Forests and forestry
Forest cover
Illegal logging claims refuted
Forest activists in Battambang province’s Samlot district said on Thursday that a company that has received an economic land concession (ELC) in the area is trading timber from outside its ELC boundary. The activists said Rath Sambath, whose ELC is located near the Phnom Samkos Wildlife ...
Protected Forest in Cambodian Commune Illegally Logged Through Official Collusion: Mother Nature
Around 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of protected forest from a commune in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province has been illegally logged for timber and sold to businessmen from neighboring Vietnam through collusion with Cambodian authorities, an environmental watchdog group said Wednesday. An investigator with the Cambodian nongovernmental organization ...
SPECIAL REPORT: Blood-hued Phayung almost gone as corrupt officials pave way for logging
BY KAENG E-KHIEW Waterfall in northeastern Buntrik-Yod Mon Wildlife Sanctuary a mature male elephant lay dead, with traces of a highly volatile bullet left in its mouth and its bud. Another AK47 bullet was found buried in its ribs. A check of camera traps installed one ...
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG
Mekong region faces even greater forest losses, WWF warns
Top environmental group says countries on mainland Southeast Asia need to ramp up their forest protection policies or face the threat of millions of hectares being lost to ‘development’ and infrastructure projects over coming decades. Read ...
Government rips into WWF report
The Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Administration spokesman Keo Omaliss hit back on Thursday at a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report that claims the Greater Mekong will lose 30 percent of its forests by 2030 without drastic action. He said the claims do not accurately reflect ...
Greater Mekong region tries to stop devastation
The Greater Mekong region, once the world’s most densely forested area, has lost a third of its natural forest cover and will lose another third by 2030 unless action is taken immediately, according to a new World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report. Keep reading ...
Myanmar one of several countries in danger of losing its ‘intact forest’ by 2030
Earth’s intact forests shrank by an area larger than Austria every year from 2014 to 2016 at a 20 percent faster rate than during the previous decade, scientists said 20 June as the UN unveiled an initiative to harness the “untapped potential” of the land ...
Cambodia, Laos losing the last of their trees
Despite official pledges to halt the trade, smugglers in Cambodia and Laos are finding ways to illegally ship timber to neighboring Vietnam. The precious hardwood is often used in furniture factories that ship their products largely to China. []Located west of the Mekong River and covering ...
DAN SOUTHERLAND
Environmental group praises Bridgestone's zero deforestation policy
Mighty Earth, an environmental group devoted to protecting rain forests and other endangered landscapes, is praising Bridgestone Corp. for the zero deforestation portion of its recently announced Global Sustainability Procurement Policy. []Demand for natural rubber has caused rapid deforestation in Southeast Asia, especially in Cambodia, Laos, ...
Rubber & Plastics News Staff
Laos grapples with its own green monsters
Landlocked Southeast Asian country facing double environmental threats of destructive dams and illegal logging.[]But logging isn’t the only threat. Of perhaps much greater concern is the plan to build a series of hydro-power dams along the Mekong river and its tributaries.Keep reading ...
Ate Hoekstra