Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit has left the cleared area of Phnom Tamao forest after occupying it for about a month starting in August, seeming to transform a piece of the protected forest into an apparent park after a land giveaway controversy embroiled the area just three months ago.
Excavators have begun tearing strips through the protected Phnom Tamao forest — recently privatized for development by select tycoons — raising fears among locals and a wildlife sanctuary that shares the land.
The Anti-Corruption Unit is looking into a complaint by an environmental group alleging irregularities in the privatization of forest land at Phnom Tamao in Takeo province.
Four Kampong Chhnang residents were bitten by a wild animal they are calling a “wolf,” and which they say they have now cooked and eaten.
Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon assured animal welfare NGO Wildlife Alliance that an animal rescue center at Phnom Tamao will remain untouched, but did not address the potential destruction of hundreds of hectares of protected forest around it through the planned privatization of land.
The potential scope of the destruction of the forest, home to a wildlife rescue center and endangered animals, was not previously disclosed.
Phnom Tamao, a green oasis in Takeo province, has been home to endangered species and a wildlife rescue center. But a recent government order has privatized large swaths of land in the area, threatening the forested area and a local pagoda.
A wildlife protection group says it is concerned by potential plans to clear hundreds of hectares of forest in a wildlife sanctuary for development.
Thinking it was a buffalo, the three local residents had tried to kick the bovine out of their farms before it charged them.
A logger who died in custody had no bruises as alleged and may have had mental health issues, a Pursat environmental official said of a 22-year-old man arrested for cutting trees in a protected area.
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