Inside The Criminal Network Ravaging Cambodia’s Forests ― And The Community Fighting To Save Them | HuffPost
▻https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cambodia-forest-devastation_us_5a3d86b0e4b06d1621b45772?ncid=tweetln
Cambodia’s forests are quietly and rapidly disappearing.
As the impoverished country slides deeper into political crisis, corrupt elites continue to siphon off its natural resources through a criminal network in which state officials and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cronies are allegedly complicit.
The government’s latest efforts to curb illegal logging and deforestation have been hampered by poor law enforcement, high-level corruption and the state’s own crackdown on its environmental critics. And as Phnom Penh grants companies economic land concessions ― or long-term land leases ― to establish rubber and palm oil plantations, local community members have found themselves on a daunting mission to protect what remains of their beloved forests.