US ends Cambodia aid programme over deforestation, targeting of activists

According to the US embassy, Prey Lang had lost approximately 38,000ha of forest, or nearly nine per cent of its forest cover, since 2016. - Eleven Media Group file photo

PHNOM PENH (Reuters): The United States is ending a Cambodian aid programme aimed at protecting one of the country's biggest wildlife sanctuaries, citing worsening deforestation and the silencing of those who speak out about the destruction of natural resources.

The US embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Thursday (June 17) that it had invested more than US$100 million to combat deforestation and despite some progress high rates of illegal logging had continued in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.