PHNOM PENH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian environment ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the country's forest cover stood at 45.26 percent in 2016, a drop from about 57 percent in 2010.
"The preliminary result of forest cover evaluation in Cambodia for 2016 shows that the total forest cover in Cambodia is about 45.26 percent of the country's land," the statement said.
It noted that Cambodia had lost about 2.7 percent of forest cover a year between 2010 and 2014, and about 0.82 percent a year between 2014 and 2016.
The remarkable drop in the loss of forest cover in the last two years was due to the government's strong commitment in protecting and managing natural resources, and in replanting trees, as well as in cracking down on forest crimes, the statement said.
"Large-scale forest crime no longer exists in Cambodia, and the authorities concerned will continue to prevent and eliminate medium-and small-scale forest crimes, and will enhance the effective protection and management of natural resources," it said.
Cambodia's forest cover stood at 73 percent in the 1970s, but over-logging has gradually decreased it since then.
