Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Image

Camera trap at O Tabok crossing from Virachey National Park to Vietnam. Feburary 2017. EIC

Environmental Investigation Agency source documents, online library of evidence:
https://eia-international.org/repeat-of ... y-evidence


Documents Detailing Specific Shipments

• Gia Lai Mountainous Area development JSC Pich Rithsey Co

• Nguyen Trung Co Phat Sok Chea Co


Legal Provisions for Vietnamese Government Quotas

• 4363 UBND-KT signed-Gia Lai

• Circular 52 2015 TT-BCT (VN)

• Correspondence 3500 – Copy version (VN)

• Decision 52 signed (VN)


Log Depots on Vietnamese-Cambodian Border

• 210136 khla thom

• 210138 oyadaw Le Thanh

• 210497 727 Depot

• EIA Vietnam timber report 0517 SATMAP HI-RES

• Important Timber Depots on the Vietnamese border with Cambodia

• Jungle Signpost to 727 and 729 Depots

• O’Leav

• Timber Movements Sketch Nov 2016 – March 2017


Sales Invoices from Cambodian Companies

• Nam Thanh Co Wood Innovation Co IMG 0307

• Phat Sok Chea Trading IMG 0312

• Pich Rithsey Co Ltd IMG 0344

• Wood Innovation Log List IMG 20170216 142017


Vietnamese Import Data 2016 & 2017

• VIETNAMESE IMPORT DATA HS44 2016 & JAN-APRIL 2017
• 2016-T01T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T02T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T03T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T04T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T05T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T06T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T07T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T08T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T09T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T10T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T11T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T12T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17



• 2017-T01T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T02T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T03T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T04T-5N(VN-SB)
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

Post by juansweetpotato »

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Fri May 19, 2017 2:01 pm
Image

Camera trap at O Tabok crossing from Virachey National Park to Vietnam. Feburary 2017. EIC

Environmental Investigation Agency source documents, online library of evidence:
https://eia-international.org/repeat-of ... y-evidence


Documents Detailing Specific Shipments

• Gia Lai Mountainous Area development J SChSC Pich Rithsey Co

• Nguyen Trung Co Phat Sok Chea Co


Legal Provisions for Vietnamese Government Quotas

• 4363 UBND-KT signed-Gia Lai

• Circular 52 2015 TT-BCT (VN)

• Correspondence 3500 – Copy version (VN)

• Decision 52 signed (VN)


Log Depots on Vietnamese-Cambodian Border

• 210136 khla thom

• 210138 oyadaw Le Thanh

• 210497 727 Depot

• EIA Vietnam timber report 0517 SATMAP HI-RES

• Important Timber Depots on the Vietnamese border with Cambodia

• Jungle Signpost to 727 and 729 Depots

• O’Leav

• Timber Movements Sketch Nov 2016 – March 2017


Sales Invoices from Cambodian Companies

• Nam Thanh Co Wood Innovation Co IMG 0307

• Phat Sok Chea Trading IMG 0312

• Pich Rithsey Co Ltd IMG 0344

• Wood Innovation Log List IMG 20170216 142017


Vietnamese Import Data 2016 & 2017

• VIETNAMESE IMPORT DATA HS44 2016 & JAN-APRIL 2017
• 2016-T01T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T02T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T03T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T04T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T05T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T06T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T07T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T08T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T09T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T10T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T11T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17

• 2016-T12T-5N(VN-CT) 26-4-17



• 2017-T01T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T02T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T03T-5N(VN-SB)

• 2017-T04T-5N(VN-SB)
Still nothing about expoert from Vietnam in that lot. However, I was reading another thread of yours and it seems the KT has hinted at Chinese involvement.
CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Sun Nov 13, 2016 6:12 pm
Another good article from the Khmer Times on illegal logging and environmental destruction in the North-East of Cambodia. The Cambodian Human Rights Task Force have released their report on the destruction of the forest area around the lower Sesan II dam site. It is difficult to get access to the site, so well done to them.


Sawmill on the banks of the Sesan River.

Ten trucks fully loaded with timber have been spotted entering a heavily guarded sawmill near the Lower Sesan II dam on an hourly basis, claimed a report by the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), which was released yesterday.

