Investigate. Expose. Protect.

For nearly a decade, Mother Nature Cambodia has been fearlessly investigating and exposing some of the country’s most devastating — and corrupt — environmental crimes. From remote forests to polluted coastlines, from satellite imagery to customs and shipping data, our young investigators go wherever the truth takes them, gathering evidence on the ground and online, often at great personal risk. These findings are turned into powerful social media content that sparks outrage, awareness, and sometimes real change — whether it’s stopping illegal sand exports, challenging destructive ‘development megaprojects’, or defending Cambodia’s sea from illegal foreign fishing fleets. Backed by Cambodia’s youth and led mostly by women, our bold and unapologetic approach has made us a target for repression — but also a beacon of hope for those fighting to protect the country’s natural resources. Read on to learn how we work, what we’ve achieved, and what we’re up against.

MNC’s investigations begin where the destruction is happening — on the ground. Our investigators travel to the crime scenes, speak with affected communities, talk to those directly involved (loggers, miners, etc.), gather footage and evidence, and confront local authorities. At the same time, we carry out online investigations — combing through government and corporate records (e.g. import/export data, company filings), analyzing satellite and radar imagery, and reviewing media reports.

Despite the risks involved (explained further below), our findings are shared with the public not through long-winded reports that few people read or act on — but through powerful, easy-to-digest content: short videos, sharp imagery, and concise social media posts. These videos are narrated by MNC activists, members of our wider youth network, or — when safe — the local communities themselves. 

We focus almost exclusively on large-scale environmental destruction — either ongoing or in the planning stages — nearly always backed by Cambodia’s ruling elite and their crony business partners. We don’t try to replicate the many NGOs doing public awareness work. Yes, Cambodia faces many other environmental challenges — from wildlife consumption to plastic waste — but MNC’s mission is to confront the most urgent and dangerous threats: those disguised as “development” projects that are in reality nothing more than fronts for corruption, logging, land theft, mining, resource extraction, etc.

Finally, it’s important to note that all MNC videos are fronted by Cambodians under the age of 35, with a strong majority presented by young women. This reflects MNC’s identity as a youth-led, gender-just, activist movement — not a conventional NGO.

Our first major investigations (2016–2017) uncovered how sand — including precious silica sand — was being illegally exported to Singapore, Taiwan, and India by elites with close ties to the regime. Since then, MNC’s work has exposed a wide range of crimes against nature. Some key examples:

I. Exposing the Delcom Gold Mine (2017)

We uncovered serious abuses at Cambodia’s largest gold mine in Preah Vihear — including land grabbing, poisoning of water sources, and harassment of indigenous communities — all protected by the former Prime Minister’s personal bodyguard unit. The mine remains operational and shrouded in secrecy, with no meaningful transparency. According to multiple credible sources, it is in fact privately owned by members of the Hun family, not the Cambodian state or people.

🔗 Watch the video

II. The Riverbank Collapse Crisis

We exposed how uncontrolled sand extraction from the Mekong and Bassac Rivers was causing homes, infrastructure, and even entire villages to collapse into the water — alongside plummeting fish stocks. As usual, the regime responded with lies: blaming “natural causes” and even claiming sand extraction was helping! Our follow-up video during the COVID pandemic used academic research to prove a clear, direct link between sand dredging and riverbank erosion.

🔗 Initial expose (2017)

🔗 Follow-up (2020)

III. Sihanoukville’s Toxic Development

Long before most others dared speak out, MNC exposed how the rapid transformation of Sihanoukville — into a crime-dominated, Chinese-backed boomtown — was devastating the local environment. Using tools almost unheard of in Cambodian activism (e.g. water testing, laser measurement), we revealed raw sewage flowing into the sea, illegal construction on public beaches, and citywide waste mismanagement. Our videos helped force the regime to build two wastewater treatment plants — a rare and tangible victory. Several of the young investigators behind this campaign were later jailed or forced into hiding.

🔗 Sewage discharge video

🔗 Casino-related garbage video

🔗 Illegal beachfront construction

IV. A Nationwide Wastewater Crisis

Our team proved that Sihanoukville was no exception. Similar failures in wastewater management were uncovered in Battambang, Kampot, and Phnom Penh — all exposed using hard evidence and science-based methods. We gathered samples, filmed the damage, and publicly demanded accountability. What should be standard practice for civil society anywhere come with extreme risks in Cambodia under the Hun family regime.

🔗 Battambang

🔗 Kampot

V. Foreign Fishing Invasion (2025)

In May 2025, we exposed how over 1,000 Vietnamese fishing vessels — just the tip of the iceberg — were illegally operating in Cambodian waters. Due to increased repression, the presenter in our viral video had to appear from outside Cambodia. As always, we didn’t make accusations — we asked legitimate questions, backed by evidence. The regime, true to form, ignored it.

🔗 Watch the video

MNC’s success has come at a heavy cost. As of July 2025, 11 members of our team have been arrested in 5 separate waves of repression:

• 3 in August 2015
• 2 in September 2019
• 3 in September 2020
• 3 in June 2021
• 5 more on July 2nd, 2024 — all of whom remain in prison today, serving between 4.5 and 6.5 more years unless overturned on appeal.

Our founder, Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, was expelled in 2015 and banned from returning. Two other members have been forced into exile, and two more remain in hiding.

Why does the Hun family regime jail peaceful environmental activists — even award-winning ones? The answer is both financial and political.

Financially, every time MNC exposes a destructive project benefiting the ruling elite and their business cronies — and the story goes viral or hits the media — it threatens their profits. For example, in 2015, a high-level source warned us that our campaign against coastal sand extraction was “costing the elite serious money.” Merely later, three of our activists were jailed on trumped-up charges and spent nearly a year in pre-trial detention.

Politically, the regime views independent activism as a threat. Any Cambodian citizen who dares speak out — by asking tough questions, organizing peaceful protests, or demanding answers — is seen not as an engaged citizen, but a ‘political enemy’. The dictatorship fears that if it doesn’t crush groups like MNC, others will follow. While MNC has never sought political change, only the protection of Cambodia’s natural resources, this doesn’t matter to a regime that grew out of the Khmer Rouge and continues to rule through paranoia, fear, and brute force.