Gerald Flynn

3 days ago | news.mongabay.com | Gerald Flynn

A long-dormant fluorite mine is being reopened in northern Thailand, but the ethnically Karen communities that live in Mae Hong Son province’s Mae La Noi district are staunchly resisting the return of the mining company. Universal Mining, a Thai company, aimed to reopen its fluorite mine in 2021 following an injection of Chinese investments, but so far has failed to secure the environmental impact assessment needed to recommence mining operations in Mae La Noi.

3 weeks ago | news.mongabay.com | Gerald Flynn

Cambodian journalist Ouk Mao was arrested May 16 by plainclothes military officers, according to his wife and colleagues. Mao had previously faced legal charges and physical attacks as a result of his environmental reporting. It is not yet clear what charges, in any, Mao currently faces. As of 10:30 p.m., Mao’s wife said he remained in temporary detention at the Stung Treng provincial prison.

3 weeks ago | news.mongabay.com | Gerald Flynn

Cambodian environmental journalist Ouk Mao was attacked by a group of men, apparently including a former police officer, while documenting illegal logging in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, following a pattern of escalating harassment and threats. Mao has faced numerous legal challenges, including defamation and incitement charges, that he claims are retaliation for exposing environmental crimes, with local officials allegedly trying to silence his work.

1 month ago | news.mongabay.com | Gerald Flynn

Cambodia’s Supreme Court has denied bail to five environmental activists from the NGO Mother Nature Cambodia, all of whom are appealing their convictions after spending more than nine months behind bars. The activists had already served prison sentences but were released on bail in November 2021 on the condition that they stopped their environmental work; the charges against them were never dropped and the Cambodian government arrested them again in 2024.

1 month ago | eco-business.com | Gerald Flynn

The Cambodian government has signed off on the construction of a new cement factory deep inside Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, with the factory expected to source limestone for cement production from a mining operation less than 1 kilometre, just over half a mile, from the newly approved site. This comes despite a November 2023 moratorium on the issuance of new mining licenses in Prey Lang and a halt to the expansion of existing mining businesses operating in the ostensibly protected forest.