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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cambodia/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>Cambodia environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cambodia/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>New animals discovered in Cambodian caves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 08:58:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanburry]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20090458/Pit-viper-trimeresurus-lii-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=319793</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Caves, Ecosystems, New Species, Science, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in Cambodia&#8217;s karst ecosystems — dramatic landscapes of caves and rocks that create isolated habitats. These new species, as well as other endangered animals in the region highlight the importance of protecting these rare ecosystems.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in Cambodia&#8217;s karst ecosystems — dramatic landscapes of caves and rocks that create isolated habitats. These new species, as well as other endangered animals in the region highlight the importance of protecting these rare ecosystems.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/new-animals-discovered-in-cambodian-caves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>On Southeast Asia’s largest lake, locals wield tech to defend the flooded forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/on-southeast-asias-largest-lake-locals-wield-tech-to-defend-the-flooded-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/on-southeast-asias-largest-lake-locals-wield-tech-to-defend-the-flooded-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 18:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Turrell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319745</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Communities and conservation, Community Forestry, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Environment, fire, Fire Management, Fires, Forest Fires, Lakes, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Restoration, Solutions, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wetlands, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“When the forest [is] healthy, fish can breed and grow. But if the forest burns, the fish disappear — and that affects the livelihoods of our whole community,” says Luon Chanleng, a fisher from Tonle Sap. “I can’t imagine our life without the forest.” Tonle Sap in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“When the forest [is] healthy, fish can breed and grow. But if the forest burns, the fish disappear — and that affects the livelihoods of our whole community,” says Luon Chanleng, a fisher from Tonle Sap. “I can’t imagine our life without the forest.” Tonle Sap in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Each year, when the dry season sets in from around January to June, the waters of the flooded forest recede, the mangrove roots poke out through the mud, and the flooded forest turns into a tinder box. More than a million people live around the lake and depend on it for their livelihoods, homes and nutrition. Yet, the freshwater mangroves or “flooded forest” that surround the lake are shrinking. A study by the Wonders of the Mekong project, led by the University of Nevada in the U.S., found that nearly a third of forests in flood plains like the Tonle Sap area were lost between 1993 and 2017. “It primarily seems to be driven by two activities: One is conversion of flooded forest for agriculture, and then the second is forest fires,” says Zeb Hogan, director of the Wonders of the Mekong project. Now, the Tonle Sap community is fighting back. Seventy-eight people, including Luon, have trained as community firefighters, and are now using satellite wildfire alerts to help them curb the devastation. According to records kept by U.S.-based NGO Conservation International, which receives the satellite alerts and forwards them to the patrol team,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/on-southeast-asias-largest-lake-locals-wield-tech-to-defend-the-flooded-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2026 02:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endangered Species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[river dolphins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318973</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong River, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Dolphins, Drinking Water, Endangered Species, extractives, Farming, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Animals, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Mining, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Thai authorities have found what they described as dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River and three of its tributaries in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Heavy metal pollution has been reported from key tributaries of the Mekong for more than a year now, but [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Thai authorities have found what they described as dangerous levels of arsenic contamination in sediment from the Mekong River and three of its tributaries in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Heavy metal pollution has been reported from key tributaries of the Mekong for more than a year now, but the tests conducted in March by Thailand’s Pollution Control Department mark the first time that arsenic contamination has been detected on the mainstream of the Mekong, a vital transboundary river that supports thousands of plant and wildlife species and the livelihoods of millions of people. The test results published in mid-April show that sediment taken from three separate monitoring stations along the Mekong mainstream contained arsenic concentrations of between 73 and 296 milligrams per kilogram of sediment. According to the Pollution Control Department, concentrations of less than 10 mg/kg are considered broadly safe for aquatic life; levels higher than 33 mg/kg are deemed dangerous. Arsenic levels in sediment taken from various points along the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers, key tributaries of the Mekong, all ranged from below the 33 mg/kg safe limit up to 57 mg/kg, the Pollution Control Department said via its official Facebook page, noting the contamination appears to be spreading through the river system. Thailand&#8217;s Pollution Control Department posted results of the sediment tests to their official Facebook page on April 10, 2026. Image sourced from the Pollution Control Department&#8217;s Facebook. Heavy metal pollution in the Mekong Basin has been widely&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/dangerous-arsenic-levels-detected-in-thailands-mekong-mainstream-for-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia tested waters amid pollution claims; months later, still no public results</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 03:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gold Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04025851/November-2025_Mongabay_Virachey-Mining-12-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318641</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Ecosystems, Gold Mining, Governance, Indigenous Communities, Mining, Public Health, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Authorities from Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment were dispatched to Mondul Yorn, a small village in the remote northeastern province of Ratanakiri, on Feb. 13 to conduct water and sediment testing on the O’Ta Bouk River following community complaints of health problems linked to declining water quality. Then, from Feb. 17-20, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Authorities from Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment were dispatched to Mondul Yorn, a small village in the remote northeastern province of Ratanakiri, on Feb. 13 to conduct water and sediment testing on the O’Ta Bouk River following community complaints of health problems linked to declining water quality. Then, from Feb. 17-20, the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI), a government agency that sits under the Fisheries Administration, sent two teams to catch 34 species of fish from the Sesan River and the O’Ta Bouk, a tributary that flows into the Sesan, itself a key tributary of the Mekong River. The O’Ta Bouk flows south through a gold mining operation in Ta Veng district before it reaches Mondul Yorn, where Indigenous Brao communities have reported experiencing skin rashes and itching sensations after coming into contact with the river’s water since gold mining began in mid-2023. To date, no results of water, sediment or fish sampling have been made public, despite experts urging more comprehensive testing and communities languishing in uncertainty over the safety of the river. IFReDI officials taking samples on the Sesan River in February 2026. Photo sourced from IFReDI&#8217;s Facebook. A park in peril Villagers living along the O’Ta Bouk report the river had turned brown and murky starting roughly in mid-2023; the mud on its banks, sticky. Many of the Brao farmers and fishers have avoided entering the water, drinking it or bathing in it or fishing in the river. These problems persisted when&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Translucent microsnail discovered in Cambodia: Photo of the week</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 09:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21092243/CBD-0020-SSK-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317863</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Molluscs, New Discovery, New Species, Research, Science, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, scientists found a tiny new-to-science translucent microsnail in a cave of Banan Hill, a limestone hill that is part of the karst ecosystem of Battambang province in western Cambodia. The snail is less than 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) wide and long including its shell, about the size of a pinhead. The scientists behind [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, scientists found a tiny new-to-science translucent microsnail in a cave of Banan Hill, a limestone hill that is part of the karst ecosystem of Battambang province in western Cambodia. The snail is less than 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) wide and long including its shell, about the size of a pinhead. The scientists behind its discovery named it Clostophis udayaditinus, its species name referring to the 11th-century Angkor-era King Udayadityavarman II. The king ordered the building of Banan temple, which became the name of the only hill where the species is currently known. The team collected 28 individuals at the site by hand between July and August 2024. The snails have a colorless body except for dark eye spots at the tip of their upper tentacles. The shell is described as “pale whiteish” to which the snails add soil and dirt. “The snails tend to decorate their shells with soil and dirt in star-shaped patterns,” the authors wrote in the description of the species published in February 2025. “This encrustation presumably serves as a humidity reservoir or camouflage.” C. udayaditinus was discovered during a three-year biodiversity research mission in northern Cambodia’s karst hills, an underexplored limestone landscape teeming with endemic life. The surveys uncovered another 10 species new to science, including another microsnail, a pit viper and several gecko species. “Each one of these isolated karst areas act as their own little laboratory,” Lee Grismer, a biology professor at La Sierra University, U.S., said in a statement. “The results&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Banned but not silenced: Gerry Flynn’s commitment to uncovering the truth across the Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/banned-but-not-silenced-gerry-flynns-commitment-to-uncovering-the-truth-across-the-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/banned-but-not-silenced-gerry-flynns-commitment-to-uncovering-the-truth-across-the-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 18:25:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alana Linderoth]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02182332/Gerald-Flynn-reporting-in-Banteay-Meachey-province-2020-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316862</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Journalism, Illegal Logging, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Journalism, and Logging]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a region where independent environmental journalism is often unwelcome, one Mongabay journalist has made a career of tackling often inconvenient truths while accepting personal risks as a necessary part of the work. Gerald “Gerry” Flynn has been based in Southeast Asia since 2017, reporting largely from Cambodia on the intersection of human rights, ecosystems [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a region where independent environmental journalism is often unwelcome, one Mongabay journalist has made a career of tackling often inconvenient truths while accepting personal risks as a necessary part of the work. Gerald “Gerry” Flynn has been based in Southeast Asia since 2017, reporting largely from Cambodia on the intersection of human rights, ecosystems and natural resource governance. Flynn joined Mongabay as a features writer in 2023, following a Rainforest Investigations Network Fellowship with the Pulitzer Center from 2022 to 2023, during which he investigated illegal logging networks across Cambodia, with a focus on the Cardamom Mountains. Upon joining the team, he continued to investigate illegal logging, fishing, mining and land grabs. “These stories are what drew me to environmental journalism,” he says. “Getting on the ground, holding the powerful accountable, and giving voices to those who put their own lives and liberty on the line to protect their natural resources.” However, in January 2025, Flynn was denied entry and banned from Cambodia, a move seemingly in retaliation for his reporting — a setback that only cemented his confidence in evidence-based reporting as fundamental for revealing infractions against nature in autocratic societies. “The violence of the response to environmental reporting in authoritarian jurisdictions only serves to highlight the importance and value of dragging environmental crimes out of the shadows and into the cold, harsh light of public scrutiny,” he says. An investigation into a senior Cambodian official’s illegal logging operation meant taking to the waters of the Sekong River&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/banned-but-not-silenced-gerry-flynns-commitment-to-uncovering-the-truth-across-the-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>New species discovered in Cambodia’s rare rocky ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/new-species-discovered-in-cambodias-rare-rocky-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/new-species-discovered-in-cambodias-rare-rocky-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 16:03:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02155845/Website-Use-CBD-0123-PCY-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316821</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Frogs, Karst, New Species, Protected Areas, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in the caves and rocky outcroppings of northern Cambodia’s Battambang and Stung Treng provinces. The findings were compiled into a new biodiversity report. Seven new species have already been formally described and another four are in the process. To map the biodiversity in the nation’s karst ecosystems, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have discovered at least 11 new species in the caves and rocky outcroppings of northern Cambodia’s Battambang and Stung Treng provinces. The findings were compiled into a new biodiversity report. Seven new species have already been formally described and another four are in the process. To map the biodiversity in the nation’s karst ecosystems, dramatic landscapes of caves and large protruding rocks on both land and water that create isolated habitats, researchers surveyed 64 caves and 10 hills over the last three years. “The survey uncovered a treasure trove of extraordinary creatures,” wrote Fauna &amp; Flora, the conservation nonprofit behind the report. “Surrounded by a sea of inhospitable, human-made landscapes, many of these creatures are, in effect, trapped. Over time, they have continued to evolve in complete isolation.” Among the new species is a turquoise-colored pit viper (Trimeresurus sp. nov.) which is still being formally described after it was spotted in Phnom Prampi, a protected natural heritage site, in July 2025. A terrestrial micro snail (Clostophis udayaditinus) is a new species smaller than 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) wide and is the first of its genus recorded in Cambodia. And a dark orange millipede discovered in a cave was just one of three new species in its genus. “Each one of these isolated karst areas act as their own little laboratory,” Lee Grismer, a biology professor at La Sierra University, U.S., said in a statement. “The results are species that exist nowhere else — not just nowhere else in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/new-species-discovered-in-cambodias-rare-rocky-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Jakarta port authorities seize 3 tons of pangolin scales in Cambodia-bound container</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/jakarta-port-authorities-seize-3-tons-of-pangolin-scales-in-cambodia-bound-container/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/jakarta-port-authorities-seize-3-tons-of-pangolin-scales-in-cambodia-bound-container/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2026 07:58:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anggita Raissa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/19102143/B-3X9A3024-scaled-e1773522042796-1536x927-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315950</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Jakarta, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environmental Crime, Habitat Loss, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Pangolins, Poaching, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Customs inspectors at the Indonesian capital’s main port uncovered more than 3 metric tons of pangolin scales in a shipping container bound for Cambodia in late February, in one of the largest seizures of the critically endangered mammal in years. “We are committed to tightening export controls and taking firm action against any [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Customs inspectors at the Indonesian capital’s main port uncovered more than 3 metric tons of pangolin scales in a shipping container bound for Cambodia in late February, in one of the largest seizures of the critically endangered mammal in years. “We are committed to tightening export controls and taking firm action against any violations that threaten wildlife sustainability and harm the state,” Adhang Noegroho Adhi, the head of the Customs and Excise office at Tanjung Priok Port, said in a statement announcing the investigation in March. Pangolins are the only mammals covered head to toe in scales. This armor offers protection in the wild, but makes pangolins easy prey in a global wildlife trade worth up to $23 billion annually. The mammal’s scales, which are made from the same protein as human hair and nails, are prized by traditional healers in China and parts of Southeast Asia, despite the scales possessing no scientifically proven medicinal benefits. Adhang Noegroho Adhi, head of Tanjung Priok customs and excise office, at a press conference in March. Image by Tanjung Priok Customs Public Relations. On Feb. 18, officials became suspicious of a 20-foot shipping container after reviewing documentation provided by the exporter, PT TSR. According to the consignment document, the container held only sea cucumbers and instant noodles. However, a scan of the container showed three separate storage areas, raising suspicions of unreported goods inside. Officials then began an inspection of the crate. Inside, they found 99 boxes containing dried pangolin scales,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/jakarta-port-authorities-seize-3-tons-of-pangolin-scales-in-cambodia-bound-container/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Cambodia&#8217;s Supreme Court denies release of five imprisoned environmental activists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodias-supreme-court-denies-release-of-five-imprisoned-environmental-activists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodias-supreme-court-denies-release-of-five-imprisoned-environmental-activists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 17:04:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/16171105/IMG_0033-1200x800-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315778</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond the screen: DCEFF]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Activism, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Featured, Governance, Human Rights, Law Enforcement, and Protests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Five environmental activists in Cambodia will remain in prison, where they have been for more than 622 days, after the country&#8217;s Supreme Court decided not to allow them to go free as they appeal their convictions. On July 2, 2024, Ly Chandaravuth, Phuon Keoraksmey, Long Kunthea and Thun Ratha were sentenced to six years each [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Five environmental activists in Cambodia will remain in prison, where they have been for more than 622 days, after the country&#8217;s Supreme Court decided not to allow them to go free as they appeal their convictions. On July 2, 2024, Ly Chandaravuth, Phuon Keoraksmey, Long Kunthea and Thun Ratha were sentenced to six years each in prison for plotting against the government. Yim Leanghy received a sentence of eight years, along with a fine of 10 million riel (about $2,500), for plotting against the government and insulting Cambodia&#8217;s king. The five activists are members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a group that has campaigned against logging, dams and the mining of coastal sand for export. Five other members of the group also received sentences in absentia in 2024. Mongabay chronicled the lead-up to their trial in the film The Clearing, as well as their acceptance of the Right Livelihood Award “for their fearless and engaging activism to preserve Cambodia’s natural environment in the context of a highly restricted democratic space.” Chandaravuth, Keoraksmey, Kunthea, Ratha and Leanghy have appealed their sentences, which stem from charges related to their environmental activism. All five had also previously been jailed on the same charges before being released on bail in 2021. Ly Chandaravuth leaves the Supreme Court on Feb. 23, 2026, after his trial on an application for release. Image courtesy of LICADHO. Phuon Keoraksmey before she was taken to prison on July 2, 2024. Image courtesy of Mother Nature Cambodia. The original date for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodias-supreme-court-denies-release-of-five-imprisoned-environmental-activists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 09:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pham Phan Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/30141735/communities-tonle-sap-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315485</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Dams, electricity, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Fish, Freshwater, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Law, Mekong Dams, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year milestone in November 2025 painted a picture of “shared prosperity.” Officials highlighted flood warnings, environmental studies, and even China’s data-sharing nods. Despite the MRC’s claim that “working together is the only way forward” with “new solutions” to keep the Mekong a “river of life, not conflict,” this optimistic rhetoric has echoed for 30 years. In reality, the river faces “a death by a thousand cuts” — cumulative degradation from dams, sediment loss, sand mining, altered flows, and Lake Tonle Sap’s natural regulating role severely undermined — all of which the MRC’s 30-year approach has failed to stop. The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the disasters of dam-building spree Before 1995, the lower Mekong mainstream had zero large dams. The 1995 Agreement altered that. Laos built Xayaburi, operational since 2019, and Don Sahong, running since 2020. Those two alone sparked outrage from Cambodia and Vietnam over blocked fish routes and lost sediment. The PNPCA process, for prior notification and consultation, was supposed to lead to agreement. Instead, Laos treated objections as background noise and pushed ahead. Vietnam’s own tributary dams number 81; Laos, 75. Together, the basin’s total planned hydropower capacity is 23 gigawatts, drawing $50 billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 01:59:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09230405/DSC00753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fish Farming, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mekong Dams, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. By daylight, vendors have arranged the fish across tarps and reed mats laid directly on the street. Snakeheads, catfish, barbs and loaches lie in dense, gleaming rows as the market swells into a blur of motion and sound. Motorcycles crowd the edges while buyers weave through narrow passageways. Vendors weigh, sort and pack fish for kitchens, restaurants and traders heading off to Phnom Penh. On this morning in early February, a team of Cambodian and international researchers also converged on the fish markets here and in Kratie, a town about 140 kilometers (87 miles) downstream, to begin a two-week survey documenting the aquatic wealth of the world’s most productive river system. More than 2 million tons of fish are harvested from the Mekong each year. Biologist and survey member Sudeep Chandra observes Chitala ornata for sale at the Stung Treng market. Image © Chhut Chheana/Wonders of the Mekong. The survey builds on a rare historical benchmark. In 1994, the late ichthyologist Tyson Roberts conducted a detailed inventory of fish species appearing in the main Stung Treng market. Three decades later, researchers are replicating that work, returning in the same seasons, to enable a direct comparison&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Helicopter translocation brings isolated banteng to safer grounds in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/helicopter-translocation-brings-isolated-banteng-to-safer-grounds-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/helicopter-translocation-brings-isolated-banteng-to-safer-grounds-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Feb 2026 13:34:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/17131157/Banteng-release-Jeremy-Holden-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314360</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Dry Forests, Environment, Forests, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Poaching, Protected Areas, Reintroductions, Rewilding, Ungulates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this month, a team of conservationists translocated 16 critically endangered banteng into Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary in northeast Cambodia in a bid to boost numbers that had dwindled to critical levels. The group of wild cattle was captured and transported from a nearby unprotected forest facing imminent conversion to farmland. The operation was the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this month, a team of conservationists translocated 16 critically endangered banteng into Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary in northeast Cambodia in a bid to boost numbers that had dwindled to critical levels. The group of wild cattle was captured and transported from a nearby unprotected forest facing imminent conversion to farmland. The operation was the second phase of largescale efforts to save the herd, led by Cambodia-based social enterprise Rising Phoenix in partnership with local wildlife authorities. “With proper law enforcement, no poaching and suitable habitat in Siem Pang, I think there is a very positive future for them,” said Romain Legrand, biodiversity research and monitoring manager with Rising Phoenix. “The population is going to grow quickly, I’m sure.” Together with the first translocation carried out in May 2025, the recent operation brings the total rehomed banteng (Bos javanicus) population in the reserve to 32 individuals, including breeding-age adults and calves, according to Legrand. Banteng are strikingly patterned bovids, their bright white legs and snowy rumps contrasting sharply against their russet coats. The species used to range across Southeast Asia, with Cambodia’s once-extensive dry dipterocarp forests home to a significant portion of the global population. However, decades of deforestation and hunting for their meat, horns and hides have decimated their numbers — the latest IUCN Red List assessment puts their global population at no more than 8,000 individuals. In Cambodia, the species hangs on as sporadic groups eking out an existence in a handful of isolated forest patches. While tigers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/helicopter-translocation-brings-isolated-banteng-to-safer-grounds-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Farmers fear displacement, drought, flooding tied to Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/farmers-fear-displacement-drought-flooding-tied-to-cambodias-funan-techo-canal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/farmers-fear-displacement-drought-flooding-tied-to-cambodias-funan-techo-canal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2026 