Hundreds of wildlife species, including 100 forest elephants, are threatened by secretive plans for a massive titanium mine in a Cambodian protected forest, the Cardamom Mountains.
The area is one of most isolated and intact ecosystems in Southeast Asia.
Click here for a ready-to-go protest letter to the Cambodian government.
Comments
We need titanium more than elephants, so don't worry about it
We need titanium more than elephants such as titanium rods put into peoples arms and legs where bones have broken.
You and me will never go to Cambodia and see elephants so don't worry about it.
She'll be apples, mate
That's right, don't worry about anyone. As long as the beer is cold, the barbie sizzling and the surf up, she'll be apples, mate....
People are more important than animals
Diet Simon People are more important than animals.
If you were Cambodian and you choice was let your children starve and let the elephants live or work in the mine have some elephants die but you children live what would you choose?
Read the mine stories linked to....
...to see the horrible destruction this mine would wreak on people repeat people and hundreds of animal species, not just the elephants.
Before operating mouth, switch on brain.
Unless you live in a tree naked you are a hypocrite
your full of it tell us how people are at risk they will chop down a forest And make a mine. Diet Simon if you drive a car or Live in a house their will titanium in these places unless you live in a tree naked you are a hypocrite where do you think we should get our minerals from and who should be allowed to consume it. the world needs mines I dont want to go back in time and live in a cave,as you use your computer that is made of metal and uses power that burns coal you greenies have got no idea
Been there, done that, long ago
We pick up from the industrial era what is good and discard what is bad, instead of reciprocating against it with the same its proponents did against these who came before them. You must have a lot of guilty conscience to arrive here with such an expectation. If you treat your customers with the same lame caricature of a worldview as your political opponents you will surely lose them.
Re: Been there, done that, long ago
I'm a bouncer I bash my customers but only the good ones
You dont mention people in your story
You dont mention people in your story your making it as you go.
So what was your answer to the question yes or no?
Click on the link in the second line
Click on the link in the second line
Mine stopped
Victory! Destructive Titanium Mine Denied Permission to Move Forward
Friday, April 8, 2011 -- In a huge reversal, Cambodian Prime Minister Sandech Hun Sen has announced that a strip mine previously approved in the heart of an elephant corridor in the Southern Cardamom Mountains will not go forward.
On Friday morning, the Council of Ministers—essentially the executive branch of the Cambodian government—met in a full session. According to a press release issued after that meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed the full session and announced that a 4,400 hectare titanium mine would not be permitted to go ahead.
“Due to the concerns of the impact on the environment, biodiversity and local livelihoods [Prime Minister] Hun Sen has announced to not permit the titanium mining operation that is located in Koh Kong province,” the press release read.
Wildlife Alliance has been combating this titanium mine proposed by United Khmer Group since the very beginning. In addition to being located in dense evergreen rainforest, the strip mine was directly in the midst of a thriving ecotourism project we started by Wildlife Alliance in 2007. The government originally approved the mine in February of this year, so this latest announcement came as a welcome surprise.
“We are elated by the decision of Prime Minister Hun Sen. It is incredibly encouraging to see that the prime minister has looked so deeply into this proposed titanium mine and taken the effort to weigh the consequences that this project would have on the rainforest and the local people,” said Wildlife Alliance CEO Suwanna Gauntlett. “United Khmer Group had promised staggering revenues for the government, and we applaud the courageous decision of the prime minister to see the greater value of the forest as it currently stands.”
United Khmer Group had projected revenues of more than $1.3 billion for the mine despite having never done a scientific analysis of the proposed mining area. If it had been allowed to go ahead with the strip mine it was questionable as to whether it would be profitable. But it is certain that it would have had disastrous effects on the community of Chi Phat and the ecotourism project Wildlife Alliance and the local people have developed.
Chi Phat’s natural beauty has been the subject of numerous international articles in recent months, including a large write-up in the New York Times. But all this attention would have been for naught if the Chi Phat’s trails and scenic waterfalls had been replaced by mining pits and industrial runoff.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision today is a major victory for conservation in one of the largest contiguous rainforests in Southeast Asia, but threats persist. Not too far away from the proposed mine, an Australian firm is looking to set up a banana plantation that would sever the elephant corridor. But after seeing this responsible move by the Cambodian government today, we are moving forward more confident that the cause of conservation and sustainable development can come out on top in that struggle as well.