Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Prey Lang community seeks selfies for a cause

Prey Lang community seeks selfies for a cause

A person takes a photo with a tree earlier this year as part of a deforestation awareness campaign. Facebook
A person takes a photo with a tree earlier this year as part of a deforestation awareness campaign. Facebook

Prey Lang community seeks selfies for a cause

Seeking to capitalise on Cambodians’ embrace of social media, the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) will launch a selfie-taking campaign this month to build awareness about Cambodia’s deforestation problem.

The group will urge Cambodians to post pictures of themselves with trees to remind the government of the pledges made last year at the Paris climate change conference, COP21, to increase the country’s forest cover to 60 percent by 2030. The campaign will last through November as leaders gather in Morocco for COP22.

“We aim to mobilise social media users so they will spread the word about the forest cover problem,” said Mory Sar, vice president of the Cambodian Youth Network and a PLCN member. “We’re asking everyone to tag five friends so more people will know about it.”

The effort marks the first time the PLCN has actively campaigned online.

Cambodia’s forest cover is currently about 47 percent, but illegal logging remains rampant. The group Global Forest Watch found that between 2001 and 2014, Cambodia experienced the highest rate of forest loss in the world.

According to Courtney Work, a researcher focusing on land use in Cambodia, social media has become a powerful tool for educating young, urban populations that may not be aware of environmental issues. “Social campaigning is increasingly important as the problem of resource theft persists and grows in Cambodia,” Work said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide