Story

Transporting Timber Out of Cambodia’s Protected Areas

April 06, 2012 | Pulitzer Center
By
Keyla Beebe

Trucks from company land concessions transport wood across the country. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Ox carts are commonly used to transport timber from remote areas. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

These people moved to Kampong Speu after the forest resources in their province had disappeared. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Many of the large and valuable trees will be sold as firewood. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Some loggers only take the higher-quality core of the tree—leaving the rest as scraps that locals then collect. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

These scraps contain wood that can be sold for construction; the rest is used as firewood. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Selling this type of timber can provide a sustainable lifestyle for a family in Cambodia. A family will make about $10 a day, but must keep on the move to find enough wood that can be sold. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

HLH Agriculture, a company from Singapore, was allotted 10,000 hectares of land in the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary, Kampong Speu Province. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

HLH Agriculture uses this economic land concession for agro-industry. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

According to Wutty Chut, director of the National Resources Protection Group, a local NGO, the soil near the Aoral Mountains loses much of its nutrients after the trees are cut down. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

A young man transports timber down from the Aoral Mountains. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Cut trees await transport out of the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Villagers burn a plot of land to grow their own crops within the Wildlife Sanctuary. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Making charcoal inside a military zone at the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

This military car has been gutted to transport trees out of the mountains. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Villagers head to town to sell the wood they collected in the mountains of the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

The forest that lies deep in the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary is still preserved; however locals say the forest cover is decreasing. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Three communities in the Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary formed an environmental committee in March 2012. Volunteers scout boundaries and plan patrols to protect the area from illegal
logging. Image by Keyla Beebe. Cambodia, 2012.

Although some of the timber cut in Cambodia’s Aoral Wildlife Sanctuary is legal, allotted by the government through economic land concessions or for community use, much is illegal. Villagers cut trees to sell as firewood, while private investors and the military are left unmonitored by the government. Loggers find they have to delve deeper into the country's protected areas since forest resources have dwindled in many areas.