Environment and natural resources

The government has vowed to combat the illegal wildlife trade and cooperate with foreign countries to conserve the Kingdom’s natural resources. Environment Minister Say Samal made the commitment during a wildlife awareness event with British Ambassador Tina Redshaw at her residence in Phnom Penh on ...

Some 115 Vietnamese and Khmer-Muslim families residing on floating houses on the Tonle Sap River in Kampong Chhnang provinces said they were set to relocate to higher grounds after provincial authorities ordered them to move by year’s end. ...

One of six Cambodian villagers was arrested by Thai soldiers on Sunday night for allegedly crossing the border to log rosewood in Thailand. Pov Pheng, deputy head of Cambodian-Thai border liaison office at the International O’smach Border Checkpoint, identified the villager as Roeun Sela, 35, ...

Speaking before members of the Cambodian diaspora in the US on Sunday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he has ordered helicopters to be deployed above forests in the Kingdom to monitor illegal logging activities. ...

The Kampong Cham commune council in Kratie province’s Sambo district is representing 1,294 families to lodge a complaint against Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary head Nhem Visal for abusing villagers and allowing traders to haul timber illegally. ...

Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities are planning to relocate hundreds of Cham and Vietnamese residents living on the Tonle Sap river to dry land by the end of 2019. Provincial Governor Chhour Chandoeun on Thursday said that residents have already been informed regarding the decision. ...

The UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency on Wednesday called for a rosewood trade suspension against Vietnam, accusing it of accepting fake Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species permits from Cambodia. ...

Parts of an environmental impact assessment for the controversial Pak Lay dam in Laos was copied word for word from an assessment of the equally contentious Pak Beng dam, an advocacy group has claimed. A statement from Save the Mekong, released last week during a meeting ...

Siem Reap provincial authorities have stopped three companies from illegally filling in a natural reservoir in Trav Kod resort. The province’s deputy administration director Sok Thol told The Post yesterday that the three companies had filled in the 30ha lake and built wooden cabins on ...

The Poutil ethnic community members from Busra commune in Mondulkiri province’s Pichreada district handed two men to district police for further action on Thursday, after they allegedly cleared many hectares of forest in their community. ...

Mondulkiri provincial Governor Svay Sam Eang has responded to criticism from Interior Minister Sar Kheng who claimed that provincial officials have failed to curb forestry crimes. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng is pushing for an amendment of the forestry law to be done before the end of the current mandate. Earlier this week, Mr Kheng said that illegal logging in Mondulkiri province is rampant and that an amendment was needed to delegate ...

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) completed a two-year project in Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Thom provinces that created 20 fishing communities and directly influenced the lives of more than 75,000 Cambodians. ...

The National Committee for the Management and Development of Coastal Zones said on Sunday that the government has provided 103 families with land to live on and develop in Preah Sihanouk province. ...

Some 100 families from Pichreada district’s Pu Chrey commune in Mondulkiri province said a private company continues to clear forest in the Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary even after the authority made the firm sign a contract promising to stop its activities. ...

Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities plan to relocate around 1,000 Vietnamese people living on the Tonle Sap river in Kampong Chhnang town next Monday. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng cited satellite footage of recent forest crimes as he criticised inept provincial officials for illegal logging and the flouting of the Kingdom’s forestry law. “You are not born with the forest. We have an obligation to protect the natural resources ...

More than 560 endangered Asian giant softshell turtle hatchlings were released on Thursday into their natural habitat along the Mekong River in Kratie province, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said. ...

Forest activists in Ratanakkiri province’s O’yadav district said on Thursday that a group of Cambodian and Vietnamese traders are colluding with officials and transporting timber from their community forest to Vietnam after they had illegally felled trees there early this month. ...

The ministry’s report, which it shared on its Facebook page, said CRCK II Rubber Development and Bean Heack Investment Co Ltd have been respectively allowed to develop 7,121.78ha and 4,128.66ha within Boeung Pear Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Thom province. Following the granting of the concessions, the ...

The United States Agency for International Development has awarded $21 million to Tetra Tech for the next five years to improve nature conservation and strengthen sustainable development in the Prey Lang region, Tetra Tech said on Tuesday. ...

Authorities from Kampong Thom province’s environmental department seized 11 buffalo carts and 10 logs found at Prey Ang Ten wildlife sanctuary on Wednesday. ...

The Wildlife Conservation Society has found seven nests of the globally-threatened Lesser Adjutant Stork in Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. Sot Vandoeun, WCS’ wildlife monitoring team leader, said on Tuesday that it is the first time that WCS has found the bird’s nest in ...

The Kampong Thom provincial Forestry Administration yesterday seized three vehicles that were illegally transporting timber. Mom Sophal, Forestry Administration division chief in Kampong Thmar, said his officials seized three vehicles transporting small trees and firewood without permission from authorities at about 10.30am in Baray district. ...