Environment and natural resources

There were 811 cases of forest crimes, land grabs, and illegal hunting of wildlife reported last year, and of the number 320 involved in forest crimes were fined while another 491 were taken to court. ...

Authorities in Banteay Meanchey province banned all activity related to excavation on Phnom Bak in Sisophon town to preserve it as a natural heritage site. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has advised authorities to replant trees in the seized flooded forest land surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake. ...

Cambodia is “ambitiously committed” to sustainable forest development and reducing deforestation, a sernior Ministry of Environment official said on World Forestry Day, as he revealed the government’s plans to launch a forest monitoring system that hopes to cut greenhouse gas emissions from logging in half ...

The National Committee for Forest Crime Prevention has touted its tougher measures to suppress illegal logging across the country as a success despite small-scale ones are still occurring. ...

The Kingdom yesterday celebrated the International Day of Forests with tree planting by students, teachers, local authority representatives, government officials and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. ...

Forestry Administration officials are continuing to search for wild orchids in Siem Reap province after finding 180 species last week while working in the area of the Changkarn Roi Forest Community in Varin district. ...

Oxfam Cambodia has launched a new campaign, “Along the Mekong River with Sai”, to promote the importance of the river. Celebrity environment activist Uon Pakthom, a Cambodian singer and performer better known as Sai, was chosen by Oxfam as a Goodwill Ambassador to lead the ...

On March 19, the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court issued arrest warrants for six brokers and placed six others under court supervision after they led nearly 300 people to occupy state land in the South Cardamom Mountains National Park in Cham village of Kampong Seila commune ...

Minister of National Defence Tea Banh has urged the Koh Kong Provincial Administration to speed up the resolution of land disputes for the affected families and to prevent the problem from becoming more complicated. ...

Fifty indigenous people in Mondulkiri province on March 15 stopped the clearing of forest land in Sokdom commune’s Laoka village, claiming that the site was reserved for collective land registration of the Bunong indigenous community. They said that clearing the land will result in the ...

A herd of eight elephants were spotted by conservationists from the Mondulkiri Provincial Department of Environment and WWF researchers yesterday in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

In 2021, at the behest of the government, Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) president Sok Touch studied and investigated the challenges facing the Tonle Sap Lake, which covers an area of 640,000ha. ...

The Ministry of Environment expects the number of Asian elephants in Cambodia to increase after park rangers in Mondulkiri province and researchers from World Wildlife Fund for Nature Cambodia (WWF Cambodia) spotted a herd of the animals in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary on March 16. ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) called for urgent action to protect the river for the benefit of the millions of people throughout Southeast Asia who depend on it. The Mekong is severely impacted by water infrastructure projects and climate change, it said. ...

The Kampong Thom Provincial Administration is set to launch a new clean water production plant in April. The plant – located in Stung Sen town’s Prey Tahou commune and built with the assistance of a grant from the Japanese government – will have the capacity ...

A senior Ministry of Environment official urged commune and district administrations to stop signing certificates of transfer of rights, land use applications, or sale or purchase letters for state land within natural protected areas and biodiversity corridors under their jurisdiction. ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has called for its members to take urgent steps to protect Asia’s largest river, following a report that the water level is at its lowest. ...

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) Green Prey Lang project provided support to the Non-Timber Forest Products-Exchange Programme Cambodia to enable the NGO to provide certificates and financial awards to three community based-enterprises in Stung Treng, Kratie and Preah Vihear provinces. ...

In late February, Naturelife Cambodia provided micro-funding to four communities in the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary in support of the effective management of natural resources and to promote community participation in the protection of the sanctuary. ...

Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities are building a case to send a group of 10 suspects to court for allegedly instigating around 300 people to encroach on state land in the Southern Cardamom National Park in Cham Srey village of Kampong Seila district and commune.​ ...

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced villagers in Prey Moul commune’s Khleng Por village of Kampong Chhnang province’s Rolea Ba’ier district to flock to the forests and valleys in the province to find medicinal plants to sell via brokers to people who need them for traditional ...

Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor has requested that Mekong River water data be shared to accurately measure the impact of the river’s flow on the social and economic wellbeing of the region. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has held a series of discussions with electricity providers and sustainability organisations to support the development of policies that will encourage mass use of electric vehicles (EV) in Cambodia.   ...