Loggers Threaten Cambodian Forest and Wildlife Preserve
RFA | 13 October 2015
logger at work in Chaom Khsant district, Cambodia, February 2015.
Photo courtesy of Ponlok Khmer
A protected forest and wildlife sanctuary in northern Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province has come under threat of illegal logging, with migrants to the area and soldiers clearing land and cutting down trees, sources say.
Local residents and activists are urging Cambodia’s government to help protect the 100,000 hectare (247,105 acre) Prey Preah Roka Protected Forest, community representative Pech Pon told RFA’s Khmer Service on Tuesday.
“Loggers are cutting down trees and selling them to saw mills,” Pech Pon said.
Also speaking to RFA, Cambodian NGO Ponlok Khmer officer Bek Sophoan confirmed that the wildlife sanctuary and forest preserve is now at risk.Local residents and activists are urging Cambodia’s government to help protect the 100,000 hectare (247,105 acre) Prey Preah Roka Protected Forest, community representative Pech Pon told RFA’s Khmer Service on Tuesday.
“Loggers are cutting down trees and selling them to saw mills,” Pech Pon said.
The Prey Preah Roka preserve incorporates forest areas in three separate districts in the province, with the Chaom Khsant district most heavily affected by encroachment, Beck Sophoan said.
“We have seen soldiers from a unit in Chaom Khsant logging the forest,” he said, adding, “When they have cleared the forest, they confiscate the land.”
Civilian and military police officers stationed on the main roads have meanwhile refused to crack down on the offenders, instead extorting money from the loggers to let them go freely on their way, he said.
Community activists are now asking Cambodia’s government to enforce regulations protecting the threatened forest preserve, Pech Pon told RFA.
Cambodian forestry official Ith Phoura could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
The seizure of land for logging or development—often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents—has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar.
Steps to keep Cambodia alive:
ReplyDelete1- Don't go into Yuon's traps by doing something violent. Violence will empower the
Yuon's slave Hun Sen to crush Khmer people at will.
In 2014, Ah Kwack Hun Sen had staged violence and blamed it on the CNRP. That's why we must be vigilant about Yuon's tricks. Ah Kwack Hun Sen just executed his
master Yuon's orders.
2- Stay united with the CNRP even though its leaders especially Sam Rainsy had made some tactical mistakes.
We must understand that this is a long struggle. We make some corrections as
time goes by.
3- Help the CNRP to win this next election first. If the Yuon's slave party CPP does not
relinquish its power, we will fight from there. This time, the 2018 election, it is hard
for the CPP to just "self proclaimed" itself as the winner like it did in 2013. By
winning, we will have a solid foundation to fight. And the International Community
will support us afterward. Fighting Hun Sen to abide by the result of the election is the right thing to do. The key for success is to win the general election first. It is
imperative that we stay together with the CNRP so that it could officially win the election.
4- We already had some experiences and we are not going to make the same
stupid mistakes in 2018. If the CNRP's leaders tend to make stupid mistakes again, we will stop
them first - remove them if necessary - while the CNRP is still the winner of the election.
We will not let them take us down again.
5- Presently, some people are making huge mistakes when they moved away from the
CNRP. Making the CNRP lose the election by breaking it apart is the evil Vietnam's
top priority.
In brief, to survive, we must stay united with the CNRP !!
Same thing again? hmmmm....
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