Minister of Environment Say Sam Al urged the public to prevent land disputes and contribute to forest and wildlife conservation in the Phnom Tnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sam Al made the call during a public forum that discussed land dispute cases in the sanctuary. The forum was held earlier this week at the Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary office in Rovieng district’s Romny commune of Preah Vihear province.

He asked the people to switch from hunting wild animals, which is a criminal offence, to raising livestock such as buffaloes, cows, goats and lambs.

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has placed eight men in pre-trial detention on charges of “intentional violence” in relation to a land dispute with tycoon Pheun Phalla, who holds the honorific “oknha” title, in Prey Nop district.

The land dispute involving oknha Phalla and 500 families living O’Oknha Heng commune’s O’Oknha Heng and O’Ta Sek villages erupted into violence on December 20.

The Kampot provincial authorities will grant land titles for 2,500 plots covering 6,649ha in Preah Monivong Bokor National Park to local residents who applied for official occupation and usage permits, according to the provincial Department of Environment director Suy Thea.

Thea told The Post on December 21 that titles will be issued to 2,138 families who applied for the eligible plots after officials survey and demarcate the land.

The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has set tentative dates in December this year to announce the verdicts for three separate wildlife sanctuary land grab cases, which happened last year.

Provincial court spokeswoman Chum Kaniya said on December 10 that the court’s investigating judge had heard the three cases of forest logging and land encroachment on December 8.

On December 10, deputy head of the provincial Department of Environment Meas Nhem said he attended the hearings for all three cases.

LAND grabs and encroachment on protected forest are becoming more rampant in northern Cambodia, said environmental activists.

Cambodian forest and wildlife conservationists said it was increasing, especially in the Phnom Tnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary, which spans two districts in Preah Vihear province and one district in Siem Reap province.

They said it was a bad sign for the future of Cambodia's wildlife sanctuaries if the trend continued.

Monday, 10 August 2020 marked an important day for indigenous communities from Busra commune in Cambodia as they signed an agreement with the rubber company Socfin Cambodia to settle a long-lasting dispute about their communal and spiritual lands. 

Cambodia’s government has strenuously promoted long-term leasing of unused land as Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) to attract investors and encourage development in the impoverished nation, but observers say the policy has resulted in few benefits at the cost of huge social and environmental impacts.

The government recently requested a change in administrative boundaries between Phnom Penh and Kandal province by re-allocating 302ha from Kandal’s Takhmao town to the capital’s Dangkor district.

A letter signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and sent to acting head of state Say Chhum on October 19 said the move will help the development of the new satellite cities of Boeung Tompun and Boeung Choeung Ek. It will also make the management of the district more efficient and improve public services.

More than 200 indigenous Bunong families in Mondulkiri province have asked authorities to retrieve 5ha of community forest land they claim had been secretly stolen from them by speculators.

Roch Chok, a representative of the more than 200 families, told The Post on November 30 that two people in Koh Nhek district’s Or Buonloeu commune deployed two bulldozers to clear the forest land on November 29.

The two, he said, claimed to represent an unnamed tycoon with the title oknha – an honorific bestowed on those who donate at least $500,000 to the state for development.

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng has instructed all provincial governors, and the Mondulkiri provincial governor in particular, to regularly inspect forests and natural resources in helicopters.

Sar Kheng, also the deputy prime minister, said relevant ministries and leaders in Mondulkiri have to protect natural resources. The work, he said, will gain the support of people and attract tourists and investors to the area.

“It is our ancestral wealth,” he said.