News
Ministry to give mining rights for four coal sites
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to review applications soon for rights to four coal mining concession areas – totalling 794sq km – it opened late in March in the Kingdom’s north. “Interested national and international companies can apply for a mining licence at ...
Thou Vireak
As loggers exploit virus, Cambodian forest protectors defy state ban
A Cambodian conservation group has warned that logging in the protected Prey Lang forest has ramped up during the coronavirus pandemic, vowing it would continue to monitor the destruction despite government threats of legal action to stop that work. Members of the Prey Lang Community Network ...
Matt Blomberg
Mondulkiri sanctuary land grabbers charged
In April, 13 suspects were charged in the Mondulkiri Provincial Court for encroaching on forest land in wildlife sanctuaries at Phnom Prich, Srepok, Nam Lear, and Keo Seima, said Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesperson Neth Pheaktra. The sanctuaries are protected under the Law ...
Soth Koemsoeun
Carbon credits up in forests
Minister of Environment Say Sam Al has urged relevant stakeholders to take part in protecting and conserving natural resources in wildlife sanctuaries. This, he said, will facilitate carbon credit sales to raise money to support local communities. Sam Al made his suggestion when he led experts ...
Soth Koemsoeun
In the Mekong, a Confluence of Calamities
Over the past year, severe drought exacerbated by upstream hydropower dams has throttled agricultural productivity, devastated fisheries, and threatened the livelihoods of millions of people in the Mekong River Basin. The coronavirus pandemic is compounding this situation, disrupting supply chains and increasing price volatility for ...
COURTNEY WEATHERBY and JOHN LICHTEFELD
Mekong dams destroy Tonle Sap Lake
As the Tonle Sap floodplain empties into the Mekong this spring, the Cambodians who rely on these waters face bleak prospects, with fish catches reportedly 10 to 20% of previous years. Blame for the precipitous decline in the ecology has been put on the many hydropower projects ...
Tyler Roney
Timber-processing plants raided in Kampong Chhnang, Oddar Meanchey
A 39-year-old man was sent to the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court on Wednesday for operating a timber-processing facility in Trapaing Prasat district’s Trapaing Prasat commune without a permit. Provincial environment department director Phuong Lina said 14 cubic metres of timber was seized from the makeshift workshop. “We ...
Data sharing, cooperation for Mekong River management
The greater data sharing, transparency and cooperation between Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and dialogue partners will improve management of the Mekong River, the Mekong River Commission said. The MRC said, in its 13-page long commentary note on a 2020 study exploring the effect of Chinese ...
Pech Sotheary
Sanctuaries now state land
The Ministries of Environment, and Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction have listed the Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary in Koh Kong province and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province as state land to eliminate land grabbing offences. The operations have gained support from community members ...
Soth Koemsoeun
PM warns of fake Facebook pages
Prime Minister Hun Sen reminded Facebook users on Thursday not to be cheated by fake news spread by anonymous people. He said they used his name to post false news that misled the public, and that specialists have come up with ways to block such account ...
Long Kimmarita