Vast Tracts of Phnom Tamao Forest Targeted for Real Estate, Documents Show

Documents shared by provincial authorities and other participants at a stakeholder meeting for development at the Phnom Tamao forest show apparent plans to transfer huge portions of forest for real estate. Fifteen company and state officials were listed as having attended the meeting, though all of them either refused to comment on what was discussed, denied having attended, or could not be reached. They would not confirm the contents of the documents, which were shared by a local monk who also attended the meeting on behalf of a pagoda located inside the forest.

The planned destruction of the Phnom Tamao forest, home to a wildlife rescue center of the same name as well as endangered animals and rare birds, has alarmed conservationists, but its potential scope was not previously disclosed. The first of three key documents distributed at the meeting, which are the minutes of the meeting, is four pages issued by the provincial cadastral office containing information about three plots in the forest area.

The document details the location of one of the plots, a large 500-hectare area that coordinates show would cut right through the middle of the Phnom Tamao forest. The document is signed by provincial land management director Nuon Sothea on May 6, the same day as the meeting. It says that the plots, located in forest and conservation areas, will be changed from state land for real estate. The document adds that the other two plots are about 300 and 10 hectares, though it says the exact boundaries of the latter location have yet to be verified by the cadastral office.

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