Image of Malaysia’s Deforestation Falsely Linked to Forest Destruction in Cambodia

As images of deforestation in Cambodia have been frequently shared on social media platforms, a photo showing a large plot of green forest being cleared was virally circulated on Facebook last week. The Facebook post implied that the photo is of deforestation in Cambodia. After running a Google Reverse Image Search, however, it proves the post is misleading.

SOCIAL MEDIAL CLAIM

One of three images showing a large plot of green forest being cleared was circulated on social media. The photo came with a caption implying that the image is of deforestation in Cambodia.

The Facebook post had been shared nearly 2,000 times in less than a week and gotten a lot of comments and reactions as well.

Below is the capture of the May 12, 2023, Facebook post saying, “Love what Khmer has.”

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Other social media users also circulated the same photo and got many shares, comments, and reactions from Khmer-speaking Facebook users.

Below is a capture of a Facebook page naming the សហព័ន្ធ​អ្នក​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ (Democrat Federation) last Saturday.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

This is also a capture of another Facebook post last week which got more than 300 times of shares in less than 24 hours.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Here is a capture of the post by a Khmer Media Facebook page.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

FACT CHECK

Fact Crescendo Cambodia began checking this photo by running a Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to find out the facts below.

The same image was found in an article published Clean Malaysia website in 2016. The photo caption in the story says it is illegal deforestation in Sarawak state, Malaysia.

Below is the capture of the image published by Clean Malaysia, which credited it to NAT GEO.

Clean Malaysia | Archived Link

We also found the same photo on the National Geographic website in its article published in 2015. The photo caption says the large plot of natural rainforest in Sarawak was illegally cleared to open the way for palm plantations. Please see the capture below.

NAT GEO | Archived Link

The coverage of rainforest in Sarawak in 2010 was 9.57 million hectares, or equivalent to 91 percent of the state land. However, some 56.7 kilometers squares of rainforest had been cleared by 2021, according to Global Forest Watch. Please see the full details here.

CONCLUSION

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the Facebook post mentioned earlier is misleading. The image is not the deforestation in Cambodia. The destruction of natural forests happened in Malaysia’s Sarawak state in 2015.