Cambodia

In the far northeast of Cambodia, the forest is disappearing. On my first visit there, I expected to see thick, dense forests everywhere. Instead, most of the land has been cleared for large rubber and cassava plantations. The remaining forests are central to the daily lives of the local people, their livelihoods and culture. But foreign mining companies are failing to respect the rights of local communities, with important implications especially for indigenous people and their land.

In the statement released today, the Mekong Regional Technical Working Group for EIA brings together governments, civil society organisations (CSOs), and will expand to cover private sector and EIA experts to improve regional cooperation for effective EIA policy and practices. The group aims to reduce the social and environmental impacts of regional infrastructure projects, particularly as the upcoming Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) Economic Community further hastens trans-boundary investments.

HANOI, May 14, 2015 – In a ground-breaking agreement, government officials and civil society representatives from across the Mekong region established a working group to develop a regional public participation guideline for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) this week in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Evictees of Phnom Penh’s Borei Keila community appealed yet again to municipal authorities for alternative housing yesterday, saying garbage and waste has inundated their current settlement and is making it increasingly difficult to enter and exit the area.

Borei Keila residents were evicted from their land on January 3 last year as Phan Imex employees, backed by local authorities, demolished about 300 homes.
Many have lived in tents at the site ever since.

The Pailin provincial governor has ordered a gem-mining firm to stop excavating land in a conservation area, local officials said yesterday. According to Lim Bou, chief of Boya-kha commune in Pailin town, local authorities received the order after it came to light that a firm was illegally mining in the Samlaut Protected Area.

“The firm’s mining exploration causes bad pollution of water that affects villagers and the environment. [And] its [mining] licence has expired,” Bou said, reading from the letter.

This case study critically evaluates the comprehensiveness and quality of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) completed for the Mekong- Kampong Cham bridge in Cambodia. Course participants will have the opportunity to consider potential environmental impacts of this type of infrastructure project during both the construction and operational phases and to evaluate how EIA findings supported decision making related to the project.

This project report presents a description of principal activities and key findings from the ADB Technical Assistance project no. 2078-CAM: Strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures and Capabilities in Cambodia. The project has been delivered for the Royal Government of Cambodia over the past 18 months by the International Development Research Centre in cooperation with Global Environmental Consulting, Ltd. and Resource Futures International Ltd.

The purpose of this Srepok EIA Study is to evaluate the potential impacts in Cambodia due to planned hydropower development in Vietnam. This study is part of the assessment of the Srepok River Basin in the Vietnam National Hydropower Plan Study (NHP 2005). The Srepok River basin has a moderate hydropower potential compared to other similar basins in the region and is so far undeveloped except for a small scale power station in Vietnam, Dray Linh Old (12 MW), which has not been in operation for the last few years.

At the request of the Government of Cambodia, a Fact-finding Mission visited Cambodia from 5 to 9 February 1996 to prepare a technical assistance (TA) proposal for the adoption of environmental impact assessment (EIA) to help ensure environmentally sound economic growth.

This Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) Report is the first of its kind to be written for Cambodia. The report is an attempt to present an overall picture of the progress made in reaching the goals of sustainable development and environmental health. It covers five concerns: biodiversity loss, suboptimal utilization of water resources, depletion of fish resources, agricultural land degradation, and climate change.

[2006 - PDF - 221 pages]