Starting last month, environmental rangers in Kampong Speu teamed up with local authorities for a major crackdown inside Kirirom National Park. The targeted operation ran for three solid weeks, with local media reporting 26 cases of natural resource crimes caught red-handed right on the mountain.
With its thick canopy and vast terrain, Kirirom has long been a target for opportunistic land grabbers and illegal loggers. This time, joint enforcement teams spent three straight weeks trekking deep into the hills, clamping down hard on anyone caught clearing trees, stealing timber, or illegally encroaching on parkland.
Down in the lowlands, the weather gets suffocatingly hot, so plenty of folks love hopping on motorbikes for a weekend trip up Kirirom just to catch the cool pine-forest breeze. But patrolling those steep, forested slopes is tough work—rangers have to rely mostly on foot power and dirt bikes to navigate the rough mountain trails. Breaking up 26 violations in one swift sweep has local roadside coffee stalls buzzing, with everyone agreeing that the heat is definitely on up in the mountains right now.
