<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=cardamom-mountains&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cardamom-mountains/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:00:54 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Cardamom Mountains environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/cardamom-mountains/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<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>
										<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, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Fisheries, Forest Destruction, Freshwater, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Traditional People, Tropics, Water Pollution, 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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/cambodian-irrigation-dam-construction-threatens-riverine-communities-in-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Siamese crocodile release into the wild marks conservation milestone in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/siamese-crocodile-release-into-the-wild-marks-conservation-milestone-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/siamese-crocodile-release-into-the-wild-marks-conservation-milestone-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2025 20:27:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/28095236/siamese-crocodile-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296628</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Herps, Reptiles, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a conservation milestone, 10 Siamese crocodiles were released this month into Cambodia’s Virachey National Park for the first time, as part of a decades-long effort to save the critically endangered species. The Siamese crocodile is one of the world’s rarest crocodilians, with less than 1,000 individuals estimated to be surviving in the wild. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a conservation milestone, 10 Siamese crocodiles were released this month into Cambodia’s Virachey National Park for the first time, as part of a decades-long effort to save the critically endangered species. The Siamese crocodile is one of the world’s rarest crocodilians, with less than 1,000 individuals estimated to be surviving in the wild. The species hasn’t been sighted for more than 20 years in Virachey, one of Cambodia’s most remote national parks nestled in the northeastern corner of the kingdom on the border of Laos and Vietnam. Combined with recent record-breaking hatchings both in the wild and in captivity, as well as new records of releases into the Cardamom Mountains, conservationists hope to build a second species stronghold in Cambodia. “It is not every day in conservation that you can say you are achieving and seeing tangible results. This is one of those rare occasions,” said Pablo Sinovas, country director for the NGO Fauna &amp; Flora in Cambodia, in an interview with Mongabay. “We are cautiously optimistic, but at the same time the species is still critically endangered and key wetland habitats across the region continue to decline.” Similar efforts to save the species are taking place in nations neighboring Cambodia, reducing the risk of extinction and inching towards the goal of downlisting the Siamese crocodile from its “critically endangered” status. Frank Rheindt, an associate professor in the National University of Singapore’s department of biological science, told Mongabay in an interview that reintroductions across its range “is key to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/siamese-crocodile-release-into-the-wild-marks-conservation-milestone-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/siamese-crocodile-release-into-the-wild-marks-conservation-milestone-in-cambodia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296628</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New dams call into question Cambodia’s commitment to REDD+ projects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-dams-call-into-question-cambodias-commitment-to-redd-projects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-dams-call-into-question-cambodias-commitment-to-redd-projects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2025 06:53:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/19062114/DJI_0004-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296024</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Conservation, Corruption, Crime, Dams, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Timber, timber trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PURSAT, Cambodia — The Cambodian government has approved at least three new irrigation dams across the Cardamom Mountains, carving even deeper into forests currently being used for the Southern Cardamom REDD+ and Samkos REDD+ carbon credit projects. Construction is yet to begin on the new dams, which are slated to be built in Battambang, Koh Kong [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PURSAT, Cambodia — The Cambodian government has approved at least three new irrigation dams across the Cardamom Mountains, carving even deeper into forests currently being used for the Southern Cardamom REDD+ and Samkos REDD+ carbon credit projects. Construction is yet to begin on the new dams, which are slated to be built in Battambang, Koh Kong and Pursat provinces. Officials from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, and the Ministry of Mines and Energy all declined to comment on the irrigation dams or their environmental impacts. The approval of these dams raises further questions about the government’s commitment to the REDD+ mechanism for preserving forests. The Ministry of Environment, alongside New York-headquartered NGO Wildlife Alliance, co-manages both the Southern Cardamom REDD+ and the Samkos REDD+ projects, which will lose a further 5,200 hectares (about 12,850 acres) to the new irrigation dams. These same forests have already seen significant deforestation in recent months due to the ongoing construction of five new hydropower dams with reservoirs that collectively span 15,000 hectares (about 37,000 acres). Cambodia’s drive for “green” energy is now undermining REDD+ projects as forest is cleared to make way for reservoirs, transmission lines and the supporting infrastructure of the dams, resulting in fewer carbon credits available for sale from both the Southern Cardamom REDD+ and Samkos REDD+ projects. “It is true that the construction of these dams and roads will cause significant forest loss,” Suwanna Gauntlett, director of Wildlife Alliance, told Mongabay. All of this is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-dams-call-into-question-cambodias-commitment-to-redd-projects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-dams-call-into-question-cambodias-commitment-to-redd-projects/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296024</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous community calls out Cambodian REDD+ project as tensions simmer in the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-community-calls-out-cambodian-redd-project-as-tensions-simmer-in-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-community-calls-out-cambodian-redd-project-as-tensions-simmer-in-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2025 06:19:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/30035459/IMG_0036-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295522</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carving up the Cardamoms]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, carbon, Carbon Credits, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Farming, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOH KONG, Cambodia — “[Officially], the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project was suspended for more than a year and then restarted/reinstated recently.  