Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.
In a nation where speaking up can lead to prison, a group of young Cambodians has refused to be silent. One year ago, five members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a conservation NGO, were jailed on charges of plotting against the government. Their real offense, it seems, was speaking out — against the privatization of national parks, the eviction of families to build airports and casinos, and the environmental cost of large-scale conversion of nature.
The Clearing, a documentary chronicling their final months of freedom, offers a sobering portrait of activism under authoritarianism. Ly Chandaravuth, among the most outspoken of the activists, is seen calmly filming the stumps of vanished trees and asking villagers about land lost to corporate concessions.
“Eighty percent of the park has been handed to private companies,” one local explains. There are no histrionics, only quiet defiance.
The group’s impact has been real. It has helped halt sand exports and dam construction. But the cost is steep: 11 members jailed, many more arrested, and its founder in exile. A courtroom summons looms over nearly every scene.
And yet, the group endures. Last year, it received the Right Livelihood Award in Stockholm, often dubbed the “Alternative Nobel.” Barred from travel, several activists stayed behind. Those who attended wore borrowed coats, shivered through interviews, and made clear they would return to face trial.
The day after the award ceremony, the summons came.
“In the best case,” one activist said, “we’ll return to our country safely. In the worst case, we’ll become more famous because they arrest us at the airport.”
Such gallows humor masks real fear, but not retreat.
“This award isn’t only for us. It’s for everyone,” they tell supporters.
In a country where peace has too often meant silence, they have chosen to speak — and in doing so, have made themselves heard far beyond Cambodia’s borders.
Watch the documentary The Clearing here.
Banner image: Ly Chandaravuth, Mother Nature Cambodia activist. Image © Andy Ball.
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