It is three years tomorrow since environmentalist Chut Wutty was gunned down in the far reaches of Koh Kong province. Meet three forest advocates who are carrying on the late campaigner’s legacy

A former soldier with a fearless attitude, organisational know-how and high-level contacts in the military, Chut Wutty was a unique figure in the Cambodian environment movement. Wutty personally exposed illegal logging syndicates and organised community forest patrols, while also negotiating with authority with influential figures within the government.

Three years after he was fatally shot on April 26, 2012 while investigating illegal logging in Koh Kong, his mud covered boots have proven difficult to fill.

The true circumstances remain uncertain and no one was ever charged with killing the activist.

The Great Debate
Murders in the forest
By Olesia Plokhii
September 20, 2012

... I worked at the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh for one year (2011-2012), covering the oil business, land evictions, the environment and forestry. That’s why I was with Chut Wutty, the nation’s foremost forest conservationist, on Apr. 26 when he was killed. On the third day of an investigation into illegal logging in Cambodia’s Cardamom mountains, we stopped at what Wutty said was a military-controlled illegal logging outpost. There, he was shot dead during a confrontation with soldiers who were protecting the site and preventing us from leaving. A soldier was also shot dead under mysterious circumstances in the firefight, although Wutty did not fire any shots. When the murderers began concocting a cover-up, a colleague and I were threatened with death. “Just kill them both,” they icily said within earshot of us. After six hours of paralyzing fear and pacing at the scene of the murder, we were transferred from police custody into the care of our editor in chief as night fell...