The Deforestation Continues

KAMPONG THOM/PREAH VIHEAR – The high-pitched whine of chainsaws drowned out the sound of birds and bugs you usually hear during any trek through Prey Lang forest. What was once an area full of animals scurrying under the shade of gargantuan trees is now largely populated by stumps and ash.
 

The desolation of an area once cherished by generations who grew up near and within it is the work of companies which have been encouraging citizens to log trees and sell the timber to them. One of these firms, 95 Company, says it legally has the right to buy timber from local residents who cut down trees on economic land concessions (ELCs) in the area.
 

The Thy Nga company in Chey Sen district in Preah Vihear province, which owns one of the ELCs from which people log copious amounts of wood, controls Srae village with an iron grip, going so far as to build a “control” station on one of the only roads in the village to check and stop people moving in and out of the area. As the sound of the chainsaws came to an end about 4pm, trucks carrying wood covered in plastic tarps started their journey out of the forest.
 

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