Cambodia cracks down on 1,906 natural resource, wildlife crimes in first 10 months of 2026-Xinhua - 新华网

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia cracked down on 1,906 natural resource crimes in the first 10 months of 2026, down 1.5 percent from 1,935 cases during the same period last year, a Ministry of Environment spokesperson said Wednesday.

Khvay Atitya, who is also an undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Environment, said park rangers conducted routine patrols across all protected areas from January to October this year.

As a result, they cracked down on 1,906 natural resource crimes, including illegal forestry, wildlife poaching and snaring, land encroachment, fishing, and mining, he said in a news release.

Atitya noted that 118 case files and 79 suspects had been sent to court for prosecution under the legal procedures of the Environment and Natural Resources Code.

The spokesperson attributed the drop in environmental crimes to strong cooperation between the ministry, local authorities, armed forces, residents, NGOs, and the Anti-Corruption Unit.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the Southeast Asian nation has 73 protected areas covering more than 41 percent of the country's land area. ■