Environment Minister Defends Concessions

29 July 2011
The Cambodia Daily
Aid and development / Asian Development Bank (ADB) / Economic land concessions and plantations / Environment and natural resources / Environmental and biodiversity protection / Multilateral development assistance / Protected areas / Protected forest
ADB / agro-farm business / Asian Development Bank (ADB) / Burma / Cambodia / Chinese aid / Environment Minister / Environmental Protection / Forests / Greater Mekong Subregion / Javed Hssain / Koh Kong Province / Laos / Mok Mareth / Thailand

Environment Minister Mok Mareth yesterday defended the recent surge of economic land concessions granted by his ministry inside the country’s enviornmental conservation areas, saying that they would do more to help the areas than hurt them. Mr Mareth’s comments came while responding to questions at a news conference following a meeting in Phnom Penh between environment ministers fro Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and China to endorse a $26.5 million Asian Development Bank program aimed at limiting the environmental impact of the rapid economic development in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The minister acknowledged that some land had been lost in protected areas due to concessions, but he said that the Environment Ministry-administered parks covered a sprawling 2 million hectares of forest.