But what I actually see here on the ground is that, throughout that period, Wildlife Alliance have continued to restrict us and violate our rights,” said Pon Chhang, a young representative for the Indigenous Chorng [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOH KONG, Cambodia — “[Officially], the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project was suspended for more than a year and then restarted/reinstated recently.  But what I actually see here on the ground is that, throughout that period, Wildlife Alliance have continued to restrict us and violate our rights,” said Pon Chhang, a young representative for the Indigenous Chorng community in Koh Kong province’s Thma Bang district. Sitting in the shade on the banks of a small stream in Chumnoab commune, Chhang, along with several other ethnic Chorng community members, alleged continued abuse at the hands of the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project’s proponents: Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment and New York-headquartered NGO Wildlife Alliance. Due to wide-ranging allegations of abuse, carbon credit certifying agency Verra on June 19, 2023, suspended the sale of carbon credits from the 465,000-hectare (1.15-million-acre) Southern Cardamom REDD+ project. Human Rights Watch published a 118-page report detailing allegations of physical abuse, threats, violence and a failure to meet best practice standards by Wildlife Alliance and the Ministry of Environment in February 2024. After 14 months of investigation, Verra reinstated the project on Sept. 10, 2024, and allowed it to once more sell carbon credits on the provision that Wildlife Alliance address the alleged abuses. However, Verra’s review process has come under increased scrutiny. When Mongabay visited in late October 2024, communities who said they lost land to the REDD+ project maintained that their movements and liberties remain heavily restricted by Wildlife Alliance. The conservation NGO has denied depriving people of access&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-community-calls-out-cambodian-redd-project-as-tensions-simmer-in-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-community-calls-out-cambodian-redd-project-as-tensions-simmer-in-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian environment minister bans logging at tycoon’s Cardamoms hydropower project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/cambodian-environment-minister-bans-logging-at-tycoons-cardamoms-hydropower-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/cambodian-environment-minister-bans-logging-at-tycoons-cardamoms-hydropower-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2024 04:29:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/30035210/DSCN0545-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288015</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Credits, Carbon Offsets, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corruption, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Infrastructure, Logging, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Roads, Selective Logging, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In a rare move to combat forest crimes, Cambodian Environment Minister Eang Sophalleth on Sept. 2 banned all forest clearance at the site of a dam project in the country’s southwest. The ban came after multiple incidents of illegal logging inside a protected area were reported, including by Mongabay, in connection to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In a rare move to combat forest crimes, Cambodian Environment Minister Eang Sophalleth on Sept. 2 banned all forest clearance at the site of a dam project in the country’s southwest. The ban came after multiple incidents of illegal logging inside a protected area were reported, including by Mongabay, in connection to the Stung Meteuk hydropower project in Koh Kong and Pursat provinces. However, activists monitoring the logging operations on the ground remain skeptical over the efficacy of the ban, noting that timber processing continues at the site of the hydropower project. In a letter dated Sept. 2 and addressed to Ly Yong Phat, chair of Steung Meteuk Hydropower Co. Ltd., Sophalleth ordered the company to temporarily suspend its activities related to clearing forest for the 150-megawatt dams’ reservoirs, as well as the processing of logged timber. Forest activists have sighted timber trucks operating deep in the jungle outside of the hydropower project site. Image supplied by Tat Oudom. After forest crimes were reported to him by the Pursat provincial environmental department, Sophalleth’s letter detailed the numerous incidents of illegality linked to the $440 million hydropower project, including transporting timber without permission, logging and collecting timber outside of the designated areas, as well as transporting and processing timber without paying taxes. Mongabay previously documented the illegal logging operations that have sprung up under the cover of the Stung Meteuk project since it broke ground in late 2023. During a visit to the project site in April, Mongabay uncovered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/cambodian-environment-minister-bans-logging-at-tycoons-cardamoms-hydropower-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/cambodian-environment-minister-bans-logging-at-tycoons-cardamoms-hydropower-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288015</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hydropower dams further undermine REDD+ efforts in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/hydropower-dams-further-undermine-redd-efforts-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/hydropower-dams-further-undermine-redd-efforts-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2024 02:25:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/25055051/Banner-image-2-Lower-Russei-Chrum-dam-Koh-Kong-province-Cambodia-April-2024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283592</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Dams, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Land Conflict, Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Renewable Energy, Roads, Selective Logging, Solutions, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, timber trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part One. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — “Fifteen years ago, this whole village was forest,” said Phan, sipping an energy drink and leaning back in his plastic chair. “At first, I didn’t want to stay here because the road [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part One. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — “Fifteen years ago, this whole village was forest,” said Phan, sipping an energy drink and leaning back in his plastic chair. “At first, I didn’t want to stay here because the road conditions were so bad, and even though we had some money, it was difficult to find food and to survive.” But those times, and much of the forest in Pursat province’s O’Soam commune, are long gone as hydropower dams have prized open the remote Cardamom Mountains since 2012, literally paving the way for communities like Phan’s. Plumes of dust rose from the red dirt road as Phan sat watching the construction crew working a few hundred meters farther down the road, waiting for them to rehabilitate the section in front of his small wooden home. Phan, who requested neither his full name nor the name of his village be published for fear of retribution from authorities, has lived in O’Soam for more than 15 years. “We’re all migrants here; we cut the forests to build our houses here. We can’t do that now,” he said, chuckling to himself. “This whole area is under the management of a conservation NGO, Wildlife Alliance.” Most residents of O&#8217;Soam farm for a living, growing cassava, bananas, durians and other cash crops. