phnom proek district, Battambang province – Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng warned local RCAF soldiers at a ceremony Monday against illegal logging and forcefully expanding their farmland.
“No soldiers are allowed to cut down trees for the sake of their unit or themselves,” he said. “It is against the government’s policy. If management is not strict, our ancestral natural property will be destroyed.”
Speaking in front of 500 villagers at the inauguration of the headquarters for the Roniem Daun Sam wildlife sanctuary, Sar Kheng said at least 50 percent of the nation’s wildlife habitat protected by royal decree is now gone. He said that what remains must be conserved.
One government official noted that the 178,750 hectares that make up Roniem Daun Sam have been protected by royal decree since 1993, but were vulnerable to abuse while under Khmer Rouge control until 1996.
The sanctuary, which overlaps Kam Rieng, Sampov Loun, Phnom Proek and Bavel districts, also suffered during the years of civil war.
Some areas of the sanctuary, viewed Monday by helicopter, have been cleared of trees. The inauguration near the Thai border took place on World Environment Day.
Villager Oeur Chei, 50, said that he saw hundreds of hectares cleared for maize farms two years ago while he was working as a laborer near the Thai border. He said that in the 1980s, the forest was dense and elephants roamed the area.
“Now, some of that forest has been denuded,” he said.
Minister of Environment Mok Mareth, also speaking at the ceremony, appealed to villagers not to clear land to expand their farms.
But Yen Yon, a 53-year-old local farmer, said farmers do not have the political power to cut trees and enlarge their farms as they wish.
He also said he was skeptical that high-ranking officials and local soldiers serving with RCAF Division 19 would stop illegally cutting trees, as Sar Kheng demanded.