According to the report, photos taken from a drone showed 40 large chainsaws being used to quickly log timber from the surrounding forests, supposedly in the dam’s reservoir zone in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district, while dozens of trucks waited to transport the timber to a nearby sawmill.

“We saw a big sawmill which has logged, transported and supplied timber for five years already. It is located along the Sesan River.

“The working team saw…at least 10 trucks carrying timber into the sawmill per hour,” the CHRTF report said, adding that the sawmill also had armed guards who would not allow anyone to enter, apart from the hundreds of workers carrying timber into the factory.

CHRTF president Ouch Leng claims the logging, responsible for the massive destruction of the forests along the Sesan River, had the support of the governments of Cambodia, Vietnam and China.

“It is big destruction. Cambodia, Vietnam and China decided to destroy the forest and the environment’s protection system just to get profits and become billionaires, all with the full support of the governments from these three countries,” Mr. Lengn said.

Construction of the 75-meter-high dam started last year with a total cost estimated at $816 million. China’s Lancang Hydropower International Energy has a 51 percent stake in the project, Cambodia’s Royal Group owns 39 percent and Vietnam’s EVN International owns 10 percent.

Mr. Leng added, however, that the company responsible has been logging there for five years and only cared about making a profit, having earned billions of dollars throughout the duration of their operation...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31962/ ... d--report/
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Officials in on illegal timber to VN, claim forest guardians
21 September 2018
Forest activists in Ratanakkiri province’s O’yadav district said on Thursday that a group of Cambodian and Vietnamese traders are colluding with officials and transporting timber from their community forest to Vietnam after they had illegally felled trees there early this month.

Community members in Phi and Padorl villages allege that Cambodian trader Houv Chivay had instructed two of his representatives, Pech and Sinoeun, to lobby community forest chief Romchong Phnhorl and local authorities to turn a blind eye with a promise of a $30,000 bribe.

Sev Doeun, a community representative in Phi village, said the traders brought trucks to log and transport timber from Padorl community forest to Vietnam by crossing Phi and Potaing villages in Sesan commune.

“Our Phi community tries to protect the forest, but Padorl village community members are colluding with traders to mask the illegal activities,” he said, adding that authorities have taken no action and that the traders kept transporting timber to Vietnam by boats.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... -guardians
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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BUT if you terrible female card players in Kratie are caught again you will be arrested..................
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Cambodia Accused Vietnam of Systematic Logging Fraud
October 02, 2018 5:45 AM
PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has asked INTERPOL to investigate its allegations that Vietnam has repeatedly and knowingly accepted fraudulent permits for endangered luxury timber that is illegally logged across the border.

Stocks of Siamese Rosewood, a luxury wood that can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per cubic meter, have been decimated in Cambodia by a rapacious logging industry along the country’s border with Vietnam.

Letters compiled by Cambodia, in a submission to the United Nation’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2017, show senior government officials repeatedly implored Vietnam to take action.

In 2013 Cambodia banned the logging of Siamese Rosewood (Dalbergia Conchinchinensis) and subsequently told Vietnam that any CITES permit for the species was, as such, fraudulent, the submission shows.

“Vietnam, nevertheless, continued to allow the entry into the country of rosewood, repeatedly referencing CITES permits, notwithstanding that they had been previously informed on several occasions of the illegality of those permits,” wrote Ty Sokhun, the head of Cambodia’s CITES Management Authority, to the UN’s International Environment House in October 2017.
https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-logg ... 95854.html
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:46 am
PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has asked INTERPOL to investigate....
That's not the sort of thing INTERPOL does as far as I know. INTERPOL just co-ordinates between police forces.
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Image
Ratanakkiri, Cambodia News: Reports say that from September 30 to October 2, 2018, several hundred vehicles were transporting illegally logged timber across the border at O' Yadao every night, under the eyes of the local forestry officials and with the knowledge of the Governor of Ratanakkiri Province.
It is estimated that nearly 300 small vehicles, pick-ups and vans, were transporting each a minimum of 20 logs each through the border crossing to Vietnam. Vast amounts of money changes hands as palms are greased on every step of the journey.
Image
Image
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There is little effort to be discreet, and although the transport of illegal wood from Ratanakkiri across the border to Vietnam is well documented in Khmer and social media, there is no accountability. It is blatant that the principal concern of the present governor of the province to extract as much money as possible from his position while he can.
The names of the major illegal wood traders are known, but they continue to conduct their business with impunity:
Among the major dealers, there are major traders: 1- Pinnacle name (big head), use PPM logo in Ratanakiri with Mr. Touch Tek, transport wood by Yummy car plates 090. Second, Mrs. Hov Chivay 3. Mr Touch and Mrs. Nath transported wood by car plated on license plates No. 5588 and 4- NiCa Transportation of wood by Sam Yong car plates 0808, resident of Kantang Commune, Kantang Commune, Banlung City, Rattanak Kiri Province.
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Protected Forest in Cambodian Commune Illegally Logged Through Official Collusion: Mother Nature
2018-12-19
Around 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of protected forest from a commune in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province has been illegally logged for timber and sold to businessmen from neighboring Vietnam through collusion with Cambodian authorities, an environmental watchdog group said Wednesday.

