Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Wildlife sanctuaries in Kratie, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey closed

Wildlife sanctuaries in Kratie, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey closed

A truck carrying illegal luxury wood sits on the road in Kratie after being seized by local authorities in 2014. A royal decree has dissolving the wildlife sanctuaries in Kratie and Battambang, with local authorities saying the protected forest is gone. Photo supplied
A truck carrying illegal luxury wood sits on the road in Kratie after being seized by local authorities in 2014. A royal decree has dissolving the wildlife sanctuaries in Kratie and Battambang, with local authorities saying the protected forest is gone. Photo supplied

Wildlife sanctuaries in Kratie, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey closed

Two protected wildlife sanctuaries – Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary in Kratie province and Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces – have been dissolved under a royal decree, with at least one conservationist on Sunday saying the move illustrated the government’s failure to protect the forest.

The royal decree, dated February 22, was posted on the Ministry of Environment’s official Facebook page on Thursday. It announces the dissolution of the Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1993 and consisting of 75,000 hectares, as well as the Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 2003 and consisting of 39,961 hectares.

Chhay Duong Savuth, director of the Kratie province Environment Department, said the Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary was being dissolved because it has been completely lost, which he blamed on local villagers.

“If it wasn’t gone, it would not be dissolved,” he said. “I want to say that the land has been cleared and grabbed by people.”

However, the government has granted thousands of hectares to companies in the form of economic land concessions for rubber plantations inside both sanctuaries, and the areas had also grappled with illegal logging over the years.

The Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary in particular is on the border with Vietnam, and for years there were allegations that wood from the protected area was being smuggled across the border.

Duong Savuth said the protection of Snuol Wildlife Sanctuary was difficult due to a lack of rangers and people clearing the land defying authorities. He pointed to a recent protest at Kratie’s Memot Rubber Plantation, where security forces fired on demonstrators, injuring three.

Kott Boran, director of the Battambang province Environment Department, claimed that a population increase had led to the loss of the Roneam Daun Sam Wildlife Sanctuary.

“Currently, people are cultivating on the land,” he said. “The cultivation has happened for a long time.”

But Seng Sokheng, with the Community Peace Building Network, said the blame for the dissolution of the sanctuaries rested with the government.

Land inside the sanctuaries “was granted to private companies”, and the forest was also cleared for private ownership, he added. Timber was logged for businesses, he continued, involving government officials and powerful tycoons.

“We think that the government should . . . replant trees instead of converting these areas for agri-business because it will make the public hopeless with the government regarding forest protection and commitment,” he said. “The public will see that this case . . . can be [due to] government weakness on law enforcement.”

Additional reporting by Yesenia Amaro

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

  • 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

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • 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

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to