https://cambodia.wcs.org RSS feeds for WCS Cambodia 60 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15921/bamboo-producer-group-is-happy-to-see-their-business-keep-growing.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15921 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15921&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15921/bamboo-producer-group-is-happy-to-see-their-business-keep-growing.aspx Sales of bamboo ornaments and utensils crafted by the Bamboo Producer Group in Sre Preah Community Protected Area (CPA) increased almost four times from $212 in 2019 to $806 in 2020.The reasons for this increase in income were that the Bamboo Producer Group diversified the bamboo products being made and improved their quality as a result of training delivered under the USAID KSCP, as well as behavior change in consumers who stopped using plastic items and switched to bamboo.Sre Preah Bamboo Producer Group - a community-based enterprise - was established in September 2018 with support from USAID, REDD+ and CAMPAS (GEF 6) projects, with an aim to (i) improve livelihoods of the group members; (ii) demonstrate sustainable use of bamboo resources in Sre Preah CPA; and (iii) incentivize reforestation of degraded areas with bamboo in Sre Preah CPA. The main business activities of the group include propagating and transplanting bamboo on degraded land, and creating bamboo handicrafts for sale.The group is comprised of 27 members, including 15 women from three villages - Pu Char, Pu Kong and O Chra - in Sre Preah commune, Keo Seima District of Mondulkiri Province. Items crafted by the group include kettle, mug, cup, candle holder, tissue box, clothes hanger, mobile phone speaker, pen holder, kitchen storage container, flower pot, and more.The Sre Preah Bamboo Producer Group was established and is supported by the USAID Keo Seima Conservation Project (USAID KSCP), being implemented by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia. The group manages 69 hectares of bamboo in Sre Preah CPA, containing four species of bamboo known locally as russey thngor, russey prey, russey khley, and russey roleak. Group members have received training on sustainable bamboo harvesting techniques, business plan development, inventory skills, benefit sharing, and financial management.The revenue from sales of bamboo products is used by group members for household expenses, and a portion is invested in forest conservation in the CPA. The group hope to continue selling processed bamboo, expand the area under bamboo cultivation by using bamboo to reforest degraded land throughout the CPA, and are assessing market demand and production feasibility for other bamboo products.  Read this article in Khmer      rleak@wcs.org Thu, 18 Mar 2021 03:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15921 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15922/bunong-indigenous-villages-in-keo-seima-wildlife-sanctuary-are-suffering-from-human-elephant-conflict.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15922 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15922&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15922/bunong-indigenous-villages-in-keo-seima-wildlife-sanctuary-are-suffering-from-human-elephant-conflict.aspx A handful of Bunong indigenous villages located in or on the edge of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (formally known as Seima Protected Forest) are suffering from human-elephant conflict, which in this case is when elephants enter their farms and eating and/or damaging their crops. This is a recent problem with the elephants only causing this intensity of damage over the last 2 – 3 years. The likely causes of this issue are loss and disturbance of elephant habitat from forest clearance and illegal logging. Elephants have extremely large home ranges recorded from 50 km2 in Sri Lanka up to 1000 km2 in India, and disturbance to these areas can cause significant changes in movement patterns and behaviour.WCS in partnership with the Government of Cambodia have been working to assess the impact and possible solutions to deal with this issue. Human-elephant conflict occurs in every country Asian elephants are found, and finding solutions to this problem is extremely difficult. One of the best ways to reduce the scale of conflict is to prevent it in the first place, by ensuring elephant habitat is protected, and not disturbed or destroyed.In 2015, during the months the elephants were raiding crops, a WCS camera trap being used to investigate wildlife diversity around the village of Andong Kralong captured a young calf washing in a small forest pool close to the village. meng@wcs.org Wed, 08 Jun 2016 03:12:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15922 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15924/indigenous-land-tenure-in-mondulkiri.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15924 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15924&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15924/indigenous-land-tenure-in-mondulkiri.aspx Securing land tenure will help stabilise land-use in the Seima Protection Forest (SPF). This is one of WCS and the FA's key strategies in the SPF as it will protect forests, and the wildlife that depend on them as well as maintaining critically important cultural values. The film was produced with the general assistance of Danida, DfID, NZAid and The Asia Foundation Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:33:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15924 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15923/seima-protection-forest-cambodia.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15923 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15923&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15923/seima-protection-forest-cambodia.aspx This film introduces the Seima Protection Forest (SPF) and the work of the Forestry Administration (FA) to develop a program to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).The REDD project aims to provide a sustainable source of financing for the SPF through the payment of carbon credits from avoided deforestation. This film introduces the main concepts of REDD and shows how this will benefit the globally important biodiversity and social values of the SPF.The film was produced with assistance from WCS and Winrock International Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:20:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15923 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15928/conservation-through-literacy.