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay. O’Soam commune sits in the southwestern province of Pursat, on the border&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/hydropower-dams-further-undermine-redd-efforts-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/hydropower-dams-further-undermine-redd-efforts-in-cambodia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283592</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>History repeats as logging linked to Cambodian hydropower dam in Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/history-repeats-as-logging-linked-to-cambodian-hydropower-dam-in-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/history-repeats-as-logging-linked-to-cambodian-hydropower-dam-in-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2024 10:45:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/27061617/DJI_0933-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283745</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carving up the Cardamoms]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Dams, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Renewable Energy, Roads, Selective Logging, Threatened species, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part Two. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — Rumbling south down a rutted dirt track in the western Cambodian province of Pursat, past prone excavators and makeshift worker encampments, the green slopes of the Cardamom Mountains loomed suddenly from around [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of a two-part Mongabay series about hydropower dams in the Cardamom Mountains. Read Part Two. PURSAT/KOH KONG, Cambodia — Rumbling south down a rutted dirt track in the western Cambodian province of Pursat, past prone excavators and makeshift worker encampments, the green slopes of the Cardamom Mountains loomed suddenly from around the bend. In early April, days before Khmer New Year, Cambodia’s most celebrated holiday, the access road on which we traveled was all but abandoned, and checkpoints into the Stung Meteuk hydropower dam remained unmanned. Hugging the Thai border, the road runs a bumpy, hilly and desolate 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Pursat province’s Thma Da commune down to Pak Khlang commune in Koh Kong province, with few signs of life along the way. Here, in this remote stretch of mountainous rainforest, history appears to be repeating itself as Mongabay has uncovered illegal loggers operating under the cover of hydropower construction. There are no residents living near the construction site, which is sandwiched between the unnamed border road to the west and the dense forests of the 362,000-hectare (895,000-acre) Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary to the east. To the south of the dam, an outpost of bored Cambodian soldiers from Battalion 303 are stationed along the border road, while to the north sits the M.D.S. Thma Da Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which has repeatedly been tied to human trafficking. Illegal logging routes sprawl out of the Stung Meteuk dam construction site, leading into Phnom Samkos Wildlife&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/history-repeats-as-logging-linked-to-cambodian-hydropower-dam-in-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/history-repeats-as-logging-linked-to-cambodian-hydropower-dam-in-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283745</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New report details rights abuses in Cambodia’s Southern Cardamom REDD+ project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/new-report-details-rights-abuses-in-cambodias-southern-cardamom-redd-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/new-report-details-rights-abuses-in-cambodias-southern-cardamom-redd-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Mar 2024 00:01:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Gerryflynn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/25084942/RESIZED-Koh-Kong-Prison_Mongabay-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279732</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Forest Carbon, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Human Rights, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Mongabay Data Studio, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Social Conflict, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — A new report published by Human Rights Watch on Feb. 28 details a litany of alleged abuses in the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project, which covers a vast swath of rainforest across Cardamom National Park in southwest Cambodia. The 118-page report alleges that Wildlife Alliance, the conservation NGO that jointly manages the 465,000 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — A new report published by Human Rights Watch on Feb. 28 details a litany of alleged abuses in the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project, which covers a vast swath of rainforest across Cardamom National Park in southwest Cambodia. The 118-page report alleges that Wildlife Alliance, the conservation NGO that jointly manages the 465,000 hectares (1.15-million-acre) REDD+ project with the Ministry of Environment, didn’t secure the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the largely Indigenous communities whose land was absorbed into the project to sell carbon credits. The rights watchdog detailed numerous accounts from community members who alleged being forcibly and violently evicted by Wildlife Alliance staff as well as the government rangers and military police officers accompanying the NGO’s staff on patrols. According to HRW, customary land rights were ignored and Wildlife Alliance didn’t implement a formal benefit-sharing contract with the communities affected by the REDD+ project. Prior to the report’s release, Wildlife Alliance published a roughly 10,000-word open letter on Dec. 21, 2023, countering the claims made by HRW and expressing concerns over how the report was produced, as well as accusing HRW of failing “to acknowledge and incorporate into their allegations a comprehensive view of the project’s full impacts, nor critical elements of project- and country-level context.” (Wildlife Alliance’s website was in “maintenance mode” when Mongabay published this story; a snapshot of its open letter was archived here on March 8.) This map shows the scale of Wildlife Alliance&#8217;s REDD+ projects across the Cardamom Mountains.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/new-report-details-rights-abuses-in-cambodias-southern-cardamom-redd-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/new-report-details-rights-abuses-in-cambodias-southern-cardamom-redd-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New dams in Cambodia pit ‘green’ hydropower against REDD+ project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/new-dams-in-cambodia-pit-green-hydropower-against-redd-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/new-dams-in-cambodia-pit-green-hydropower-against-redd-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Dec 2023 08:02:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/11074340/Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-2_4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276868</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Clean Energy, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Human Rights, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Infrastructure, Logging, Mongabay Data Studio, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Threats To Rainforests, Transparency, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Two new hydropower dams approved by Cambodian authorities on Nov. 21 look set to bring further fragmentation to the dense rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains. If built as planned along the Kong Hen and the Russei Chrum rivers in southern Cambodia, both dams will be constructed inside Cardamom National Park, and are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Two new hydropower dams approved by Cambodian authorities on Nov. 21 look set to bring further fragmentation to the dense rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains. If built as planned along the Kong Hen and the Russei Chrum rivers in southern Cambodia, both dams will be constructed inside Cardamom National Park, and are likely to have an impact on the Cardamoms REDD+ project, arguably Cambodia’s most prominent foray into the carbon market. The anticipated location for the 100-megawatt Veal Thmor Kambot hydropower dam sits some 15 kilometers (9 miles) inside the borders of the REDD+ project, while the 70 MW Russei Chrum Kandal dam looks set to be built less than 2 km, or about a mile, outside the boundaries of the REDD+ project The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project initially saw primary forest loss drop significantly since it was established in 2016. The project is managed jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Wildlife Alliance, a U.S.-registered nonprofit operating almost exclusively in the Cardamoms. However, the project has recently run afoul of controversies amid allegations that the rights of Indigenous communities have been abused by Wildlife Alliance and their partners. An unpublished investigation by Human Rights Watch, coupled with numerous media reports, led to Verra, the project’s carbon credit certifier, opening an investigation into the alleged abuses on June 19 and suspending the issuance of credits from the project. Wildlife Alliance has consistently denied any wrongdoing, instead launching a charm offensive of sponsored content in government-aligned media and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/new-dams-in-cambodia-pit-green-hydropower-against-redd-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/new-dams-in-cambodia-pit-green-hydropower-against-redd-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276868</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia awards swath of national park forest to tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s son</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodia-awards-swath-of-national-park-forest-to-tycoon-ly-yong-phats-son/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodia-awards-swath-of-national-park-forest-to-tycoon-ly-yong-phats-son/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jul 2023 02:31:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnMeng Kroypunlok]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/25153445/DJI_0599-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271331</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Logging, National Parks, Plantations, Protected Areas, Protests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Rubber, Sugar, Timber, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BOTUM SAKOR, Cambodia — Once Cambodia’s largest national park, Botum Sakor has shriveled under the gaze of tycoons, whose parcels of land have swallowed up more than 80% of the entire park since 1998. This land rush has seen a 28% decrease in forest across the 182,342-hectare (450,577-acre) park between 2001 and 2022. According to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BOTUM SAKOR, Cambodia — Once Cambodia’s largest national park, Botum Sakor has shriveled under the gaze of tycoons, whose parcels of land have swallowed up more than 80% of the entire park since 1998. This land rush has seen a 28% decrease in forest across the 182,342-hectare (450,577-acre) park between 2001 and 2022. According to Global Forest Watch, some 45,600 hectares (112,700 acres) of tree cover vanished during those 21 years, as tycoons and political allies of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen carved up the coastal protected area in Cambodia’s southwestern Koh Kong province. Key among these political allies is Ly Yong Phat, a multimillionaire Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) senator, an adviser to Hun Sen, and president of the Oknha Association — a union for Cambodia’s many tycoons, or Oknha — who has been awarded 16,275 hectares (40,216 acres) of Botum Sakor National Park since 2008. The senator has acquired tens of thousands of hectares of land across Koh Kong and Kampong Speu provinces, mostly for plantations operated by companies run by his wife, Kim Heang, and their five children. In January this year, another concession handed a 6,234-hectare (15,405-acre) plot of Botum Sakor to a company where Ly Phoonrat, the youngest son of the senator, serves as a director. In total, three new roads spanning some 45 kilometers have been cut through the best-preserved part of Botum Sakor National Park. All three roads link to concessions owned by Ly Yong Phat, a ruling party senator and Cambodian tycoon with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodia-awards-swath-of-national-park-forest-to-tycoon-ly-yong-phats-son/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodia-awards-swath-of-national-park-forest-to-tycoon-ly-yong-phats-son/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271331</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian conglomerate sparks conflict in Botum Sakor National Park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodian-conglomerate-sparks-conflict-in-botum-sakor-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodian-conglomerate-sparks-conflict-in-botum-sakor-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2023 03:53:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnMeng Kroypunlok]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/20022756/DJI_0617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271159</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Governance, Illegal Logging, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use Change, National Parks, Poaching, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Snares, Tropical Deforestation, Wildlife Rangers, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[*Names have been changed to protect sources who said they feared reprisals from the authorities. BOTUM SAKOR, Cambodia — “We’ve filed complaints with four institutions now — the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Land Management, and the Ministry of National Defense — but only the interior ministry has responded,” said [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[*Names have been changed to protect sources who said they feared reprisals from the authorities. BOTUM SAKOR, Cambodia — “We’ve filed complaints with four institutions now — the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Land Management, and the Ministry of National Defense — but only the interior ministry has responded,” said Vichea*, a resident of Cambodia&#8217;s Thma Sa commune, who requested the name of his village not be published when interviewed in April 2022. “The local authorities tell [us] they will do something to help us but they don’t; anyone who stands up to protest these developments is accused of being an opposition activist.” More than a year later, in May 2023, reporters caught up with Vichea again in Botum Sakor National Park. Spanning 182,342 hectares (450,577 acres) along the Gulf of Thailand in southwest Cambodia, Botum Sakor was once the country&#8217;s largest national park. But more than half of the park was sold off to private developers between 1998 and 2017, mostly to investors with ties to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). As of July 2023, just 18% of the park remains protected. In 2008, the Cambodian government awarded Chinese developer Union Development Group, known locally as UDG, 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) within