2008 Green Forum Articles
Different Perceptions (2 April)
Shoot the Messenger (22 March)
Elephant Survey (29 January)
2 April 2008
Different Perceptions
In February, 2008, the Cambodia government expelled Global Witness, an environmental monitoring group, for their work in protecting Cambodia's forests--which Global Witness said were being exploited by Cambodian officials. In February, 2008, the U.S. government passed a law to deny visas to enter the United States to Cambodian officials implicated in plundering Cambodia's forests in a 2007 Global Witness report. The new legislation requires the U.S. State Department to identify officials and their relatives who are suspected of involvement "in corruption relating to the extraction of natural resources in their countries." A subcommittee recommendation speaks specifically to the Cambodian scene, requiring the government "to prohibit corrupt Cambodian officials identified in the June 2007 Global Witness report--from entering the United States."
22 March 2008
Shoot the Messenger
The environmental watchdog group called Global Witness received an award in February from Foreign Policy Magazine and the Center for Global Development for its work in protecting the environment by investigating corruption and wrongdoing in regard to environmental policy. What reward did Global Witness get from the government in Cambodia where it began work in 1993? The government of Cambodia threw them out of the country because the produced a report called "Cambodia's Family Tree" which alleged extensive involvement of the government and military in illegal logging. So much for honesty and transparency....
29 January 2008
Elephant Survey
According to the Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group, " for wild elephant populations, Cambodia is one of the last outposts in Southeast Asia." The group is now involved in surveying the elephant herds of the kingdom by collecting dung samples which are analyzed for information. Some 520 samples of elephant droppings in Cambodia were collected over four months and then sent to Australia for DNA analysis which will provide information about the numbers of individual elephants plus data about their sexes, ages, and family and herd structures and how they are related to each other. The sampling, done in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains, home to an estimated 200-500 wild elephants, is the largest endeavor of its type ever attempted. The information about the elephants will be used to track the movements of the herds (each dung sample was marked with GPS coordinates), establish protected areas, and perhaps to encourage eco-tourism. [Photo from US Embassy, Phnom Penh]