Members of the Cambodian Youth Network demonstrate in front of the National Assembly on World Environment Day in Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Vireak Mai/Phnom Penh Post

About 200 youths from environmental groups yesterday submitted a petition asking parliament to intervene to stop illegal deforestation and rein in economic land concessionaires wreaking havoc on the Kingdom’s natural resources.

The demonstrators, hailing from universities in Phnom Penh and communities in Prey Lang – a forest in northern Cambodia where illegal logging is rampant – painted their faces green and marched around the gardens of the National Assembly to make their point on World Environment Day yesterday.

“Stop threatening the forest, natural resources and those who protect the environment,” the petition reads. It went on to say that the loss of forests had caused floods throughout the country – which have killed 247 and destroyed 232,377 hectares of crops since 2011.

Addressed to National Assembly President Heng Samrin, the six-point petition urged the government to review the activities of rubber concessionaires and closely monitor the environmental impacts of hydropower dams and other mining and economic land concessions.