Rangers on duty at the Kirirom National Park office, from August 19 to September 30, 2026, in Kampong Thom province, cracked down on natural resource crimes in the Preah Soramarith Kossomak "Kirirom" National Park, totaling 39 cases, including: 28 cases of illegal staking to claim land as private property, covering an area of approximately 18.53 hectares. The working group cracked down on 5 cases of logging, forest clearing, swidden farming, and burning to claim land as private property, reclaiming an area of approximately 2.51 hectares. This is according to a post on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Environment this morning.
The Ministry of Environment confirmed that, at the same time, the working group confiscated 15 snares (with 1 dead monkey caught in a snare) in 1 case, seized 6 logs of grade 2 timber (Sral) in 2 cases, and cracked down on 2 cases of illegal clearing and construction of huts to claim land without authorization.
It should be noted that on October 1, 2026, the working group conducted an operation to crack down on the illegal staking of state property land within a nature protection area with the intent to claim ownership (without meeting the owner), by unidentified persons at Boeng Pe Se, located in Chambak commune, Phnom Sruoch district, Kampong Speu province, within the Preah Soramarith Kossomak "Kirirom" National Park. Rangers arrived at the site and cracked down on the illegal planting of 35 wooden fence posts, staking an area of 0.45 hectares. The rangers are continuing their investigation to locate the perpetrators for legal action under the Environment and Natural Resources Code.
By: Srey Pi
