The pace of disforestation in Cambodia has accelerate at an alarming rate in the last few long time . Cambodia , home to some of Southeast Asia ’s honest-to-goodness and most diverse forests , has been losing these precious domain as a result of corporations using permits illegally to clear out soil . The country is turn a loss around 2,000 solid kilometers of its ancient forest every year .
That ’s the sobering conclusion of a recent account byForest Trends , which found that between 2004 and 2014 , the amount of land lease to corp had almost quadruple . With 80 % of land granted to commercial-grade agricultural companies located within the boundary of protected forest , trees are being harvested in some of Cambodia ’s most prized country . By the end of 2013 , 14 % of the country had been allocated to corporations .
harmonize to the written report , the Cambodian regime is give corporations Economic Land Concessions ( ELC ) , which is a controversial scheme that hand corporations a long - term lease to absolved land for agrarian development . A want of crystalline standards has meant that under the pretence of prepare the landed estate for agriculture , large numbers of trees are being reap rather . ELC has been used as an illicit instrument for illegal logging on many occasions , the report says .
Extent of Economic Land Concessions in Cambodia . Forest Trends .
" This is illegal by Cambodia ’s own law of nature and regulations , " Kerstin Canby , Director of Forest Trends ’ Forest Trade and Finance program , toldBBC News .
" If my interests are just to get the timber out , I would go to the Ministry of Agriculture get an ELC and clear cut the entire forest and then I can say that I am fail to plant something , but who ’s going to punish me if I do n’t ? "
The paper used both government data and reports of over 32,000 forest fires from NASA planet imagery to pass over deforestations during the 2012–13 ironic time of year . Researchers were able to make a computer algorithm to identify the forests being turn off in the country . The data revealed that atomic number 6 emission from evergreen plant forests in deforested surface area are almost 10 times mellow than area that have not been lease to potbelly . Forest Trends indicate that this is validation that Cambodia ’s oldest and most worthful trees are being direct by corporations .
Canby describes the speedy depletion of the nation ’s stay timberland resource as " a entire system failure of the country ’s timberland protective cover Torah , " in astatement . The report call for Cambodia to improve its regulation to contain depravation and increase transparency .
