How indigenous ‘vigilante’ grandfathers protect forest life
A group of elders, frustrated with state response, protect forest from looting against backdrop of rising deforestation.
by Matt Blomberg: Aljazeera

Lim, the leader of the ‘vigilante’ group comprising elderly men, smokes tobacco while waiting for team members to locate a nearby gang of loggers [Matt Blomberg/Al Jazeera]

Rovieng, Cambodia – At the edge of a forest on the northern plains of Cambodia, an indigenous community is building its own security system.
It comprises a small outpost made of timber confiscated from illegal loggers at the main access point looters use as they look to rob the forest of its riches.
For the community’s self-appointed forest patrol, it is a key line of defence when most indigenous people have been reduced to bystanders as their ancestral forests are felled.
“We can’t depend on the law, it’s too slow,” says Ruos Lim, the 67-year-old patrol leader.

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