the park&#8217;s boundaries, kicking off a series of land disputes that became increasingly desperate as they dragged on for more than a decade. Despite the fallout, the government awarded UDG a further 9,100 hectares (22,500 acres) of the national park in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodian-conglomerate-sparks-conflict-in-botum-sakor-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/cambodian-conglomerate-sparks-conflict-in-botum-sakor-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271159</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forests in the furnace: Cambodians risking life and liberty to fuel garment factories</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodians-risking-life-and-liberty-to-fuel-garment-factories/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodians-risking-life-and-liberty-to-fuel-garment-factories/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2023 03:17:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Gerryflynn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/12040908/Header_Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270820</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Corruption, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Ethics, Fires, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Globalization, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Logging, Mongabay investigation, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, Wildlife Rangers, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is the third article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part One and Part Two. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — The lamp dangled precariously under the wooden stilted home. Hooked up to a car battery, it was all that illuminated Saroeun* as the fire [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the third article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part One and Part Two. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — The lamp dangled precariously under the wooden stilted home. Hooked up to a car battery, it was all that illuminated Saroeun* as the fire that his wife had used to cook a dinner of rice and chicken ebbed into embers one evening in December 2022. The gloom of twilight enveloped the village of Kteh early as a chilled breeze bit through the mountains. Saroeun’s village in Kampong Speu province straddles two protected forests — Aural Wildlife Sanctuary and Central Cardamoms National Park — so no streetlights illuminate the dirt road, and the residents of Kteh need to get an early night in preparation for another predawn departure into the forest in search of timber. Saroeun said he would gladly trade in his life as a logger for any other opportunity — if only there were one. His 2-hectare (5-acre) rice field is larger than many of his neighbors’, but it yields just 100 bags of rice per year. Each bag, at about 40 kilograms (88 pounds), sells for around $1. “I cannot earn enough from just selling rice. If the government established a garment factory here, at least 70% of people would stop logging and would start working there instead,” he said. The irony of wishing for a garment factory in Kteh is not lost on Saroeun, who, like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodians-risking-life-and-liberty-to-fuel-garment-factories/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodians-risking-life-and-liberty-to-fuel-garment-factories/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forests in the furnace: Can fashion brands tackle illegal logging in their Cambodian supply chains?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-can-fashion-brands-tackle-illegal-logging-in-their-cambodian-supply-chains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-can-fashion-brands-tackle-illegal-logging-in-their-cambodian-supply-chains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jul 2023 02:05:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Gerryflynn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/11070912/Header_Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-2_1-scaled-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270770</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Chasing Deforestation and Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioenergy, Biofuels, Clean Energy, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Fashion industry, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Fuelwood, Globalization, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Mongabay investigation, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Transparency, Transportation, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is the second article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part One and Part Three. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — “Going into the forest is dangerous, some people die when trees fall on them, but they are desperate,” said Saroeun*, a logger who makes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the second article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part One and Part Three. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — “Going into the forest is dangerous, some people die when trees fall on them, but they are desperate,” said Saroeun*, a logger who makes multiple trips each day into Central Cardamoms National Park in southwest Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province. “They don’t know what else to do: if we don’t go to cut trees, we don’t have money,” he added. “I go every day and risk my life. I struggle and have to persist with my life in the forest.” The timber that Saroeun illegally cuts and transports from the forest to his village of Kteh will change hands many times, being bought and sold until it comes to rest in a garment factory, possibly in Kampong Speu province, neighboring Kandal province or further afield in Phnom Penh. Whichever factory buys the wood, it will be incinerated to generate thermal energy used for steaming, washing, dyeing or ironing fabrics — likely as part of an international fashion brand’s supply chain. But Saroeun has no way of knowing this from his wooden stilted house on the outskirts of the forest, largely because he’s insulated — and isolated — by the seemingly deliberate opacity of garment factories’ supply chain. He risks life, limb and liberty each day to scrape by on the few dollars’ profit he can eke out of forest crimes.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-can-fashion-brands-tackle-illegal-logging-in-their-cambodian-supply-chains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-can-fashion-brands-tackle-illegal-logging-in-their-cambodian-supply-chains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270770</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forests in the furnace: Cambodia’s garment sector is fueled by illegal logging</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodias-garment-sector-is-fueled-by-illegal-logging/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodias-garment-sector-is-fueled-by-illegal-logging/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2023 04:06:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Gerryflynn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/30123047/Header_Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-1_1-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270560</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Bioenergy, Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Economics, Ecotourism, Energy, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Logging, Mongabay investigation, Poverty, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, timber trade, Transparency, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is the first article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part Two and Part Three. