Illegal logging claims refuted
Forest activists in Battambang province’s Samlot district said on Thursday that a company that has received an economic land concession (ELC) in the area is trading timber from outside its ELC boundary.
The activists said Rath Sambath, whose ELC is located near the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, had bought timber from outsiders who transported the wood from many parts of the sanctuary.
A resident from the district’s Kampong Lpov commune who requested anonymity told The Post on Thursday that over the past two weeks, loggers from outside Samlot district had illegally cleared forest in the sanctuary and sold the wood to the firm.
