Forests and forestry

Vehicles used in the alleged illegal logging that led to the arrest of Soeng Sam Ol were blown up on Wednesday, as the tycoon and three alleged accomplices were sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court by National Military Police. ...

International wildlife and forest conservation organisation, Wildlife Alliance, said on Monday that 2,300 chainsaws were seized from illegal loggers in the Southern Cardamom Mountains in the last two years. The seizing of the chainsaws is a joint programme initiated by the Ministry of Environment and ...

A senior forestry official, based in Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district, on Wednesday, denied villagers’ accusations that he had colluded with an alleged timber trader – a soldier who also denied any wrongdoing. Residents of Trapaing Prasat village say that Trapaing Prasat district Forestry ...

Tycoon Soeng Sam Ol, the owner of the Master K Sun company, two supervisors and a driver were arrested on Tuesday for illegal logging in a crackdown in Mondulkiri province which was led by Commander Sao Sokha, the chief of the National Military Police. ...

On a visit to Kratie province on Tuesday to celebrate Arbour Day, also known as National Tree Planting Day, King Norodom Sihamoni called on the people to plant trees in public areas and on their farmland and join together to prevent deforestation and environmental crimes. ...

The Agriculture Ministry has ordered officials to investigate and take action against people who illegally cleared state land in Kampong Chhnang province’s in Rolea Ba’ier district. Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon yesterday said that after receiving information about the land grab in the district’s Trapaing Ampil, Pra ...

The National Military Police vowed to act on the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ order to crack down on forestry crimes which allegedly occurred beyond the perimeter of concession land near the Vietnamese border in Mondulkiri province. Eng Hy, National Military Police spokesperson, claimed ...

In order to preserve the Kingdom’s forests, the National Committee for Forest Crime Prevention has warned it will take strict action against offenders by burning any vehicles used to transport timber at the crime scene itself. But environmental activists said this course of action would ...

The government has created a new national committee to tackle forest land clearing and grabbing. However, the move was immediately shot down by a prominent forest activist who said it would be ineffective, given the systemic collusion between the authorities and land grabbers. ...

The Environment Ministry yesterday noted that cases of illegal land encroachment and occupation of protected areas in four provinces have decreased due to measures implemented by national and local environment officials. Last year, the Environment Ministry took action against forestry crimes, such as illegal logging ...

Ratanakkiri provincial authorities and BirdLife International Cambodia Programme have urged Hoang Anh Lumphat Co Ltd to preserve the habitat of endangered fauna species in a protected area and discontinue forest clearing. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng urged authorities on Thursday to protect Prey Lang forest, saying it is the largest remaining woodland in mainland Southeast Asia, and that amendments to laws that protect natural resources would soon be finalised. ...

Battambang Provincial Court yesterday charged and jailed a well-known timber businessman living in Banan district for stocking and transporting luxury timber without authorisation in the province. Major General Cheth Vanny, deputy chief of provincial police, identified the accused as Im Borey, also known as Peach, ...

A forest protection community in Pech Chreada district’s Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province submitted a formal complaint on Tuesday against Saroeun Mab, the owner of four illegal sawmills who allegedly threatened three activists after they had taken photographs of suspected illegal logging in the ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) has received the prestigious 2019 Energy Globe Award, a group representative said on Monday. The awards are known as “Nature’s Nobel Prize”. Ek Sovanna, a PLCN representative in Kratie province, told The Post on Monday that PLCN had won ...

As the impacts of climate change become more apparent worldwide, members of the public are connecting more weather events to the phenomenon. In March and April, for example, extreme heat baked mainland Southeast Asia. On April 20, Vietnam set an all-time observed record high temperature, 43 ...

Three community activists from Bou Sra commune in Mondulkiri province’s Pech Chreada district have claimed that they received death threats from the owner of four sawmills after they took photographs of alleged illegal logging from the community forest. ...

Another five people were arrested and five tractors seized in Preah Vihear province’s Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary late last week, but all were subsequently released after being educated and ordered to pay fines, an environmental ranger said on Sunday. ...

The government’s Auction Committee has announced a public auction of more than 1,500 cubic metres of illegally logged timber at a starting price of some 1.4 billion riel (approximately $353,000). This is based on a June 6 announcement by the Ministry of Environment’s General Department ...

More than 1,000 families living inside and near wildlife sanctuaries in the Kingdom’s northern provinces have seen their livelihood significantly boosted thanks to an NGO-initiated project. And most of the families have become role models for farmers and natural resource conservationists due to the efforts ...

The Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) said that on behalf of rangers, it will formally request the Ministry of Environment next week to provide proper vehicles to transport evidence of forestry crimes. ...

The Kratie provincial Military Police raided a timber broker’s premises in Kratie town’s O’Russey commune on Tuesday, seizing eight vans which were allegedly attempting to transport logs illegally to Vietnam. Kratie Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Chea Sopheak told The Post on Tuesday that Kratie provincial ...

A prominent forest monitoring group on Monday urged the government to combat illegal logging and poaching in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, which it claimed had seen a drastic increase in forestry crimes during the first five months of this year. The Prey Lang Community ...

Five new chainsaws and six makeshift tractors were impounded by the Prey Preah Roka Forest Community Network (PPRFCN) and rangers during a three-day forest patrol from June 7-9 in Preah Vihear province. Sun Pov, a PPRFCN representative who also participated in the forest protection campaign, ...