News

The new data, released by the University of Maryland, tracks forest cover loss globally using satellite imagery. Results showed that not only was 2016 worse than 2015, but of the 16 years for which deforestation was recorded, last year was the fourth worst – with ...

A petrol tanker truck was found with more than 2,000 pieces of luxury rosewood stashed inside its tank when it was intercepted by authorities in Phnom Penh last week, National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy said yesterday. ...

The Kratie provincial government yesterday denied reports that the provincial forestry chief was being removed from his position following allegations that he was colluding with illegal timber traders. ...

A truck full of high-grade timber was seized in Kampong Speu’s Oral district on Monday afternoon by District Military Police forces and the NGO WildAid’s crime interception team, but the driver remains at large. .. ...

Cambodian and Vietnamese officials have received millions of dollars in bribes from Vietnamese timber traders as part of a cross-border “conspiracy” to log vast swathes of Ratanakkiri province and funnel the timber to Vietnam, according to a damning report by the Environmental Investigation Agency released ...

Villagers in Preah Vihear’s Choam Ksan district confronted a group of soldiers, preventing them from felling timber in their community forest by confiscating one of their trucks, a local official said yesterday. ...

Environment Ministry officials in Ratanakkiri province are hunting for timber traders who on Sunday set ablaze 300 logs of luxury wood in Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary, one of several protected areas raided by Vietnamese loggers in recent months. ...

Around 600 hectares of the protected Southern Cardamom National Park in Koh Kong have been illegally cleared and sold off for cultivation since 2013, sometimes by local authorities, according to the conservation organisation Wildlife Alliance. ...

Authorities in Tbong Khmum province seized two trucks that were about to break the government’s ban on timber exports to Vietnam by carting wood across the border for a company owned by business mogul Kith Meng. ...

Members of the prime minister’s anti-logging task force who had been looking into officials’alleged collusion with Vietnamese timber smugglers in Mondulkiri has ended its 10-day investigation. ...

Mondulkiri provincial environment officials and National Military Police early yesterday morning confiscated a seemingly abandoned Toyota Land Cruiser loaded with more than 10 poles of luxury thnong timber in the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, though no arrests were made. ...

Government officials say they are investigating the causes of two separate weekend fires in Mondolkiri province that reportedly burned through hundreds of high-value logs the government had sold to a businessman after confiscating them from a pair of rubber plantations. ...

Environment Minister Say Sam Al on Wednesday repeated his claims that forest crimes and land disputes sparked by sprawling commercial farms run by wealthy businessmen and foreign corporations had decreased or were mostly over, claims that rights groups dispute.​ ...

The Environment Ministry’s annual report revealed 600 forestry crimes in protected areas, while there were nearly 700 cases of fishing, wildlife and land crimes. The report, released yesterday, showed that rangers, in collaboration with relevant parties, managed to prevent and suppress offenses at national parks, wildlife ...

Five men accused of illegal logging in the Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary after being caught by a joint patrol of authorities, villagers and monks should be charged with deforestation, a Preah Vihear provincial prosecutor said on Tuesday. ...

Three members of the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) were attacked in Kratie province on Thursday by men believed to be involved in illegal logging, PLCN activists said yesterday.​ ...

A recent government report on protecting the country’s natural resources reveals that a total of 1,166 crimes were recorded, but only 873 ended up in court and only 293 of those cases resulted in small fines being issued. The report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry ...

Well-known timber trafficker Heng Samneang was charged on Sunday with illegal logging and interfering with the work of public officials, according to a Phnom Penh Municipal Court officer, days after she allegedly tried to retrieve some of her ill-gotten timber with the help of a ...

Despite numerous laws and committees created to tackle deforestation and illegal logging in Cambodia, the timber trade has continued unabated. In another attempt to deal with the issue, authorities across the country have been ordered to ensure they execute their responsibilities to oversee the enforcement of ...

For the second time in as many weeks, an NGO has accused tycoon Try Pheap of facilitating illegal logging in a protected forest during the election campaign and post-election period, and with the protection of authorities. In a report set to be released today by the ...

Construction of a special economic zone (SEZ) near the Vietnamese border in Ratanakkiri province’s eastern O’Yad­aw district is on track, but who exactly will avail of the facility and its services remains a mystery—even for senior provincial officials. The latest announced venture of agro-industry land concession ...

Since last year, up to a half of nearly 8,000 hectares of community forest has been encroached upon and cleared in Oddar Meanchey province’s Banteay Ampil district by soldiers, community representatives said yesterday. Din Heng, chief of Ang Dong Bor community, said the army has cleared ...

Cambodia observed the Forest Day on Tuesday, urging people to plant trees in order to ensure the sustainability of forest and environment. The celebration was presided over by King Norodom Sihamoni and attended by Prime Minister Hun Sen and senior officials of the government, the parliament, ...

More than 30 families evicted from a former airport site in Preah Vihear province’s Chea Ksan district have filed four complaints with the provincial court since April against district governor Sok Hay. Lor Chan, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said a total of 31 families ...