Cambodian environment minister bans logging at tycoon’s Cardamoms hydropower project

Cambodia ’s environment minister has ordered a ban on forest clearance at a hydropower project site.

Activists welcome the ban, but say they’re skeptical the ban will be enforced against such a powerful figure.

In April , Mongabay documented the illegal logging operations at the project site, where logging routes had been cut leading into the nearby Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary.

The ban came after multiple incidents of illegal logging inside a protected area were reported.

Forest activist Tat Oudom says stockpiles of recently felled timber were visible across each of the three cascading dams in the Stung Meteuk hydropower project.

Fresh tire tracks from timber trucks along logging routes indicated that the logging, or at least the transport of timber, was ongoing in spite of the ban.

Wildlife Alliance , a New York -headquartered NGO that works in partnership with the Ministry of Environment to operate REDD+ projects in the Cardamoms , says logging has intensified in recent months .

“Will they dare say no to the government or their superiors when the company owners are powerful people who financially support the ruling party?” he said. “Will those responsible for protecting the forest and natural resources dare to speak up or resist the development projects of powerful tycoons like Ly Yong Phat ? It’s good that they have temporarily suspended deforestation, but the most important thing is whether the government has the will to protect [the forest] or not.”.