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — The roar of the engine cut through the 5 a.m. gloom one morning in December 2022 as Saroeun* and his cousin Sovann* pulled away [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the first article of a three-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the link between Cambodia&#8217;s garment factories and illegal logging. Read Part Two and Part Three. KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia — The roar of the engine cut through the 5 a.m. gloom one morning in December 2022 as Saroeun* and his cousin Sovann* pulled away from their wooden stilted house in the village of Kteh, which sits inside Aural Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Speu province. But the rumble of Saroeun’s koy-yun, a purpose-built logging tractor, soon blended into the noise as other villagers rose with the sun to head into the forest, searching for saleable timber. Home to Phnom Aural, Cambodia’s tallest mountain, Aural Wildlife Sanctuary has been decimated by loggers over the past two decades, which has since pushed Saroeun and other loggers to head further west, traveling across the sanctuary’s borders into Central Cardamoms National Park. Saroeun* and his cousin Sovann* ride out on their koy-yun towards the Central Cardamoms National Park where they log timber that is supplied to garment factories across the country. Image by Andy Ball for Mongabay. This 402,352-hectare (994,233-acre) protected forest boasts vast mountains that sprawl across Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Pursat provinces, is home to a wealth of biodiversity, and is widely regarded as one of the best-preserved rainforests in Cambodia — although recent infrastructure developments have seen the forest’s natural defenses peeled back by loggers taking advantage of a new hydropower dam. The forest made for a brutal journey as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodias-garment-sector-is-fueled-by-illegal-logging/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/forests-in-the-furnace-cambodias-garment-sector-is-fueled-by-illegal-logging/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270560</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/license-to-log-cambodian-military-facilitates-logging-on-koh-kong-krao-and-across-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/license-to-log-cambodian-military-facilitates-logging-on-koh-kong-krao-and-across-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2023 02:53:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Gerryflynn]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/05031828/DJI_0201-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269351</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carving up the Cardamoms, Forest Trackers, and Investigation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Logging, Marine, Marine Protected Areas, Mongabay investigation, Protected Areas, Protests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Selective Logging, Timber, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn was a fellow. *Names have been changed to protect sources who said they feared reprisals from the authorities. KOH KONG, Cambodia — “I think there’s a 30% chance we’ll have trouble with the police,” said Ly Chandaravuth, an environmental activist with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn was a fellow. *Names have been changed to protect sources who said they feared reprisals from the authorities. KOH KONG, Cambodia — “I think there’s a 30% chance we’ll have trouble with the police,” said Ly Chandaravuth, an environmental activist with the outlawed group Mother Nature Cambodia. This was in August 2022, when Mother Nature Cambodia was planning a trip to Koh Kong Krao, an island off Cambodia’s southwest coast in Koh Kong province, to raise awareness about the pristine ecosystems there. But the group’s activism has had consequences, and Chandaravuth’s calculations, near one-in-three odds of being arrested just for visiting the island, were not unfounded. On June 16, 2021, Chandaravuth, then a law student, was apprehended by police while collecting water samples from the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh. He’d planned to have the samples analyzed to better understand water pollution in the city. Instead, he was charged with plotting against the government, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He was released in November 2021, along with five other Mother Nature Cambodia activists, three of whom had been in prison since September 2020. None were acquitted and all remain under judicial supervision for a three-year period. This means they are unable to leave Cambodia and are required to report to local authorities on a monthly basis. Notably, they were warned against offending again. Yet this didn’t stop&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/license-to-log-cambodian-military-facilitates-logging-on-koh-kong-krao-and-across-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/license-to-log-cambodian-military-facilitates-logging-on-koh-kong-krao-and-across-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269351</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Activist deported from Cambodia continues fighting dam from abroad</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/activist-deported-from-cambodia-continues-fighting-dam-from-abroad/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/activist-deported-from-cambodia-continues-fighting-dam-from-abroad/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2015 17:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rod Harbinson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/05/activist-deported-from-cambodia-continues-fighting-dam-from-abroad/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Dams, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Hydroelectric Power, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;I am arrested and ready to be deported now – Alex.&#8221; So read the text sent at 5 pm on February 23 by Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, the founder of the Cambodian conservation group Mother Nature, to key supporters and members of the media. He sent it from the Department of Immigration office where he was being held [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;I am arrested and ready to be deported now – Alex.&#8221; So read the text sent at 5 pm on February 23 by Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, the founder of the Cambodian conservation group Mother Nature, to key supporters and members of the media. He sent it from the Department of Immigration office where he was being held at Phnom Penh International Airport. An hour later, his last message from Cambodian soil captured the mission for which he has become known: &#8220;Message to youth and Cambodian nature lovers, stay strong, the battle is yours to be won. For Nature. Our Life.