Environment and natural resources

A Mondulkiri commune chief and its head of police are among three people who could face up to five years in jail for allegedly allowing protected forest to be illegally cleared after complaints were filed with the provincial court. ...

The Ministry of Environment has issued a total of 59 notices to souvenir vendors in the capital and Siem Reap and Preah Sihanouk provinces instructing them to halt the selling of sculptures made of elephant ivory or rhinoceros horns and all forms of trade involving ...

A senior Agriculture Ministry official on Tuesday appeared at Mondulkiri Provincial Court to clarify how companies, including a Vietnamese firm under investigation over illegal logging, are granted Economic Land Concessions. Mam Vanda, provincial court spokesman, yesterday said that Chan Savuth, a ministry secretary of state, provided ...

Forest activists continue to claim that Korean-owned Think Biotech Cambodia Co Ltd is involved in illegal deforestation in the Prey Lang area, especially harvesting timber from resin trees, but the authorities say the company is operating legitimately. ...

City Hall is conducting a feasibility study into having another dumpsite to reduce the burden at the current one in Dangkor district which will be completely filled within two years. City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey yesterday said a technical working group is looking for a suitable ...

Kampong Speu provincial authorities found 12 logs measuring a total of 40 cubic metres in a two-day operation over Tuesday and Wednesday in Oral district’s Sangke Satoap commune. Three trucks also found at the scene were impounded. Provincial governor Vey Samnang said two of the ...

The Apsara Authority has announced that it will begin construction of canals surrounding forest areas in Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province this week in a bid to preserve the historical site. Chum Sopheakmakara, acting director-general of the Apsara Authority, in a statement issued on ...

A raid of Banlung Market in Banlung town, in Ratanakkiri province, uncovered 72kg of illegal bushmeat belonging to wild pigs, red muntjacs and monitor lizards, the local forestry administration and Military Police said. ...

Japanese mining company Nittetsu Mining (Cambodia) Ltd on April 25 obtained a three-year copper exploration licence for Stung Treng province, Ministry of Mines and Energy spokesman Yos Monirath said. The firm is set to begin exploration early next year and is currently conducting an environmental ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Administration is probing a news report that a private company had colluded with the local authorities to buy 40ha in the Botum Sakor National Park. Provincial hall spokesman Sok Sothy said on Sunday that the administration was only aware of one ...

Civil society organisations along with local authorities in Kampot province have kick-started a campaign to plant 100,000 mangrove trees in eight communities in the province throughout September to December. The campaign was jointly organised between ActionAid, Children and Women Development Centre in Cambodia, Samaky Organisation, Kampot ...

National Military Police commander Sao Sokha ordered the destruction on Monday of 10 makeshift vehicles that were used in forestry crimes in Battambang province. Sokha, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Forestry Crimes, ordered officers to destroy them ...

Some 70 NGO representatives, forest activists and university students signed an open letter urging the government to find ways to prevent and combat forestry crimes more effectively. In their petition released on Saturday, the group said they had been observing the government’s clampdowns over the ...

Authorities are on the hunt for a man who escaped custody on Tuesday after being arrested for allegedly transporting luxurious timber in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. The suspect was detained by environmental rangers at the Keo Seima Wildlife sanctuary headquarters on Monday but ran off ...

Local company Rice Natural Development Plc announced a $50 million joint venture with British and Singaporean investors on Tuesday to develop a coastal tourism hub in Preah Sihanouk province. The project, which will be built on 1.8ha, will include a tourist port comprised of 10 ...

A plan to establish a $5.5 million luxury tree breeding centre was set in motion during a meeting between the Agriculture Ministry and China’s Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation yesterday. The plan was raised by Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon and Zhao Shucong, ...

The Environment Ministry has planted 40,000 tree saplings in the protected areas of Preah Jayavarman-Norodom National Park in Siem Reap province and Beong Per Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province. The tree planting event was held on Friday and Saturday, and involved provincial authorities, monks, and ...

Chungyuen Plastic Manufacture Co Ltd has returned 14 containers of plastic waste found at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port last month to their countries of origin. It also paid a one billion riel ($250,000) fine, the General Department of Customs and Excise said on Friday. ...

The Public Works and Transport Ministry on Friday said it plans to spend about $170 million to improve Sihanoukville’s wastewater treatment system and deal with floods. Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said during a workshop in the capital that he will push for the budget to be ...

The Council of Ministers has authorised the courts to allow the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Committee for Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes to freeze the assets of anyone involved in forestry crimes. ...

The skin and bones of Jasper, a male Indochinese tiger that died at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre (PTWRC) on August 8, will be preserved and displayed as a museum collection, PTWRC director Nhek Ratanapich told The Post on Thursday. The Wildlife Alliance, a ...

The director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO) requested the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday order an investigation into an alleged land grab in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Oral district’s Trapaing Chor commune in Kampong Speu province. NRWPO director Chea Hean ...

Cambodia is seeking Vietnam’s help to curb timber smuggling and crack down on forestry crimes along shared borders. National Assembly Foreign Affairs commission chairman Chheang Vun made the request to his Vietnamese counterpart during a two-day conference of parliamentarians from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in ...

The ministries of Economy and Finance, and Justice have established a committee to manage property seized from crime, a document signed by the respective ministers said. The “Managing Committee of Confiscated Property” is to handle the sale of items transferred from the courts after a ...