Deforestation drivers
(Illegal logging)
Central forests destroyed to fuel ornamental tree craze
There has been a sudden demand for old-growth wild ornamental trees in recent years, leading to the destruction of forest trees in the Central Highlands and South Central Vietnam while local authorities have their hands tied. Ancient trees from Central mountains are being harvested to bring ...
Staff writers - Translated by Tan Nghia
Activist ban ‘spurs forest crimes’
While Ministry of Environment officials claim they and relevant departments implement forest protection and conservation measures responsibly, forest protection activists have expressed frustration over their inability to participate in patrols where illegal logging took place. The activists complained they are barred from forest protection efforts and ...
Soth Koemsoeun
Timber smuggling continues in Sagaing despite ban, virus
The number of illegal logs seized in the first nine months of the fiscal year shows that timber smuggling remains rampant in Sagaing Region despite the threat of COVID-19, the head of the regional Forest Department said. U Aung Tun Win, director of the department, said ...
Khin Su Wai
Gov’t, USAID Criticized for Inaction Over Severe Forest Loss at Prey Lang Sanctuary
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen released an open letter Thursday reporting a 73 percent increase in deforestation in 2019 at the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, compared to 2018, while criticizing the government’s ban on certain patrolling operations. The University of Copenhagen’s open letter used data ...
Sun Narin, VOA Khmer
Illegal logging, encroachment found in Narathiwat
A total of 36 rai of forest on Sankalakhiri mountain range in Chanae district of this southern province has been illegally cleared by encroachers, forest protection officials said. Acting on information from local villagers, Gen Jatuporn Kalampasut, director of the intelligence office of the Region 4 ...
WAEDAO HARAI
Official Order to End Illegal Logging Deemed ‘Show’ by Cambodian Activists
Indigenous groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on Thursday dismissed a recent directive from Cambodia’s government ordering local authorities to end illegal logging, calling the move a “show” aimed at mending its reputation of being too soft on forest crimes. On June 19, Minister of Agriculture Veng ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Myanmar Condemns Report on Illegal Teak Exports to EU
Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has disputed the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)’s latest report which claims illegal teak from Myanmar is being shipped to Europe through the black market. “All the teak we export is legal,” U Kyaw Zaw Oo, the deputy ...
THIHA LWIN
Threats against Cambodian Forest Defenders Escalate Amid COVID-19
It takes particularly cynical government officials to use the world’s focus on tackling COVID-19 to accelerate illegal logging of protected forests; simultaneously lining the pockets of business elites, attacking environmental activists, and sabotaging its own ability to fight the climate emergency. Yet this is exactly ...
Over 5,000 tonnes of illegal timber seized in Sagaing Region
With the illegal timber extraction rampant during coronavirus pandemic period in Sagaing Region, authorities are exerting greatest efforts and thus over 5,000 tonnes of illegal timbers were seized from October to April in this fiscal year 2019-2020, according to the Sagaing Region Forest Department. During the ...
Aye Maung (Translated by Hay Mar)
Mekong region under threat, report claims
A recent report by the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC) said villagers living around Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary had recently reported illegal loggers in the forest and they took action by seizing some of the perpetrators’ chainsaws. The area is protected by the government and the ...
Ry Sochan