&#8221; As his flight took off at 9:30 pm, his supporters continued to protest outside the airport under a frenzied media glare. &#8220;The reason they are trying to deport me is that they regard me as a fish bone in their throat, due to the activism in the Areng Valley,&#8221; Gonzalez-Davidson, who goes by Alex, told me in an interview in Koh Kong city the week before his deportation. Mother Nature founder Alex Gonzalez-Davidson (center) stands in front of a tree that has been blessed by monks in Tatai Leur commune in the Areng Valley of Cambodia&#8217;s Cardamom Mountains, in November 2013. Since Gonzalez-Davidson&#8217;s deportation from Cambodia in February, Tim Malay (right), President of the Cambodian Youth Network, has continued to support Mother Nature&#8217;s campaign to save the Areng Valley. Photo by: Rod Harbinson. Ten thousand hectares of the Areng Valley in the Cardamom Mountain forests of southwest Cambodia are slated to be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/activist-deported-from-cambodia-continues-fighting-dam-from-abroad/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/activist-deported-from-cambodia-continues-fighting-dam-from-abroad/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23730</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers discover new species of wolf snake in Cambodia, name it after an Australian zoo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/researchers-discover-new-species-of-wolf-snake-in-cambodia-name-it-after-an-australian-zoo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/researchers-discover-new-species-of-wolf-snake-in-cambodia-name-it-after-an-australian-zoo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2014 01:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/06/researchers-discover-new-species-of-wolf-snake-in-cambodia-name-it-after-an-australian-zoo/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Cardamom Mountains]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Green, Herps, Reptiles, Snakes, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New snake species: the Zoos Victoria wolf snake or Lycodon zoosvictoriae. Photo by Neang Thy/FFI. A new species of wolf snake has been discovered in the forests of the Cardamom Mountains of southeast Cambodia. The species is described in the current issue of the journal Zootaxa. Lycodon zoosvictoriae is named after Zoos Victoria, a conservation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New snake species: the Zoos Victoria wolf snake or Lycodon zoosvictoriae. Photo by Neang Thy/FFI. A new species of wolf snake has been discovered in the forests of the Cardamom Mountains of southeast Cambodia. The species is described in the current issue of the journal Zootaxa. Lycodon zoosvictoriae is named after Zoos Victoria, a conservation group based in Parkville, Australia that has provided support to Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI), whose researchers &#8212; along with herpetologists from Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Germany &#8212; made the discovery. Lycodon zoosvictoriae is a cryptic species that is thought to be both arboreal and terrestrial. Like other wolf snakes, the species is characterized by long, large teeth in the front of their mouth. Lycodon zoosvictoriae measures only 40 cm (16 inches) and likely hunts small lizards and frogs. The authors, led by Neang Thy of FFI, say the species is likely endemic to the Cardamoms, a range that rises to more than 1,500 meters and houses some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the Indo-China region, which has suffered from large-scale forest loss. Lycodon zoosvictoriae wolf snake. Photo by Neang Thy/FFI. Thy says that naming the species after Zoos Victoria is a fitting way to honor the group&#8217;s contributions. &#8220;Naming this species in honor of Zoos Victoria will ensure a memorable and historical record of the support they’ve given FFI, both in discoveries and conservation of the Cardamoms,&#8221; he said in a statement. Lycodon zoosvictoriae is the second high profile snake&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/researchers-discover-new-species-of-wolf-snake-in-cambodia-name-it-after-an-australian-zoo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/06/researchers-discover-new-species-of-wolf-snake-in-cambodia-name-it-after-an-australian-zoo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25084</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Beautiful&#8217; new snake discovered in Cambodia (photo)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/beautiful-new-snake-discovered-in-cambodia-photo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/beautiful-new-snake-discovered-in-cambodia-photo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2012 13:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/07/beautiful-new-snake-discovered-in-cambodia-photo/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Environment, Green, Herps, Photos, Rainforests, Reptiles, Snakes, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New species: the Cambodian kukri. Photo by: Photo: Neang Thy/FFI. Scientists have discovered a new snake species in the biodiverse rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains, reports Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI). The new reddish-hued serpent has been named after its country of origin by native herpetologist Neang Thy: the Cambodian kukri (Oligodon kampucheaensis). &#8220;Cambodian science [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New species: the Cambodian kukri. Photo by: Photo: Neang Thy/FFI. Scientists have discovered a new snake species in the biodiverse rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains, reports Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI). The new reddish-hued serpent has been named after its country of origin by native herpetologist Neang Thy: the Cambodian kukri (Oligodon kampucheaensis). &#8220;Cambodian science was smashed under the Pol Pot regime, and only now are we picking up the pieces. It gave me a great sense of pride to both discover and describe this species, and to name it in honor of my country,&#8221; Thy, a Ministry of Environment officer who also works with FFI, said in a press release. Last year, Thy discovered a new species of legless lizard, also in the Cardamom Mountains. He adds that, &#8220;Most kukri snakes are dull-colored, but this one is dark red with black and white rings, making it a beautiful snake.&#8221; Kukri snakes are named after distinctive daggers from Nepal, due to the similarity between the knives&#8217; shapes and the kukri snakes&#8217; fangs. Harmless to humans, kukri snakes use their fangs to puncture eggs, which they then swallow whole. Spreading over some 2 million hectares (5 million acres), the Cardamom Mountains include some of the best rainforest remaining in Indo-China as well as startling biodiversity, including some 250 bird species. Rare animals such as Malayan sun bears, Indochinese tigers, pileated gibbons, and Siamese crocodiles inhabit the region (see more below). The largest population of Asian elephants in Cambodia, numbering about a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/beautiful-new-snake-discovered-in-cambodia-photo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/beautiful-new-snake-discovered-in-cambodia-photo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30595</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest activist shot dead in Cambodia allegedly over photos of illegal logging</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/04/forest-activist-shot-dead-in-cambodia-allegedly-over-photos-of-illegal-logging/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/04/forest-activist-shot-dead-in-cambodia-allegedly-over-photos-of-illegal-logging/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/04/forest-activist-shot-dead-in-cambodia-allegedly-over-photos-of-illegal-logging/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Forests, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Law, Law Enforcement, Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Koh Kong Province where forest activist, Chut Wutty, was shot dead today. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. Chut Wutty, a prominent activist against illegal logging and deforestation, has been killed in the Koh Kong province of Cambodia. Wutty was shot dead at a military police checkpoint while traveling with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Koh Kong Province where forest activist, Chut Wutty, was shot dead today. