GNV News – September 8, 2024

A community forest spanning more than 4,000 hectares in northeastern Cambodia has long been conserved through the efforts of community members and has become a centerpiece of local ecotourism. However, in 2024, as a mining company with close ties to the Cambodian military began expanding its operations in the area, large-scale deforestation began.

In recent years, Cambodia has seen repeated confrontations between the government and citizens over environmental protection. In 2020, activists from an environmental NGO were arrested for marching in protest against the infilling of Phnom Penh’s largest lake and were sentenced to 20 months in prison. The same environmental NGO has also raised its voice about the links between political corruption and environmental destruction, and in 2024, ten of its members were sentenced to six to eight years in prison on charges including “insulting the king.” In Cambodia, the government has promoted private investment through a procedure called “economic land concessions” that allows private companies to use land, and recent research indicates this procedure is a major cause of forest loss.

Learn more about Cambodia’s environmental issues → “Crisis of the Mekong River”

Learn more about Cambodia’s industries → Cambodia: “The Reality of the Apparel Industry”

Read more about illegal deforestation → “Illegal logging is encroaching into the untouched heart of the Amazon: revealed by a “terrifying” study”

Deforestation in a protected forest in Cambodia (Photo: Global Water Forum / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])