A forest gave Cambodia’s captive elephants a new life. Now they’re paying it back

PU TROM, Cambodia — The quiet life that Sambo leads today seems as distant from her past plight as the searing-hot streets she once trod as a tourist attraction in the far-off capital of Phnom Penh. “Elephants are not meant to walk on concrete,” says Jemma ...

John Cannon

Conservationists look for ‘divine intervention’ from forest development

A two-lane dirt road truncates the northeastern tree line of Phnom Tamao Forest, marking the start of a housing complex on private land bordering the protected area. Dozens of boundary markers cemented underneath the tree canopies of the forest indicate the plans for land exchange deals ...

ANTON L. DELGADO

Hundreds of environmental and customary land activists were killed, why is being a 'very dangerous' activist?

The killing of a prominent indigenous expert and a British journalist in Brazil is yet another safety issue for environmental and land activists around the world. Bruno Pereira, former head of Brazil’s indigenous organization Funai, and British journalist Dom Phillips were previously declared missing while reporting ...

Thai tourism elephants are ‘far better off’ in forests: Q&A with photographer Adam Oswell

An Asian elephant supports itself on one leg, completely submerged in garish electric-blue water, while a keeper tugs painfully at its ear. The photograph shows bubbles rising from its trunk as it offers a stick of sugarcane toward a crowd of onlookers on the other ...

Carolyn Cowan

Myanmar Timber Exports Continue, Despite Western Sanctions: Report

Myanmar’s military junta exported more than $37 million worth of timber to nations with active sanctions on the country’s state-run timber monopoly, according to the environmental advocacy group Forest Trends. In a report released yesterday, the U.S.-based organization examined the impact of sanctions imposed since the ...

Sebastian Strangio

For Mekong officials fighting timber traffickers, a chance to level up

The trafficking of illicit timber has hit the forested, tropical countries around the Mekong River Delta hard in recent years. Regulations and laws in places like the European Union and the United States, as well as from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ...

John C. Cannon

Ben Tre develops forests in climate change response

The People’s Committee of southern Ben Tre province has issued a plan to carry out a project on coastal forest protection and development in adaptation with climate change and green growth promotion for the 2021-2030 period. Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Minh Canh said the ...

VNA

Mangrove forest threatened

THE mangroves in Cai Gio District hold a deep, dark secret. They are the only ones to have recovered from chemical warfare. Formed in the large delta at the estuaries of three rivers – Dong Nai, Sai Gon and Vam Co – the Can Gio mangroves ...

ASEANPLUS NEWS

USAID GPL provides small grants to protect forests

USAID Greening Prey Lang (GPL), Cambodia has decided to shift financial support from monthly patrol stipends to a ‘one-time small grant package’ for institutional and technical capacity improvements to protect forests. The small grant will be handed out to 56 Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) in Preah Vihear, ...

Son Minea

Illegal company stopped from filling flooded forest in Banteay Meanchey

An illegal company that was not identified was stopped by authorities from filling in a protected flooded forest area in Banteay Meanchey province. Some villagers in Preah Netr Preah district’s Rohal commune said that in less than one year, 300 hectares were cleared and filled and ...

Yin Soeum

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