Forest battle rages on
After a brief détente, a fight over the Prey Trolach community forest in Battambang province that has its citizen guardians and the Forestry Administration pitted against the military is back on, those working to protect the area from illegal logging said yesterday. Since it was deemed a community forest in 2004, the 1,335-hectare area in Roka Kiri has been legally managed and protected by villagers living there. But community representatives told the Post on August 1 that shortly after a national land-titling scheme was announced in June, soldiers, police and others had rushed into the area, seizing a final opportunity to clear forest and falsely claim it as their property. … There are 825 families that are members of the Preah Trolach Community Forest living in five villages surrounding the forest. …