06:33:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drought]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endangered Species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wetlands]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/12060609/FTC-pt-2-banner-img-v1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314184</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Canals, Drought, Endangered Species, Farming, Fish, Flooding, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water, Water Scarcity, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Read part one, about consequences for coastal communities and wildlife, here. TAKEO, Cambodia — Thet Chanton finally finished construction on his new home along the banks of the Prek Bassac (Bassac creek) in Prey Sambor village, a small farming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Read part one, about consequences for coastal communities and wildlife, here. TAKEO, Cambodia — Thet Chanton finally finished construction on his new home along the banks of the Prek Bassac (Bassac creek) in Prey Sambor village, a small farming community in Cambodia’s southern province of Takeo. That was in June 2024. Just five months later, when Mongabay first interviewed Chanton in November 2024, he said local authorities had already told him his house would need to be demolished. “We had a meeting with the village chief, but there were commune, district and provincial authorities there too,” Chanton said. “They told us that Prek Bassac will be studied to become part of the Funan Techo Canal.” The canal is a controversial new waterway the Cambodian government is planning to link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand. It will cut a 180-kilometer (112-mile) trench through farms, wetlands and homes in Kandal, Takeo, Kampot and Kep provinces as it goes. Chanton’s household is one of 400 the government estimates will lose their houses to the mega-project’s construction. The same estimates suggest that, in total, 2,305 households consisting of 11,525 people will be directly impacted in some way by the Funan Techo Canal. “We spent about $20,000 to build this house, but we did that with a $10,000 microfinance loan,” said Chanton, who owned a small rice farm around his newly built home when Mongabay met&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/farmers-fear-displacement-drought-flooding-tied-to-cambodias-funan-techo-canal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Cambodia’s canal mega-project threatens coastal communities and marine life</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2026 02:16:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carbon Sink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecosystem Restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Habitat Degradation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Habitat Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Overfishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seagrass]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/09074250/IMG_0071-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313950</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Ecosystem Restoration, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, and Marine Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, can be read here. KEP, Cambodia — “Nobody from the government has spoken to us directly about how we’ll be affected,” Mae Vuthy told Mongabay while he sat on his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, can be read here. KEP, Cambodia — “Nobody from the government has spoken to us directly about how we’ll be affected,” Mae Vuthy told Mongabay while he sat on his longtail fishing boat moored off the coast of Angkoal commune in Cambodia’s Kep province. “We’re all concerned, we’re all fishers, so we need access to the water, but what can we do? We have no power.” That morning, in November 2024, Vuthy had just returned to shore after laying crab traps and collecting fishing nets that he’d left in the Gulf of Thailand overnight. It had been a disappointing haul for Vuthy and his crew, but not a surprising one. Rampant illegal fishing and breakneck coastal development have left Cambodia’s marine fisheries reeling for years. Now, on top of the dwindling catches he pulls from the water and the increased pressure from land privatization along the coast, Vuthy, the fishing community and the marine lifeforms of Kep’s waters face a new threat. The Funan Techo Canal, which will link the Mekong River in inland Kandal province to the sea in Kep, looks set to turn the sleepy fishing commune of Angkoal into a bustling port and logistics hub. Mongabay has followed this mega-project’s development for more than a year. We’ve spoken with more than 50 people living along the canal’s proposed route in Kandal, Takeo,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Mines, dams move in as protection slips in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mines-dams-move-in-as-protection-slips-in-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mines-dams-move-in-as-protection-slips-in-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 02:54:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Coby HobbsEung Sea]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/05183556/LumphatWS_mining-08964-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313745</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Dry Forests, Environment, Forests, Governance, Mining, Protected Areas, Rainforest Mining, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Sre Chhuk village, a quiet patch in northeast Cambodia where the Mekong’s smaller veins trace the edge of a fading wildlife sanctuary, Vorn Pang and Sao Thorn once believed their land was safe. By 2018, officials and conservation groups had formalized their farmland as part of the Veal Kambor Community Protected Area (CPA), under [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Sre Chhuk village, a quiet patch in northeast Cambodia where the Mekong’s smaller veins trace the edge of a fading wildlife sanctuary, Vorn Pang and Sao Thorn once believed their land was safe. By 2018, officials and conservation groups had formalized their farmland as part of the Veal Kambor Community Protected Area (CPA), under a conservation model that aims to balance local livelihoods and forest protection. In return for patrolling and managing the adjoining forests of the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary, villagers retained rights to manage resources in a nearly 3,000-hectare (7,413-acre) “community zone” for 15 years. Their fields, they were told, were secure for years to come. That’s why it came as a shock, they said, when parts of the community zone were handed over to extractive companies starting in 2020. Vorn and Sao said they were given no compensation as marble quarries and open pits tore through their fallow rice paddies and cut into the forests where they gathered non-timber products, all in the heart of one of Cambodia’s most threatened sanctuaries. A homemade alcohol used as a remedy for intestinal ailments, brewed from three types of wood collected deep into in the wildlife sanctuary. Community Protected Areas typically allow sustainable harvesting of forest products. “A meeting was held with the Ministry of Environment and company representatives for compensation but, years later, there is still nothing,” said Pang, who recalled that the meeting took place in 2021 but was unsure which firm was responsible or who initiated the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mines-dams-move-in-as-protection-slips-in-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Carving up the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/01/carving-up-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/01/carving-up-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jan 2026 13:02:32 +0000</pubDate>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/05130121/Trekking-through-the-Cardamom-Tented-Camp-concession-in-Botum-Sakor-National-Park-Photo-by-Gerald-Flynn-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=312608</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Logging, Illegal Timber Trade, Indigenous Communities, Mountains, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Cardamom Mountains sprawl across southwestern Cambodia and are among the best-preserved rainforests in the country. Protected by rugged terrain, heavy rains and a low population density, the Cardamoms remain a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for threatened elephants, pangolins and the region’s last viable fishing cat population. This Special Issue documents the myriad threats facing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Cardamom Mountains sprawl across southwestern Cambodia and are among the best-preserved rainforests in the country. Protected by rugged terrain, heavy rains and a low population density, the Cardamoms remain a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for threatened elephants, pangolins and the region’s last viable fishing cat population. This Special Issue documents the myriad threats facing one of Cambodia’s last, best rainforests. Since 2021, Mongabay has uncovered illegal loggers operating out of prisons, revealed how dam building gives cover to timber traffickers, and investigated where conservationists clash with Indigenous communities while land grabbers rush in, carving up the Cardamoms.