Forests and forestry
Forest products
Report calls for logging moratorium, end to state-run MTE
International and Burmese environmental organizations this week said Burma’s forest reserves are largely exhausted, calling for a moratorium on commercial logging and the dismantling or privatization of the state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE). Those finding came in an analysis released on 30 March in a report ...
Rosewood haul found in Tbong Khmum tied to local chief
Provincial authorities in Tboung Khmum province on 26 March said they discovered 17 tonnes of illegal rosewood hidden on a commune chief’s family’s land, only to have a mob of armed local residents break into the property that night and steal potential evidence. Keep reading ...
Mystery blaze destroys timber, vehicles at Pursat forestry office
At least 27 vehicles loaded with confiscated timber were destroyed by fire while parked in the Kravanh Forestry Administration compound in Pursat province on 13 March, leaving no evidence for potential prosecution and rights groups doubting the authorities’ version of events. Keep reading ...
Timber busts made in Stung Treng, Mondulkiri
The ongoing nationwide crackdown on illegal logging in Cambodia has produced another pair of high-profile busts touted by the national military police. On 9 March, alleged smugglers in Stung Treng were busted attempting to sneak three tractor-loads of luxury wood into Laos. The day before, some 10,000 cubic ...
Details scant for warrants issued in logging crackdown
The recently formed anti-illegal logging committee has issued 10 warrants against alleged illegal timber traders since it began its crackdown in January, officials have confirmed, although the details of those accused and the charges they face remain under wraps. The committee’s spokesperson Eng Hy said on ...
Prey Lang network calls for protections in logging crackdown
The Prey Lang Community Network has called on the Cambodian government to include the protection of the sprawling Prey Lang forest in the remit of the recently established committee to crack down on illegal logging. Keep reading ...
Company denies illegal logging allegations
A company owned by a tycoon accused of logging vast stretches of forest in Cambodia’s Virachey National Park on 28 January fired back at its detractors, claiming that it paid the state more than $1 million in taxes and was cleared by a recent anti-illegal logging ...
WWF mapping project shows Mondulkiri forest in danger
A sophisticated new environmental analysis software package has painted a grim picture of Mondulkiri province’s future environmental health. Presented and debated in Phnom Penh on 25 January, the WWF-led project, dubbed InVEST, short for Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs, predicts that by 2030, Mondulkiri, ...
Vietnam border sealed against loggers
Cambodia’s military police said on 18 January that they have sealed the Vietnam border against wood transport following a major crackdown on two tycoons’ logging warehouses on 17 January. Local observers and experts, however, suggested the actions were little more than a hiccup for a long-tolerated ...
Furniture fair raises profile of Lao wood products
The Lao Furniture Association hopes that the furniture fair, which opened in Vientiane on 14 January, will attract more domestic and foreign investors in the sector and promote Lao wood products on regional and international markets. The Lao Furniture Association on 14 January officially opened its ...
