The Environment Ministry has told all provincial governors to immediately stop the issuing of land certificates in protected areas such as biodiversity corridors, saying 70 sanctuaries in 11 provinces were facing encroachment.
A shopping mall, hotel, casino, warehouses and mixed-use areas are proposed to be built on a wildlife sanctuary near the Vietnamese border under a request made by the Mondulkiri provincial administration to the Interior Ministry.
Nine years to the day after environmentalist Chut Wutty was shot dead while investigating illegal logging in Koh Kong province, activists vowed to continue his work and keep watch over the country’s dwindling forests.
In an open letter, forestry activists said they were “appalled” by USAID recently claiming to “work directly” with them, saying they had been turned down from participating in USAID-run conservation projects, and the American agency “never supported us.”
Community patrollers of the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary say local authorities are pushing them to sign contracts that they cannot patrol the forest, a year after they were banned from activities to monitor the protected area.
The Cambodian Youth Network says it was denied permission to patrol the Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary in Preah Vihear province over the weekend with a local community that reported the transport of sawn timber from the protected area.
The Environment Ministry is studying whether to hand 272 hectares of a biodiversity conservation corridor in Mondulkiri province to the CEO of borey developer Peng Huoth.
Prominent environmentalist Ouch Leng and four other forestry activists were arrested by Kratie provincial environment officers Friday afternoon, local officials said.
The Environmental Ministry has this year stopped sharing environmental and social impact assessments for new development projects with NGO Forum, the civil society network said.
Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary lost a record-breaking amount of tree cover last year, shedding patches of forest larger than the size of Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium football pitch for every hour of 2019, data compiled from satellite images shows.
A 16-year-old son of a jailed CNRP official was denied bail by the Appeal Court following his arrest in June for incitement and insulting public officials over his digital activities.
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