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/01/carving-up-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Mekong sand mining risks collapse of SE Asia’s largest freshwater lake, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 11:08:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/23105515/20250612_UoS_00005-scaled-e1766487408383-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311946</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Dredging, Environment, Farming, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Mining, Rivers, and Tropical Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rampant sand mining in the Mekong River is directly weakening critical seasonal river flows that sustain Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, new research indicates. The Mekong’s annual wet season flood pulse that feeds water into Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has been dwindling year by year. Experts have long pointed to upstream hydropower dams in China [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rampant sand mining in the Mekong River is directly weakening critical seasonal river flows that sustain Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, new research indicates. The Mekong’s annual wet season flood pulse that feeds water into Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has been dwindling year by year. Experts have long pointed to upstream hydropower dams in China and Laos that trap sediments and alter the Mekong’s flow, combined with droughts intensified by climate change, as major drivers of the gargantuan river system’s declining vitality. A new study by researchers from the U.K. and Vietnam now shows that sand mining in the Lower Mekong Basin countries of Cambodia and Vietnam has a far greater impact on the flood pulse-lake dynamics than previously understood. “Upstream dams do have a measurable effect,” said lead author Quan Le, a flood risk researcher at Loughborough University in the U.K. “However, the primary driver of the declining Tonle Sap flood pulse is extensive downstream sand mining.” The Mekong’s heartbeat Tonle Sap Lake, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, lies within the lower basin of the Mekong River, the world’s second-most biodiverse aquatic ecosystem (after the Amazon). Each wet season, the lake swells up to five times in size as the Mekong’s annual flood pulse surges up the Tonle Sap River, reversing its flow. The situation then flips during the dry season, when water flows out of the lake downstream into the densely populated Mekong Delta. This rhythmic expansion and contraction is often referred to as the Mekong’s “heartbeat” due to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Seafloor survey in Cambodia finds simple anti-trawling blocks help seagrass recover</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/seafloor-survey-in-cambodia-finds-simple-anti-trawling-blocks-help-seagrass-recover/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/seafloor-survey-in-cambodia-finds-simple-anti-trawling-blocks-help-seagrass-recover/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 22:42:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/15125257/54ab82cd-8321-4307-9da9-e756f4d01c7d-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311373</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent study provides the first detailed map of Cambodia’s coastal seafloor habitats and finds that simple, low-cost anti-trawling structures are helping seagrass meadows recover and support small-scale fishers in the Kep Marine Fisheries Management Area in the Gulf of Thailand. The study was published in Frontiers in Marine Science by researchers from Marine Conservation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent study provides the first detailed map of Cambodia’s coastal seafloor habitats and finds that simple, low-cost anti-trawling structures are helping seagrass meadows recover and support small-scale fishers in the Kep Marine Fisheries Management Area in the Gulf of Thailand. The study was published in Frontiers in Marine Science by researchers from Marine Conservation Cambodia, an organization that co-manages the Kep MFMA in partnership with Cambodian authorities and local fishing communities. To map the region’s seafloor, the team surveyed 62,146 hectares (153,566 acres) across four areas: Kep MFMA, Outer Kep, Kampot, and Koh Seh. Divers visited hundreds of points spaced every 250 meters (820 feet) to document seagrasses, corals, shellfish beds, sediment type, and depth. In shallow waters, they used aerial photos to observe areas that boats couldn’t reach. The data were then analyzed using computer models to understand how depth and sediment influence habitat presence. They found that seagrass cover in Kampot province declined by 39% between 2013 and 2023 — the first time this loss has been clearly measured. They described “destructive fishing” as the most immediate driver of habitat loss in Cambodia, alongside chronic pressures like warming seas and turbidity from coastal development (two large-scale ports and a special economic zone are under construction). The study said the decline in seagrass highlights “the urgent need for scalable restoration and enforcement strategies.” The livelihoods of many Kep residents hinges on the preservation of marine resources, which have been depleted due to overfishing and large-scale coastal development projects.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/seafloor-survey-in-cambodia-finds-simple-anti-trawling-blocks-help-seagrass-recover/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Environmental activists remain jailed in Cambodia on Human Rights Defenders Day</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/environmental-activists-remain-jailed-in-cambodia-on-human-rights-defenders-day/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/environmental-activists-remain-jailed-in-cambodia-on-human-rights-defenders-day/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 18:17:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/09181304/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-3.54.34-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=310929</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Crime and Human Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental activists remain jailed in Cambodia on Human Rights Defenders Day In honor of Human Rights Defenders Day on Dec. 9, Mongabay looks back at The Clearing, a documentary about young Cambodian activists currently jailed for their environmental and social activism. Filmmakers Andy Ball and Marta Kasztelan produced the video for Mongabay with support from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental activists remain jailed in Cambodia on Human Rights Defenders Day In honor of Human Rights Defenders Day on Dec. 9, Mongabay looks back at The Clearing, a documentary about young Cambodian activists currently jailed for their environmental and social activism. Filmmakers Andy Ball and Marta Kasztelan produced the video for Mongabay with support from the Pulitzer Center. The film centers around a group of young environmental activists with the Cambodian civil society group Mother Nature Cambodia. The activists have successfully stopped potentially destructive projects, including a major dam and the export of sand from coastal estuaries. They continue to speak out against development projects, which they say hurt both the environment and local communities. One such project is in Botum Sakor National Park, once Cambodia’s largest national park. “Eighty percent of the park has been handed to private companies,” Ly Chandaravuth, a Mother Nature Cambodia activist, says in the documentary while flying a drone over a deforested area. “We’re filming a video to urge the government to stop giving land concessions inside the national park to corporations. Thousands of families have been evicted because they need to build an airport and casinos.” Such outspoken activism has drawn the attention of Cambodia’s authoritarian government. Dozens of activists have been arrested over the years and 11 have been jailed. The documentary follows the plight of Chandaravuth, who was arrested in June 2021 then released on bail, as well as four other activists. All five were awaiting trial for their work. During this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/environmental-activists-remain-jailed-in-cambodia-on-human-rights-defenders-day/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/toxic-runoff-from-politically-linked-gold-mine-poisons-cambodian-rivers-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/toxic-runoff-from-politically-linked-gold-mine-poisons-cambodian-rivers-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Nov 2025 08:17:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gold Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toxic waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/24072528/Header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310021</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Corruption, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Ecosystems, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Mining, Public Health, Rainforest Mining, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[*Sources have requested pseudonyms be used to protect their identity out of fear of retaliation from the government or mining companies BANGKOK, Thailand/RATANAKIRI, Cambodia — “When you touch the water of the O’Ta Bouk River, the mud will stick to your skin,” said Thao*. “It creates skin issues and we can’t catch fish this year anymore. