News

Cambodia and Vietnam are seeking better cooperation to combat the illicit timber and wildlife trades, following a meeting between the two countries’ forestry administrations last week. The Agriculture Ministry’s forestry administration deputy director Chan Ponika said a number of officials, including him, participated in the ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) representative in Kampong Thom province, Sok Plok told The Post that his team had found and seized a number of chainsaws and tents left behind by loggers in the forest. ...

Prey Lang forest activists in Kampong Thom province on Wednesday claimed that illegal logging is continuing unabated, no thanks to local authorities and powerful individuals whom they allege are aiding the perpetrators. While acknowledging that forest clearing still exists in the area, forestry officials claimed the ...

The European Union has quashed concerns of several Cambodia environmental NGOs over a trade deal on tropical timber with Vietnam, saying that the scheme is to promote legally harvested timber, EU Ambassador to Cambodia George Edgar said.​ ...

Indigenous people in Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima district yesterday expressed concern over logging activities in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, which they claim is allowed by some commune authorities.​ ...

Danish researcher Ida Theilade has been bestowed the University of Copenhagen’s Innovation Award 2018 for inventing a smartphone app that can prevent illegal logging and preserve forest resources in the Prey Lang forest. ...

A committee of more than 20 national and international organisations filed a petition to the EU on October 10 to prevent it from signing a timber trade agreement with Vietnam, noting that the deal would be disastrous to the Kingdom’s forests. The petition claims Vietnamese ...

The 1,294 families from Kampong Cham commune in Kratie province’s Sambo district who had filed a complaint demanding the removal of the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary chief is set for an inter-ministerial hearing today. ...

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 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. ...

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. ...

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 ...

A forest activist from the ethnic Tumpuon community in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district is set to appear at the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary bureau today for questioning over alleged unauthorised logging and forest clearing in the sanctuary. ...

The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) has recorded 2,926 cases of forestry crimes in four provinces since February 2015, a report it released on Thursday said. It was based on data collected with a novel smartphone app. ...

Fourteen villagers arrested for illegal logging in Phnom Kravanh district by the national military police on Friday were released with a warning after they agreed not to repeat the offence, officials said. ...

Authorities are facing mounting pressure to safeguard the Samlot Protected Area, where villagers and wealthy land-grabbers continue to trespass to start orchards and claim ownership of the plots. The area, which straddles Battambang and Pailin provinces, is jointly protected by the Ministry of Environment and ...

Villagers from the Tumpuon ethnic minority group in Keng San community forest are accusing the local authority and some community members of colluding with timber traders to illegally fell large trees and clear dozens of hectares of forest land in their community. ...

Villagers claim that rampant illegal logging is taking place at the Phnom Namlear Wildlife Sanctuary and local authorities are not doing enough to curb the activity. Every night about 20 to 30 lorries remove luxury timber from the wildlife sanctuary, which is fast depleting its ...

Some 300 pieces of timber were discovered and two men arrested in separate cases in Pursat and Mondulkiri provinces as they were transporting the logs to Vietnam. National Military Police on Monday found piles of first-grade timber measuring nine cubic metres in Pursat’s Veal Veng ...

Ratanakkiri police and forestry administration officials yesterday raided a house and seized a large pile of various types of timber in O’Yadav district’s Pork Nhai commune. District police chief Mao Sann said the seizure was made during a crackdown on illegal logging in the area. ...

Military Police in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday confiscated 70 pieces of luxury timber that traders hid behind villagers’ homes in Pak Thom village, Pak Nhai commune, in O’Yadav district. Forestry Administration officers are set to confiscate the wood, which was intended for export to Vietnam ...

Activists in the northern provinces of Cambodia claimed on Tuesday that while police forces are busy providing security for the July 29 national elections, they are witnessing a worrying spike in forest crimes. Prey Lang Community Network activist Phok Hong told The Post that forest ...

Authorities in Ratanakkiri province confiscated timber left behind inside the Lumphat Wildlife Santuary in Lumphat district on Tuesday. Kim Reaksmey, commander of the provincial military police, said that the timber was discovered abandoned, adding that no arrests were made. ...