering a 120-km-long stretch of the Mekong River in northeastern Stung Treng and Kratie provinces, according to a sub-decree. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 28 suggested an amendment to the law governing wildlife protection that would pave the way for citizens to raise “rare” species following heated debates about a peacock confiscation case in Kampong Chhnang province. ...

An 11-year-old girl has died of bird flu in eastern Cambodia, prompting a call for increased disease monitoring by government health agencies. ...

The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City has sounded a bird flu alert to southern localities after more than 10 human cases were reported in Cambodia, including two deaths. ...

Birdlife International Cambodia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, is preparing to observe the Kingdom’s sixth “Crane Day” to promote public awareness and encourage local communities and stakeholders to participate in the conservation of the dwindling sarus crane population. ...

About 400 farmers and other agriculture stakeholders gathered in Siem Reap on Friday for the third Cambodian Sustainable Agricultural Summit, where they called for urgent measures to be put in place to bolster climate-resilient agricultural development. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has asked the French Development Agency (AFD) to continue to help Cambodia develop its human resources, water treatment and transport infrastructure. AFD has committed $100 million in funding for projects in the coming year. ...

A multi-party MoU has been signed to explore ways to extend Cambodia’s social security scheme to farmers who are at high risk from the vulnerabilities of climate change ...

The number of monkeys living in Angkor resort area has increased and are becoming a risk to tourists. According to APSARA National Authority, the monkeys no longer enter the forest in search of food but instead wait for food from humans and sometimes snatch food ...