CAMBODIA had denied reports by Amnesty International and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) that large scale illegal logging has increased in the Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary.
The Ministry of Environment has rejected reports by the two groups, saying it was an attempt to cause conflict in the area.
The PLCN, a non-governmental organisation committed to protecting the Prey Lang forest from illegal logging and industrial agriculture, said since it was banned from patrolling the area, more illegal loggings have taken place.
The Prey Lang forest is a 3,600 sq km nature reserve forest located in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie and Stung Treng provinces in northern Cambodia.
Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra told The Phnom Penh Post that the groups' reports amounted to an organised campaign with malicious intent to subvert the government on the management and conservation of natural resources.
"They think that their group is the only natural resources protector. In fact, they just want to cause conflict, create anarchy and continue to encourage law abuses," he said.
He added that their claims were an insult to the dedication of park rangers and protected area communities, who were striving hard to protect and conserve natural resources.
According to Pheaktra, Amnesty International's report earlier last month was incorrect and it intended to discredit the government under the cover of human rights, freedom and democracy.
He said the ministry does not need to respond to the PLCN report, which he claimed does not reflect the facts and were prepared and compiled with the support of foreigners.
The sanctuary, he added, is only presented in a negative light, and it only seeks support for the group's activities.
"This report is also not up to date, as the environment ministry and its partners' operations throughout 2020 have achieved good results in preventing and cracking down on natural resources crimes," he said.
However, Pheaktra acknowledged that forestry crimes continue to occur in protected areas, including the Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary, but only on a small scale.
The PLCN's report on Feb 27 report said that satellite imagery data on deforestation has been linked to an increase in PLCN patrol bans and an increase in illegal logging by companies operating near the Prey Lang area.
It urged the Cambodian government to take more steps to enforce the law and protect the forests while also allowing the public to participate in natural resources protection.
Khem Sokhy, a PLCN member in Preah Vihear province, claimed that since the environment ministry banned PLCN from patrolling the area in February last year, forestry crimes kept happening.
He said there were fewer cases of forestry crimes before PLCN was banned because the perpetrators were scared.
"If the environment ministry chooses to work on it [natural resources protection] alone while there are not enough officers to cover almost half a million hectares, offenders will take advantage of this [loophole].
"If the ministry maintains its [sole] authority, the forest will keep getting destroyed," he said.
However, Pheaktra said the ministry has recently cooperated with the National Committee for the Prevention and Crackdown on Natural Resource Crimes to address the issue in the Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary.