Introduction The story of Cambodia’s deforestation is unironically also the story of Cambodia’s development. After 30 years of war, the country emerged from communist rule with abundant forests covering 73% of the country. These resources quickly became key players in Cambodia’s state formation activ- ities. In 1996, International advisors confdently declared forest exploita- tion to be Cambodia’s best option to support their fedgling democracy, and they promoted Forest Concessions as a frst step toward transition to a market economy (World Bank, UNDP, and FAO 1996). This move legit- imized controversial practices within existing forest exploitation chains, through which political factions fnanced their earlier war efforts and se- cured newly democratized power to the exclusionary practices of market capitalism (LeBillon 2000). By 2005, the rapacious effects of this policy were already visible, and international brokers attempted to institute some guidelines and regulations to take stock of forest resources (WB 2005). These state-making forest policies had dramatic effects on rural and in- digenous communities across the country, and by 2019 forest cover had fallen to under 40% and continue to decrease dramatically today (Mong- abay 2020). The socialist years were not quiet in Cambodia’s forests, marked as they were by warring factions, but forest communities in all parts of the coun- try mark the “transition” to Forest Concessions as a whole new kind of violence. Both Khmer and Kuy People’s traditional relationship to ancient trees, and especially their respect and unwillingness to cut them, began to change as international loggers, miners, agricultural concessionaires, and national elites claimed rights to these resources (Keating 2012; Swift 2013; Work 2018). The aggressive speed of this transition thrust people into new, often violent, land and resource regimes (Forum 2008; PLCN 2014; Vrieze and Naren 2012). In response, communities organized and fought back against the appropriation of forests and farm lands (Nimol 2012; Phak 2015, 2016). The Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) waged a long-lasting 2 Engaged research uncovers the grey areas and trade-offs in climate justice Courtney Work, Arnim Scheidel, Ida Theilade, Sen Sothea, and Danik Song