Livelihoods felled by logging

The road to Srekor I village in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district is a bumpy one. The small discomfort caused by being jolted about on a motorcycle or being thrown around in a car, however, is offset by the striking scenery that surrounds a traveller on this road. Small fires burn in areas of once-rich forest that have been decimated. Smoke drifts into the air and the charred skeletons of trees – felled or upright – lend a post-apocalyptic feel to the landscape. Land clearing in multiple forms is creeping up on villagers in Srekor I village, who will soon be displaced when the Lower Sesan 2 dam’s reservoir swallows up the land their houses sit on. The villagers are yet to be told when they will be relocated, but already the Post has seen tree cutters – working for an “Oknha Khna” – clearing forest a short distance away, seemingly in preparation for the $781 million dam. …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040964967/National/livelihoods-felled-by-logging.html