GAIN ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE MEMBER-ONLY EXPERIENCES, PRODUCT LAUNCHES, AND MORE THROUGHOUT…A road carved from a reforestation concession into the heart of Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia appears to be facilitating the illegal logging and trafficking of valuable timber, a Mongabay investigation has revealed.
Prey Lang is mainland Southeast Asia’s largest lowland evergreen rainforest and a vital carbon sink. The sanctuary spanned nearly 430,000 hectares until August this year, when the Later in the interview, Chang refuted his earlier claim that he knew who was logging in Prey Lang outside the Think Biotech concession. He also denied knowing who built the road or who was taking timber from the area.
“Please no, I cannot talk too much, the government does the investigation, they know well, ask them, why you ask me?” he said. “If I’m the forest criminal, I’d be caged already.” “If district and provincial officials do not crack down on crime, we will crack down, and if they have weapons and shoot us, shoot them back,” Sokha said in the voice message that spread rapidly across the messaging app Telegram.
“The crackdown of Sao Sokha, it was only a short period of time but we see that it was not effective because they were only able to crack down on koy-yun drivers while the big log trucks were free,” said Phai Bunleang, chief of the community forest in Teuk Khmao, Kratie province. “Since the investigation is not yet completed, it is impossible to conclude who is behind the alleged road construction,” Samal said in a response to written questions submitted to the ministry by Mongabay. “We remain committed to transparency and will keep the public informed of the progress in addressing this issue. Please be assured that our main priority is to protect our natural resources and biodiversity, and we will take appropriate action if any violations are found.
“While small-time loggers may have been arrested in the crackdowns, it does not mean that larger crimes are exempt from law enforcement,” he said, adding that any allegations of bribery among officials would be investigated thoroughly and that the ministry welcomes any evidence or information regarding these claims.
“Even when the government asks I cannot , because I never do things illegally, I do the regular way,” he added. “They ask me to pay a lot, but I don’t want to, I cannot — the workers would get no salary and can I tell them I have no money to pay you? No, I cannot. The government gets the money from me, too much, I cannot pay to the officials and to my own workers, I cry, nobody is helping me.”