'I could be arrested or killed': the activists fighting to save Cambodia's forests

[geovalin]

We crouch in a shallow trench deep in Cambodia’s Prey Lang forest. The flies bite and we face walls of fallen trees. Fifty yards away a tall fence surrounds a secret logging camp which forestry investigator Leng Ouch has identified with a drone.

 

Armed guards bar entry to the camp, which Leng says is owned by a relation of a prominent member of government; so he follows the fence until he finds a gap. Slipping into the large timber yard, he darts from one large stack of logs to another, dodging behind idle bulldozers, log stackers, trucks, tractors and a sawmill. He photographs each pile to record numbers, tree sizes and species.

 

And then an alarm goes off. Has Leng been caught? If so, he is certain to be beaten up, and probably imprisoned. The consequences of his being found are dire. The forestry industry and some government officials have made Cambodia’s leading forestry corruption investigator a wanted man.

 

read more https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/feb/16/arrested-killed-activists-fighting-save-cambodias-forests-prey-lang

[cncltd1973]

You guys are heroes - keep fighting the good fight