The Cambodian government is set to list five new forests with a total of about 950,000 hectares in the country's protected forest areas, officials said on Monday.

"This clearly shows the government's efforts in protecting and preserving forests and biodiversity," Environment Minister Say Samal told a national workshop on the establishment of the five new protected forests.

He said that the government had worked on this plan for two-and-a-half years before deciding to register them as protected forests.

The five forests were previously controlled by the ministry of agriculture, forestry and fishery, but were recently handed over to the ministry of environment for conservation and environmental protection, he added.

According to official data, some 23 forests with a total of 5.5 million hectares have been registered as protected areas across Cambodia.

--IANS

source http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/cambodia-to-register-five-new-forests-as-protected-areas-116042500176_1.html

Of course "protected" here means keeping the Cambodian poor people's hands off of all that precious wood. I wonder who will wind up with the exclusive access contract?

"A report issued last year by Global Witness found that government and military officials collude with businessmen to illegally cut and transport Cambodian timber mainly to China. - http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-forests-04222016152419.html