Environmentalist Chut Wutty was killed 10 years ago today, shot dead by a soldier in the Cardamom forest. The forest was being cleared by a company with high-level connections, including to the military. The area now contains large patches of cleared forest and a cascade of hydropower dams.
This year’s Khmer New Year is likely to be an especially festive one, as the country reopens after a yearslong quiet spell during the pandemic and its era of public health restrictions.
Community forests and a timber company overlap on the land east of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, leading to competing interests and allegations of impropriety.
In Cambodia, construction workers and their families often live inside the buildings they are constructing, despite dozens being killed in building collapses in recent years. Few labour protections leave them vulnerable to site accidents and exploitation.
The floating communities in Phnom Penh have been allowed three more years on the water, but the majority ethnically Vietnamese families say they have few options on Cambodian land.
Same-sex couples in Cambodia cannot legally marry, which means they cannot fully adopt children either. Thanks to understanding local officials and willing parents, some couples have been able to semi-officially start families — but risks remain.
A video that a previously jailed Mother Nature activist says he shot in January shows a Siem Reap sewage treatment pool teeming with fish.
Workers waded through Russei Keo’s trash-clogged Bak Touk Keo canal Wednesday morning as the district began a cleanup. It’s the third district seen to be cleaning up sewage systems since environmentalists petitioned officials earlier this month over trash pollution in the city.
In the face of worsening climate change, the extent to which Cambodian farmers are supported to adapt will have significant ramifications for livelihoods, communities’ food security, the environment and the economy, writes University of Sydney professor Daniel Tan.
In Kampong Speu, a forest-dwelling monk hoots to mimic animals’ cries and talks of living in harmony with nature. But the community forest where he lives has been handed to the military, and nearby residents are camping among the trees to protect the land.
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