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. Chut Wutty, a prominent activist against illegal logging and deforestation, has been killed in the Koh Kong province of Cambodia. Wutty was shot dead at a military police checkpoint while traveling with two journalists with The Cambodia Daily. The journalists are currently being held for questioning by the military police. Licadho, a Cambodian human rights organization, says that Wutty was shot down when he refused to hand over a memory card with photos of illegal logging to military police. However, military police spokesperson, Kheng Tito, said that Wutty may have been armed and clashed with military personnel. A police officer, In Rattanna, was also killed in the incident. &#8220;I am not sure exactly about this case&#8212;why it happened. I will know it later,&#8221; Tito said. However, the Phnom Penh Post reports that a rapid investigation by the Licadho has revealed that Chut Wutty was shot from behind by an AK-47 as he drove away from the military police checkpoint. According to them, In Rattanna was killed by a ricocheting bullet after shooting at Wutty, not by an armed Wutty. The two journalists with Wutty were uninjured at the time. According to Lacadho, Wutty and the journalists were returning from a visit to a Chinese-built dam where illegal logging has been rife. Head of the National Resources Protection Group, Wutty had long been an outspoken advocate for Cambodia&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/04/forest-activist-shot-dead-in-cambodia-allegedly-over-photos-of-illegal-logging/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/04/forest-activist-shot-dead-in-cambodia-allegedly-over-photos-of-illegal-logging/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30995</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>No limbs or sight needed: bizarre new lizard uncovered in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/no-limbs-or-sight-needed-bizarre-new-lizard-uncovered-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/no-limbs-or-sight-needed-bizarre-new-lizard-uncovered-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 May 2011 17:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/05/no-limbs-or-sight-needed-bizarre-new-lizard-uncovered-in-cambodia/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Green, Herps, Lizards, Mountains, Rainforests, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Strange, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The newly discovered Dalai Mountain blind lizard (Dibamus dalaiensis). Photo courtesy of Fauna &#038; Flora International. A new species of legless lizard has been discovered in Cambodia. Herpetologist Neang Thy uncovered, literally, the new species when he turned over a log in the species-rich Cardamom Mountains. While the new lizard looks like a snake or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The newly discovered Dalai Mountain blind lizard (Dibamus dalaiensis). Photo courtesy of Fauna &#038; Flora International. A new species of legless lizard has been discovered in Cambodia. Herpetologist Neang Thy uncovered, literally, the new species when he turned over a log in the species-rich Cardamom Mountains. While the new lizard looks like a snake or a big earthworm, it is in fact a lizard belong to the Dibamidae family. These bizarre reptiles spend much of their lives burrowing underground for insects, which has allowed them to lose the need for limbs. &#8220;At first I thought it was a common species,&#8221; Thy, who works with the Ministry of Environment and the conservation organization Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI), said in a press release, &#8220;but looking closer I realized it was something I didn’t recognize.&#8221; Thy dubbed the new species the Dalai Mountain blind lizard (Dibamus dalaiensis) for the mountain on which it was discovered in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary. This is the first time a species from the Dibamus genus has been found in Cambodia. The discovery is also notable because it is the first time a new species has been described by a Cambodian national. &#8220;For one of our national colleagues to discover this unusual species and make the description is particularly satisfying,&#8221; said Berry Mulligan, FFI’s manager in Cambodia. &#8220;It shows that the capacity of Cambodian scientists is now reaching an international standard.&#8221; Scenery from Cambodia&#8217;s Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary as seen by Google Earth. Related articles Cambodian prime&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/no-limbs-or-sight-needed-bizarre-new-lizard-uncovered-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/no-limbs-or-sight-needed-bizarre-new-lizard-uncovered-in-cambodia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32572</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photographer discovers new species of meat-eating plant in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/11/photographer-discovers-new-species-of-meat-eating-plant-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/11/photographer-discovers-new-species-of-meat-eating-plant-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Nov 2010 17:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2010/11/photographer-discovers-new-species-of-meat-eating-plant-in-cambodia/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Cardamom Mountains, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Evolution, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mountains, Plants, Rainforests, Species Discovery, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[British photographer Jeremy Holden recently discovered a new species of carnivorous pitcher plant in Cambodia&#8217;s Cardamom Mountains during a survey with Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI). &#8220;The Cardamom Mountains are a treasure chest of new species, but it was a surprise to find something as exciting and charismatic as an unknown pitcher plant,&#8221; Holden said [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[British photographer Jeremy Holden recently discovered a new species of carnivorous pitcher plant in Cambodia&#8217;s Cardamom Mountains during a survey with Fauna &#038; Flora International (FFI). &#8220;The Cardamom Mountains are a treasure chest of new species, but it was a surprise to find something as exciting and charismatic as an unknown pitcher plant,&#8221; Holden said in a press release. Pitcher plants&#8217; characteristic vase shape allows them to attract and trap curious insects. The insects are them slowly devoured as food. This behavior allows pitcher plants to survive in otherwise nutrient-poor soils. Dubbed Nepenthes holdenii after its discoverer, the new species is uniquely adapted to survive fire and long droughts. &#8220;This amazing species may be the most drought-tolerant of the genus. Thanks to a large underground tuber, it has the ability to endure extended periods of drought and fires,&#8221; says botanist Francois Mey who described the species. The tuber is capable of regenerating characteristic pitchers once a fire or drought has passed. The new species of pitcher plant, Nepenthes holdenii. Photo by: Jeremy Holden/FFI. Botanist Francois Mey with new species of pitcher plant. Photo by: Jeremy Holden/FFI. Related articles Eight new plants discovered in Bolivia (11/07/2010) Researchers have described eight new species of plant from in and near Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Andes. Described in the journal Novon by botanists with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the National Herbaium in Laz Paz, Bolivia, seven of the eight plants were found as apart of the Proyecto Madidi (Project Madidi), a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2010/11/photographer-discovers-new-species-of-meat-eating-plant-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/11/photographer-discovers-new-species-of-meat-eating-plant-in-cambodia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-33333</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>