"The Phnom Penh Municipality is proposing regulations, which will be submitted to the council of Ministers,

on the protection of trees in Phnom Penh," said vice chief of Phnom Penh Peoples Committee Kri Beng Hong at

a seminar on city planning co-sponsored by Phnom Penh and the City of Paris recently.

Hong said that in the regulations he wanted to include a phrase saying that "the cutting of a tree without

permission is equivalent to murdering a person."

This would sound funny to those who don't understand or who don't think carefully, but if we take it into account

this is very important and beneficial for the city of Phnom Penh. Even other cities throughout the world, they

also share the idea of having trees growing in their cities because it not only helps beautify the towns, but it

also keeps the air and environment fresh and clean and absorbs rain and water in the soil.

However, when granted permission from the concerned authorities, dying trees can be cut down which may cause trouble.

In past years, there have been some trees cut in public places to be used as firewood, which caused the loss of

several good trees. Without proper selection, some people, especially investors, have cut trees growing in their

areas. because they were perceived as a nuisance to their houses or hotels.

If all the people do the same thing, the whole city will get warmer, the winds will no longer blow, and Phnom Penh

could get flooded because there are no trees to deal with these incidents.