Environment and natural resources
Forests and forestry
Calls to halt ‘reforestation’ plan
Fourteen community representatives speaking for thousands of families on May 9 petitioned the South Korean Embassy, Environment Ministry and Forestry Administration to halt the expansion of a controversial “reforestation” project by a Korean company situated between the protected Prey Lang forest and Mekong River. Their petition ...
Embassy ducks forestry dispute
The South Korean Embassy on May 9 declined to get involved in a dispute between a group of residents and a company which wants to clear forest near their homes. Activists from Prey Lang Community Network went to the embassy at Koh Pich to deliver a petition ...
Court questions officials over sale of Jolie-Pitt land
An environmental ranger and a village chief were questioned yesterday by the Pailin Provincial Court for allegedly colluding to grab, clear and sell land in a protected area supported by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, according to officials. The questioning followed a complaint filed by the ...
Indigenous groups, activists risk arrest to blockade logging in Malaysia
In their fight for the rights of peninsular Malaysia’s native people, the Orang Asli, an alliance of women are making waves in the country’s highly conservative society as they support the efforts of communities and activists trying to stop logging of the region’s forests. The ...
Logging trucks seized in Ratanakkiri
Authorities intercepted four trucks carrying 81 pieces of illegal luxury timber at a checkpoint in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district last Friday, District Military Police Commader Sok Min said on May 7. “The trucks and timber were hidden in the rubber plantation of a company located ...
Bt2m aid for ‘mushroom pickers’
The Justice Fund will provide Bt2 million to help a couple apply for bail after the Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced them to five years in prison for illegal logging in Dong Ranang national forest seven years ago, if their lawyer files a petition for ...
Gov’t to get tough with dishonest land concession holders
The government will use tougher measures to regulate concession projects by withdrawing land if no progress is made on the proposed project, while also pushing for authorities at various levels to participate in the process. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on behalf of the government made ...
Vietnam stops nine overloaded trucks with illegal lumber
Authorities in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province have recently stopped at least nine overloaded timber trucks crossing into the country from the Kingdom, despite the Cambodian government ostensibly banning wood exports to its eastern neighbour, according to a Vietnamese news report. The report, published earlier this ...
More timber seized from Ratanakkiri
Ratanakkiri provincial authorities on April 19 seized a large cache of luxury wood and arrested four people about to sell the timber to Vietnam. Ratanakkiri provincial police chief Kim Reaksmey said the wood was discovered at two separate locations in Banlung town’s La Bansiek commune and ...
Forest conservation might be an even more important climate solution than we realize: study
It’s estimated that deforestation is responsible for about 10 percent of global carbon emissions. Of course, in addition to the direct emissions created, the destruction of a forest means the removal of a valuable carbon sink, as well, which is why deforestation represents a “double ...