News

A land dispute case involving 20ha has been referred to the governor of Kampong Speu after the alleged victims – 156 families who lost their land – petitioned the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction to get involved. On Wednesday, Minister of Land ...

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 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. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Saturday acknowledged that there had been illegal logging in the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in Pursat province. Civil society groups lauded the acknowledgement and urged the authorities to immediately combat the crimes. ...

A former investigating judge at Kampong Speu provincial court has dropped charges against two senior environment officials who had been sued for “malicious denunciation, forest clearing and land grabbing for private ownership”. The case dates back to 2010. ...

A conservation NGO official yesterday said he planned to ask microfinance lenders to better scrutinise their loans after a spate of cases over the last month showed that such loans had been used by illegal loggers to purchase chainsaws and tractors for transporting timber. ...

An NGO operating in the Pursat section of the protected Cardamom Mountains uncovered 50 cubic metres of luxury timber yesterday. Chea Hean, director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation, said he and four colleagues uncovered the illicit stash as part of an ongoing investigation, ...

Over 100 logs of luxury timber from Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Speu province were seized by authorities in Chbar Mon town on Tuesday. ...

An environmental protection NGO is preparing to file a lawsuit with the Kampong Speu provincial court and a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit against an Agriculture Department official who was allegedly paid by a development firm to issue land titles to villagers squatting on state ...

Provincial military police confiscated three tractors transporting three metres of luxury wood and two circular saws travelling out of Kampong Speu’s protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday. Chea Hean, director of Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation (NRWPO), arrived to investigate illegal logging in the sanctuary ...