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[*Sources have requested pseudonyms be used to protect their identity out of fear of retaliation from the government or mining companies BANGKOK, Thailand/RATANAKIRI, Cambodia — “When you touch the water of the O’Ta Bouk River, the mud will stick to your skin,” said Thao*. “It creates skin issues and we can’t catch fish this year anymore. It’s thick, like condensed milk. The oil from the machinery floats on the water surface, so it might affect our health, like our stomach or intestines.” On the quiet banks where the Sesan River and O’Ta Bouk River (also known as the Prek Liang River) meet in the northeastern Cambodian province of Ratanakiri, Ta Bouk village is where Thao calls home. The O’Ta Bouk River flows some 90 kilometers (56 miles) through Virachey National Park, one of Cambodia’s oldest protected areas, before feeding into the Sesan River and providing water to Ta Bouk village, just 2 km (1.2 mi) from the park’s border. The O’Ta Bouk has long sustained the Brao Indigenous communities who live, farm and fish along the river’s banks, providing them with clean, potable water for generations. But Thao’s village is just one of the hundreds across the Mekong region that have seen their life-giving rivers poisoned by toxic runoff from an explosion of unregulated mining, much of this is driven by surging gold prices, rising demand for rare earth elements and limited government oversight or environmental standards. Extensive satellite imagery analysis conducted by U.S. think tank the Stimson Center has uncovered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/toxic-runoff-from-politically-linked-gold-mine-poisons-cambodian-rivers-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Chaos on Cambodia’s Coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/11/chaos-on-cambodias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/11/chaos-on-cambodias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2025 16:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/03110137/C-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=308747</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Crime, Fish, Fisheries, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Crisis, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Crisis, Oceans, Overfishing, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Along Cambodia’s rapidly transforming coastline, illegal trawling, elite-backed development, and weak enforcement are driving marine ecosystems and fishing communities to the brink. This 2024 series investigates the institutional breakdown behind the country’s marine crisis, from ineffective patrols in protected areas to billion-dollar land deals displacing small-scale fishers. It examines the competing interests reshaping Cambodia’s coast, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Along Cambodia’s rapidly transforming coastline, illegal trawling, elite-backed development, and weak enforcement are driving marine ecosystems and fishing communities to the brink. This 2024 series investigates the institutional breakdown behind the country’s marine crisis, from ineffective patrols in protected areas to billion-dollar land deals displacing small-scale fishers. It examines the competing interests reshaping Cambodia’s coast, and what’s left at stake for conservation and coastal livelihoods.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/11/chaos-on-cambodias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Most Cambodia &#038; Laos tree cover loss in 2024 happened inside protected areas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/most-cambodia-laos-tree-cover-loss-in-2024-happened-inside-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/most-cambodia-laos-tree-cover-loss-in-2024-happened-inside-protected-areas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2025 16:12:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/27160936/IMG-20240731-WA0018-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=308373</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia and Laos]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forests, Protected Areas, and Rainforest Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than half of Cambodia and Laos’ tree cover loss in 2024 was recorded inside protected areas, Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn reports. The findings were a result of Mongabay’s analysis of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Forest Watch. In Cambodia, 56% of the nation’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than half of Cambodia and Laos’ tree cover loss in 2024 was recorded inside protected areas, Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn reports. The findings were a result of Mongabay’s analysis of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Forest Watch. In Cambodia, 56% of the nation’s tree cover loss was recorded within its protected area network last year. In Laos, the figure was 64%. Across the Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, tree cover loss reached 991,801 hectares (about 2.5 million acres) in 2024, including nearly 220,000 hectares (544,000 acres) of primary forest. Estimated tree cover loss in the five Mekong nations. Image by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay. Cambodia Many of Cambodia’s forests are newly protected. In mid-2023, the Cambodian government added about 1.1 million hectares (2.6 million acres) of forest land to the country’s protected areas network. At the time, civil society groups raised concerns over the authorities’ ability to enforce protections over the expanded area, and the latest data seem to back them up. Forest loss in Cambodia was lower in 2024 than 2023 by 22.6%, but the nation lost an area around the size of urban São Paulo or New Delhi: 93,000 hectares (230,000 acres). Around 56% of this loss was inside protected areas. In some cases, government-supported projects are responsible for the losses. In Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, for instance, where an estimated 9,346 hectares (23,094 acres) were lost, a new high-voltage transmission line has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/most-cambodia-laos-tree-cover-loss-in-2024-happened-inside-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2025 02:17:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/27015457/Laos-rare-earth-mine-leaching-ponds-2025-banner-image-V1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308321</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Drinking Water, Endangered Species, extractives, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rivers, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral extraction is currently illegal there. Research from U.S.-based think tank the Stimson Center has identified 27 rare earth mines that have opened across river basins in Laos since 2022, including seven identified via satellite imagery analysis as having opened this year. Twenty-three of these mines appear to be in protected areas, but it’s unclear whether or not they’re operating with permission from officials. Fifteen of these mines are operating within the Mekong River Basin: 12 on the Nam Khan River and three on the Nam Ngiep River, both of which feed into the Mekong, the roughly 4,900-kilometer (3,000-mile) river that flows from Tibet through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea. The Mekong River Basin is a biodiversity hotspot that sustains the lives of more than 50 million people who rely on it for food, water and livelihoods. Another 10 rare earth mines were identified by the Stimson Center on the Nam Hao and Nam Xan rivers, in the Ma River Basin, where they not only pose a transboundary risk to Vietnam, but also to the Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area on the border of Laos and Vietnam,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>IUCN upholds long-tailed macaques’ endangered status after complaint</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/iucn-upholds-long-tailed-macaques-endangered-status-after-complaint/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/iucn-upholds-long-tailed-macaques-endangered-status-after-complaint/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2025 04:50:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charismatic Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endangered Species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endangered Species Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal hunting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monkeys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Population]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Primates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scientific process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Trafficking]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/30071210/long-tailed-macaque-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307660</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environmental Activism, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Poaching, Primates, Protected Areas, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The long-tailed macaque will remain on the Red List of the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, despite objections from the biomedical industry arguing the designation hampers research that relies on the primate to test vaccines and drugs. The IUCN escalated the conservation status of the species, Macaca fascicularis, from vulnerable to endangered in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The long-tailed macaque will remain on the Red List of the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, despite objections from the biomedical industry arguing the designation hampers research that relies on the primate to test vaccines and drugs. The IUCN escalated the conservation status of the species, Macaca fascicularis, from vulnerable to endangered in 2022 after macaques poached from the wild were found to have been laundered into breeding farms in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam supplying laboratories abroad. The National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR), a U.S. lobby group, challenged the listing, but the latest assessment, published Oct. 10, found that wild populations of the macaque had declined by 50-70% over the past three decades. That led the IUCN to reaffirm the species’ endangered listing. “I’m happy to see science prevail, but I’m not happy to see the long-tailed macaques endangered,” Malene Friis Hansen, co-author of the assessment and a leading researcher on the species at Aarhus University in Denmark, told Mongabay by phone. “This is a species of primate that shouldn’t be in this situation — that we’ve pushed such an adaptive synanthrope to this stage should be an eye-opener.” The NABR filed its complaint in 2023, alleging conflicts of interest and scientific errors had influenced the original endangered listing. But last week, the IUCN announced an internal investigation had found no breach of its conflict-of-interest policy. While the IUCN acknowledged that the original assessment contained some “emotive, value-laden language,” it deemed this had no impact on the listing.