Cambodia govt raps deforestation claim

PHNOM PENH: The government has slammed a report by a local organisation that claimed rampant deforestation in one of Southeast Asia’s last remaining lowland tropical forest.

The report by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) claimed that the Prey Lang forest had lost over 40,000 ha in the last 18 years.

According to the Phnom Penh

Post, Environment Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the report was “politically motivated” and “untrue”.

Covering 431,683 ha, the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary spans four provinces — Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear.

It was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 2016, and is a significant watershed that feeds the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Lake.

In a report compiled with the help of the University of Copenhagen, PLCN said that between 2001 and 2018, 41,758 ha were lost to deforestation.

This equated to nearly 10 per cent of Prey Lang forest.

“Forest loss for the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary was 4,536 ha in 2018.

“This is equivalent to an average of 13 ha of forest destroyed every day, or 18 football fields,” the report said.

The report used data collected by forest rangers as well as satellite pictures.

However, Pheaktra rejected the report on the basis that the PLCN was not a registered organisation.

“The report was prepared by an organisation that is not legally registered with the Interior Ministry,” he said, adding that the report was released in line with a “political agenda”.

“The goal of the report is to help the organisation raise funds so that it can stay afloat and pay salaries.”

PLCN’s report said that in the last few months, the government had strengthened efforts to stop illegal logging and other forest crime activities.

It also said government officials had recently been arrested and charged with corruption in logging-related cases.

Despite this progress, PLCN said more needs to be done to protect the forest.

Srey Thy, a member of PLCN in Preah Vihear, told the Post that the organisation was established 20 years ago, but never registered with the Interior Ministry.

He said despite this, the organisation regularly worked with the government to protect the forest.