‘Cambodia Burning’ Shortlisted for Earth Photo 2020 Competition
August 06, 2020 | Project news, Awards
By Ethan Ehrenhaft

Grantee Sean Gallagher’s short film “Cambodia Burning,” part of his Pulitzer Center-supported reporting project of the same name, has been shortlisted for the Earth Photo 2020 competition in the Changing Forests category.

“Cambodia Burning” documents the recent fires that have raged across forests in north and central Cambodia. At their peak in 2018, 1,800 forest fires were burning, more than any other Southeast Asian country at the time. It is estimated that only 3 percent of Cambodia’s primary forests remain as trees are cleared for agriculture and logging.

Gallagher is an award-winning British photojournalist based in China and a long-time Pulitzer Center grantee. His work often focuses on environmental issues and the effects of climate change. In “Cambodia Burning,” he uses a unique blend of drone cinematography and Cambodian poetry to highlight the forest fires’ emotional impact on the Cambodian people.
https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/cambodi ... ompetition

Photojournalism Now: In Conversation With Grantee Sean Gallagher
August 20, 2020 | Project news
By Ethan Ehrenhaft

Earlier this month, Alison Stieven-Taylor of Photojournalism Now interviewed long-time Pulitzer Center grantee Sean Gallagher as part of a video series profiling visual journalists from around the globe. Their conversation covered a wide range of issues related to Gallagher’s recent work and the impact of COVID-19 on the media landscape.

In late January and early February 2020, Gallagher traveled to Cambodia to document the rapid deforestation taking place in the country as part of a new Pulitzer Center-supported project. Yet with the outbreak of the pandemic and protests for racial justice taking place this summer, he struggled to find outlets willing to run his climate-related work.

“While obviously what’s happening with COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movements [is] incredibly important, I feel that the issues surrounding climate have been almost forgotten by the mainstream media,” said Gallagher, who noted he has now found a publication for his Cambodia project.
https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/photojo ... -gallagher

Some photos and slideshow from the same topic: https://e360.yale.edu/features/turning- ... ent+360%29

Turning the Tide on the Relentless Destruction of Cambodia’s Forests

Photographer Sean Gallagher traveled to Cambodia to document the devastation of that nation’s forests. In an e360 photo essay, he shows how timber and agribusiness companies are ravaging lands that are supposedly protected and how Indigenous people are trying to stop the destruction.

By Sean Gallagher • August 25, 2020

Note: There is often some confusion between the official and unofficial "defenders of the forest" in Cambodia. However, the PLCN has been internationally recognized for their conservation work in Cambodia's forests, and it is this widespread recognition that is embarrassing the ministry concerned.

Prey Lang documentary wins awards, draws ministry’s criticism
Khouth Sophak Chakrya | Publication date 03 November 2020 | 22:53 ICT
A documentary film titled Cambodia Burning produced by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) won two awards – “Earth Photo 2020” and “Drone Photo 2020” – from the US-based Pulitzer Centre.

The film, which has drawn criticism from a senior Ministry of Environment official, was photographed and produced by Sean Gallagher of Britain early this year as he researched and recorded “climate crisis” and environmental issues in Cambodia, including deforestation and forest fires in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.

The awards were announced by the Pulitzer jury in August in the US state of Massachusetts.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Gallagher said local PLCN members – mainly farmers and local residents who travel by motorbike patrolling the forest to check for illegal logging and poaching – stopped trucks full of freshly logged trees in Prey Lang.

“Totalling over 3,500sq km, Prey Lang is one of Asia’s most threatened evergreen woodlands,” Gallagher wrote.

PLCN was also awarded EU Green 2020 recognition in October from EU Green Week of Denmark.

Environment ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra disapproved of the awards. He said that by photographing the forest and acting as a natural resource protector, the group took advantage of sacrifices made by the true natural resource protectors and conservationists.

“Natural resources protection and conservation in Cambodia is not exclusive to any individual. What they have done is just for the benefits of their own group. They should not have been praised because they just prepared plans to get financial support and give in to demands of certain donors,” he said.

Pheaktra said a genuine effort is made by officials from the environment ministry, including forest rangers and communities in protected areas, not activists.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... -criticism

“Cambodia Burning,” a documentary by filmmaker Sean Gallagher, throws light on the effect Cambodia’s unfettered logging has had on the country’s forest ecosystem.
VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke to the award-winning filmmaker.
Video here:
https://www.voanews.com/episode/cambodi ... em-4650626