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/iucn-upholds-long-tailed-macaques-endangered-status-after-complaint/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2025 03:33:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Environmental Crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industrial Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landscape Restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luxury timber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/22033617/DJI_0794-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Global Forest Watch, Governance, Hydropower, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Timber Trade, Industrial Agriculture, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Reforestation, satellite data, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s according to Mongabay’s analysis* of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s according to Mongabay’s analysis* of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Forest Watch (GFW). GFW data show 991,801 hectares (2.45 million acres) of tree cover were lost in 2024, including nearly 220,000 hectares (544,000 acres) of primary forest, across the five Mekong countries. More than 30% of tree cover loss recorded in 2024 occurred inside protected areas, although across the region, the rate of deforestation — both within protected areas and outside of them — slowed slightly from 2023. Despite this, the drivers of deforestation vary somewhat from country to country, and last year’s losses still reflect a grim trajectory for forests in the Mekong region. The economies of almost all Mekong countries are heavily reliant on agriculture, with forests cleared for both agribusiness-run plantations or subsistence farming plots. But research indicates the conversion of forest to croplands has resulted in increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and subsequently poorer agricultural yields. Illegal logging has also ravaged the Mekong’s forests, while large-scale infrastructure projects threaten critical ecosystems. Global Forest Watch data was used to calculate national level tree cover loss, while Mongabay&#8217;s analysis of GLAD data was used to calculate forest loss inside protected areas. Image by Andrés Alegría / Mongabay. Calamity in Cambodia’s protected&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Cambodian irrigation dam construction threatens riverine communities in the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2025 03:23:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Endangered Species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industrial Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[REDD+]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/10031927/Pursat-Irrigation-Dam-2-banner-image-V2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Dams, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Fisheries, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Infrastructure, Protected Areas, Rainforest Ecological Services, Redd, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Rivers, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Forest clearance has begun to make way for a new irrigation dam deep in the heart of the Cardamom Mountains, in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat, Mongabay has learned. The dam, which officials say will safeguard against floods and secure water for agriculture, looks set to clear more than 7,300 hectares (18,000 acres) of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Forest clearance has begun to make way for a new irrigation dam deep in the heart of the Cardamom Mountains, in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat, Mongabay has learned. The dam, which officials say will safeguard against floods and secure water for agriculture, looks set to clear more than 7,300 hectares (18,000 acres) of protected forest within Kravanh National Park, according to an overlay of official project maps with satellite imagery of rainforest cover. Mongabay first reported on the existence of the dam project in March. More recently, sources familiar with the area provided us with geolocated photos showing that ground broke on the project in February, with development continuing over the following months. Mongabay spoke with several residents in affected communities who confirmed that forest clearance and construction were taking place. Satellite imagery appears to show a roughly 10-kilometer (6-mile) road being carved through the forest to the dam site between February and March 2025, followed by some 60 hectares (150 acres) of forest clearance taking place within the project area through at least Aug. 12. Of the 7,300 hectares to be cleared, nearly 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) will be inundated with water as part of the Irrigation Dam 2 project, as it’s formally known, with the rest of the area also being cleared, documents indicate. Eng Rasmey, chief of the Pursat Provincial Department of Environment, told Mongabay that the forest clearance was happening under the onus of the dam project, which is overseen by the Ministry of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>New gecko species findings highlight threats to Cambodia’s limestone hills</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2025 16:38:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/04153334/A-Battambang-leaf-toed-gecko-Dixonius-noctivagus.-Image-by-Hun-Seiha-with-Fauna-Flora-Cambodia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305417</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Lizards, New Discovery, New Species, Protected Areas, Reptiles, Surveying, surveys, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies. Violent clashes this summer, which killed close to 40 people and displaced nearly 300,000 across the two Southeast Asian nations, cut follow-up field surveys short, researchers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies. Violent clashes this summer, which killed close to 40 people and displaced nearly 300,000 across the two Southeast Asian nations, cut follow-up field surveys short, researchers told Mongabay. The dispute has indefinitely delayed exploration of the landscape, which may host an abundance of creatures yet to be described by science. Pablo Sinovas, Cambodia country director for Fauna &amp; Flora, an international NGO, was leading the surveys in Battambang province near the Thai border in late July when the fighting erupted. He told Mongabay in August that the decision to pull back was taken as a precaution after Thai fighter jets bombed Cambodia. “In Cambodia, systematic exploration [of karst landscapes] has only just begun,” Sinovas said. “We can expect many more [species] discoveries to be made. These findings highlight the extraordinary diversity that can be hidden in karst ecosystems.” When the clash broke out, the research team pivoted to surveying karst towers near where they had found the Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis), Battambang leaf-toed gecko (Dixonius noctivagus) and Khpoh slender gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus khpoh) in 2024. A Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis). Image by Hun Seiha with Fauna &amp; Flora Cambodia. The discoveries of these species, announced in three studies published in 2025, had thrilled these conservationists and made them eager to double down on karst research. “Think of these&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Shrinking Mekong megafish underlines risks to the river, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2025 14:16:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/26093159/imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-mmealfk1s0NBv-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater Animals, Freshwater Ecosystems, Freshwater Fish, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Loss, Megafauna, Mekong Dams, Overfishing, Research, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Pollution, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The megafish of the Mekong River are shrinking, a new study has found. In the most comprehensive analysis of species size in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Basin, researchers have tracked a generational shrinkage among the river’s iconic gargantuan fish, which are among the largest freshwater fish in the world. The size decline in the Mekong [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The megafish of the Mekong River are shrinking, a new study has found. In the most comprehensive analysis of species size in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Basin, researchers have tracked a generational shrinkage among the river’s iconic gargantuan fish, which are among the largest freshwater fish in the world. The size decline in the Mekong is a troubling trend for the ecosystem on which more than 65 million people across six countries depend. It also mirrors shrinkages of other megafauna in river basins around the world. “At its core, the analysis shows that the Mekong River’s biggest, slowest-to-mature fish species, and especially those at highest risk of extinction, are the ones shrinking fastest,” Zeb Hogan, a co-author of the study and biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, said in an interview with Mongabay. “Declining fish size isn’t just a symptom of overfishing — it’s a warning sign of deeper population instability.” A Mekong giant catfish release in 2007. Image courtesy of Zeb Hogan with Wonders of the Mekong. The study results are based on more than seven years of catch-monitoring data that tracked 257 species across 23 sites in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. More than 397,000 samples were collected from mid-2007 to mid-2014. These samples were compared to historical data from conservation information hub FishBase and the Mekong River Commission’s fisheries monitoring database. Changes in fish body size are a key indicator of fish stock health that informs fisheries management and conservation planning. Small and medium-sized fish species didn’t&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Displaced