An investigator with the Cambodian nongovernmental organization Mother Nature, who spoke to RFA’s Khmer Service on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said his group spent a month inspecting forest area in Sesan commune, in Ratanakkiri’s Ou Ya Dav district, and located around 20 trucks he said were used by Vietnamese loggers to haul illegally logged timber across the border.

“About 1,200 hectares of [illegally obtained] forest timber was sold to Vietnam through systemic collusion,” he said, adding that the contraband was bring processed in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province.

“We went into Gia Lai province and found many saw mills. We have evidence that Vietnam is collecting wood from Cambodia illegally.”

The investigator showed RFA several minutes of exclusive footage from a documentary Mother Nature is preparing on the illegal timber trade, which purports to show thousands of cubic meters (1 cubic meter = 35 cubic feet) collected from protected areas in Ratanakkiri.

He said the 1,200 hectares of illegally logged timber had been “sold to Vietnamese businessmen” and that logging in the protected areas “is continuing actively and overtly.”
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambod ... 44205.html
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

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Cambodia News, Ratanakkiri Province: Many motorbikes transporting illegal timber smuggled across the border to Vietnam were raided by the joint police force in a crack down at around 3 pm on December 10, 2020 in Phum Phileu, Sesan commune, O'Yadao District. But what is remarkable is that the boss was nowhere to be seen, only the drivers were arrested.

Observers say that because of the people who commit these crimes are never arrested, the illegal trade continues to happen again and again; the forest is still being destroyed.
Image
Sources from the authorities who conducted the crackdown said that the timber was transported by traders from the community forest in Pa village, Sesan commune, to the border between districts O'yadao and Andong Meas. After reports from residents about these activities, the authorities went to intercept the illegal traffic.

Image
But when the O'Yadao District Armed Forces and environmental officials went to crack down, several motorbikes carrying timber dropped their wood, and the drivers took off as fast as they could, leaving only this one motorcycle behind.

Mr. Solit Sampho, Chairman of O'Yadao District Environmental Group, confirmed that he will go to receive the illegal timber and a report from the joint authorities who cracked down at the land border police station at Phum Phileu, Sesan commune, Ratanakkiri.
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Re: Logging ban flouted as Vietnamese nationals strip protected forests in Ratanakkiri

Post by AndyKK »

The size of those timbers, can you imagine carrying one of those on a Honda dream, but an easy way to get the valuable load out of the forests on the small tracks. The same way all the equipment for the sawmills are taken in to the forests. it's understandable too if riders are on the wrong side of the law, that is the law that takes notice, now and again. Then the timbers are dropped, so the riders have a little more speed to make themselves elusive again, just fitting back into their usual surroundings has a local person, there's always tomorrow to do a little bit more transporting, these people are involved, but all said they are just that mostly of local people who are offered work that is the norm to themselves in areas of vast forests, and it's work that feeds the family,
But now to the main highways out of the densely tree area's that are dwindling everyday, the riders load is transferred to possibly large milatery truck's, then I would agree that is a little more organised.
1,200 hectares of forest cleared it mentioned in a report before! What is the timescale of that period, and how many trees had been felled in total, also how many trees is nessasery to fill that quoter per day.? Protected forrest's by whom and belong to who?
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