and dispossessed, Cambodia’s ethnic Cham fishers struggle to survive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2025 20:28:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel ZakVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/06080118/fishing-net-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303758</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong River, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation And Poverty, Development, Environment, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Land Rights, Poverty, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Mao Man, a 65-year-old ethnic Cham fisher in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh,  says he isn’t sure how many times he’s had to relocate in his life, but he thinks he’ll be evicted again before the Water Festival this November. Today, he and his neighbors live on small wooden boats, which they [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Mao Man, a 65-year-old ethnic Cham fisher in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh,  says he isn’t sure how many times he’s had to relocate in his life, but he thinks he’ll be evicted again before the Water Festival this November. Today, he and his neighbors live on small wooden boats, which they moor behind a luxury hotel. Like many Chams, being relocated is a constant part of his life, and the lives of his ancestors. But now, the pressures to relocate come wrapped in the language of environmental protection. “When I move, I float like a water hyacinth down the river,” Mao told Mongabay on July 6. Mao Man sits on the shore of the Mekong River near his boat in July, 2025. Image by Vutha Srey for Mongabay. The Chams are one of Cambodia’s largest ethnic minorities, though they aren’t technically Indigenous people. They’re descendants of Champa, a collection of city-states that once ruled parts of southern Vietnam. After the last Cham state was annexed by the Đại Việt monarchy in 1835, and a campaign to forcibly assimilate and dispossess the Chams was instituted, many fled to Cambodia and settled along the Mekong River, converting to a unique form of Islam and taking up fishing. Today, about two-thirds of all Chams live in Cambodia. Mao, like many others, has lived through decades of upheaval. During the Cambodian civil war, he had to flee his village in Kampong Cham, the province with the highest concentration of Chams.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>How Cambodia’s new environmental code undermines Indigenous peoples’ rights (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cambodias-new-environmental-code-undermines-indigenous-peoples-rights-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cambodias-new-environmental-code-undermines-indigenous-peoples-rights-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2025 22:23:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rithy Bun]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/30204016/photo_2025-04-02_12-19-02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303460</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Environment, Forest Products, Forests, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Traditional Knowledge, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia’s Indigenous peoples have a deep relationship to forests, land and natural resources, which they traditionally manage in their cultural practices and everyday lives. There are 22 distinct Indigenous communities with an estimated 172,980 people, accounting for 1.11% of Cambodia&#8217;s total population. Indigenous peoples are well-known for being forest caretakers and passing down forest care [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia’s Indigenous peoples have a deep relationship to forests, land and natural resources, which they traditionally manage in their cultural practices and everyday lives. There are 22 distinct Indigenous communities with an estimated 172,980 people, accounting for 1.11% of Cambodia&#8217;s total population. Indigenous peoples are well-known for being forest caretakers and passing down forest care from generation to generation through ancestral heritage. Forests, lands and natural resources are at the very heart of Indigenous culture and spiritual practices. Even though there are small portions of Indigenous peoples in Cambodia and across the globe, their ways of living have made significant contributions to the protection of forests and maintaining rich biodiversity and ecological systems, which contributes to the lessening of the impact of climate change. As much as 80% of the world&#8217;s biodiversity is conserved and cared for by Indigenous peoples worldwide. In Cambodia, Indigenous peoples are assumed to have traditionally maintained and relied on around 4 million hectares (about 10 million acres) of forestland. However, as of 2025, I personally believe that there will be a major shift in this customary management as economic land concessions continue to be granted to private companies within Indigenous communities. Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the largest remaining lowland evergreen forests in mainland Southeast Asia and is home to many Indigenous communities, but it is threatened by logging, mining and land grabbing. Image by Andy Ball for Mongabay. There is no doubt that Indigenous peoples play an important role in the conservation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cambodias-new-environmental-code-undermines-indigenous-peoples-rights-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>The price of protecting what’s left in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/the-price-of-protecting-whats-left-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/the-price-of-protecting-whats-left-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jul 2025 09:36:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=302796</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Climate Activism, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Activism, Human Rights, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a nation where speaking up can lead to prison, a group of young Cambodians has refused to be silent. One year ago, five members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a conservation NGO, were jailed on charges of plotting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a nation where speaking up can lead to prison, a group of young Cambodians has refused to be silent. One year ago, five members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a conservation NGO, were jailed on charges of plotting against the government. Their real offense, it seems, was speaking out — against the privatization of national parks, the eviction of families to build airports and casinos, and the environmental cost of large-scale conversion of nature. The Clearing, a documentary chronicling their final months of freedom, offers a sobering portrait of activism under authoritarianism. Ly Chandaravuth, among the most outspoken of the activists, is seen calmly filming the stumps of vanished trees and asking villagers about land lost to corporate concessions. “Eighty percent of the park has been handed to private companies,” one local explains. There are no histrionics, only quiet defiance. The group’s impact has been real. It has helped halt sand exports and dam construction. But the cost is steep: 11 members jailed, many more arrested, and its founder in exile. A courtroom summons looms over nearly every scene. And yet, the group endures. Last year, it received the Right Livelihood Award in Stockholm, often dubbed the “Alternative Nobel.” Barred from travel, several activists stayed behind. Those who attended wore borrowed coats, shivered through interviews, and made clear they would return to face trial. The day after the award ceremony, the summons came.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/the-price-of-protecting-whats-left-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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						<item>
					<title>Young activists risk all to defend Cambodia’s environment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2025/07/young-activists-risk-all-to-defend-cambodias-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2025/07/young-activists-risk-all-to-defend-cambodias-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2025 13:57:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallMarta Kasztelan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=301796</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carving up the Cardamoms]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Activism, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Forests, Human Rights, Law, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One year ago, Cambodia jailed five activists from the award-winning environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia for plotting against the government, after they had sounded the alarm about river pollution and land reclamation projects. THE CLEARING follows Chandaravuth – the group’s most outspoken member – and his colleagues in the months leading up to their incarceration [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One year ago, Cambodia jailed five activists from the award-winning environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia for plotting against the government, after they had sounded the alarm about river pollution and land reclamation projects. THE CLEARING follows Chandaravuth – the group’s most outspoken member – and his colleagues in the months leading up to their incarceration as they continue on their collision course with Cambodia’s rulers and refuse to buckle under pressure. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Ly Chandaravuth, Mother Nature Activist. Image ©Andy Ball. Illegal fishing and land grabs push Cambodian coastal communities to the brinkThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2025/07/young-activists-risk-all-to-defend-cambodias-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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