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15928 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15928&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15928/conservation-through-literacy.aspx The Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program, in collaboration with World Education, Inc., have started an innovative project using literacy programs to support conservation efforts. The project began in January 2010 and is being piloted in the villages of Sre Levi and Andoung Kraloeng in the Seima Protection Forest (SPF), Mondulkiri.Preliminary investigations carried out by World Education in 2009 revealed that illiteracy and innumeracy are a significant barrier to the successful implementation of community-based conservation efforts. Most of the adult population in the SPF cannot read, and it is thought that perhaps 95% of the population cannot carry out simple mathematics. Acquisition of functional literacy is a crucial step in the process of improved livelihoods and alleviation of poverty for the residents of the SPF. Achievement of functional literacy will enable participants to read and write in the Khmer language—Cambodia's lingua franca and the language of commerce—as well as gain competency in basic numeracy. Without these basic, foundational skills, making any sustainable improvements in livelihood skills or attendant knowledge is far more difficult. These skills are essential to the successful implementation of many conservation interventions from the marketing and sale of timber, to the completion of land tenure paperwork, and the equitable distribution of benefits from the sale of carbon credits. More fundamentally World Education's experience with similar financial literacy and livelihoods programs elsewhere in Cambodia, as well as in Nepal, East Timor, India and elsewhere have illustrated the importance of literacy as a building block for further empowerment activities. The ability to read documents, make notes and do simple computation allows learners to more easily grasp and retain other complex, skills-based learning over the long term, helps with critical thinking and enables them to engage in transactions and negotiations on an equal footing with others in the economic sphere outside the confines of their village.The project works in partnership with the Provincial and District Departments of Education and is supporting their efforts in non-formal education in Mondulkiri. In addition, community-level literacy working groups play an integral role in providing monitoring support to literacy classes and facilitators. Implementation is taking place in several phases. Phase one (January to March 2010) saw the development of a syllabus, identification of learners and recruitment of teachers. Phase two (April to October 2010) involves the preliminary teaching of functional literacy in two villages, and phase three will see the introduction of financial literacy. By June 2010 the successes of the project are becoming clear. Forty-three adults are now regularly attending classes in two villages, and all of them have passed the first stage of standardised literacy tests. Extra classes have been added to cover topics outside the standard syllabus such as land rights, and environmental education. Some challenges remain however. Progress has been slower than hoped, and the syllabus has been adapted to accommodate this, and the onset of the rainy season has reduced attendance as some learners are working in their fields. To address this, the teachers and working group members now also carry out follow up home-visits.This pilot project will run until October 2011. During that time a local NGO partner will be identified and trained to continue implementation into the future. Lessons learned in the pilot will be incorporated and it is hoped that the program can be expanded to villages throughout the SPF.Conservation through Literacy is funded with generous support from The MacArthur Foundation and World Education Inc. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:46:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15928 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15930/landscape-planning-in-mondulkiri.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15930 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15930&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15930/landscape-planning-in-mondulkiri.aspx The Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) work in Cambodia focuses on a suite of conservation areas including the Seima Protection Forest (SPF) in southern Mondulkiri province. Conserving these areas is however not just a question of improving their management, they also depend on the landscape that surrounds them. Asian Elephants move with the seasons, spreading widely in the wet season to search for food. Vultures travel huge distances to find carrion. For these and other species the boundaries of a conservation area are irrelevant. In addition conservation areas are threatened by the impacts of development around them. In-migration and inappropriate development can put pressure on forests and wildlife as migrants and those displaced by other activities look for land and resources.To help address these problems WCS is working with the Mondulkiri Provincial government and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to assess the impact of development activities and to advise on appropriate land-use throughout the province. The partnership has established a full-time Provincial Conservation Planning Advisor and facilitated the government to set up a Provincial Conservation Planning Unit (PCPU) within the office of the Mondulkiri Provincial Governor. The advisor's role is to ensure that natural resource conservation become integrated with many more provincial activities.One of the main duties of the PCPU has been the development of a biodiversity conservation corridor strategy. This was developed as part of a regional program supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to identify biodiversity corridors to offset the impact of proposed economic development zones. The project aimed to identify the most important areas of the province for biodiversity, areas that are vital to linking them and maintaining them, strategies for their conservation and recommendations for suitable development approaches. The outputs have included a series of maps that highlighted the importance of the conservation area core zones for biodiversity, a review of the impacts of development activities and a provincial level plan that identifies areas critical for conservation and those that can be developed. Most of this strategy lies within the existing conservation areas network, and will be implemented through zonation of these areas. Some other areas, such as links between Phnom Prich and Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuaries that are outside the conservation area network, have also been highlighted. The PCPU has recommended that the forest cover is maintained in these zones, perhaps through the development of community forestry areas.This corridor strategy is a landscape level land-use plan that will help guide development for many years. It is designed to maintain large areas of forest, and maintain connectivity between different management units. It covers the full range of ecosystems from the evergreen forests of the southern Annamite range to the wetlands and channels of the Srepok river. This scale and connectivity should help maintain viable ecosystems that may be more resilient to climate change. As such this strategy now also forms the basis an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptation in Mondulkiri.The PCPU continues to advise the provincial government on the impact of concessions, mining, road building and other developments. The corridor strategy will be implemented in 2010 in preparation for a proposed continuation of the ADB project. The PCPU is supported by the Asian Development Bank through the Greater Mekong Subregion Core Environment Program Biodiversity Corridors Initiative, the MacArthur Foundation and the Multi-Donor Livelihoods Facility's Civil Society and Pro-poor Marketing Program. Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:52:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15930 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15935/surveying-local-communities-in-seima.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15935 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15935&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15935/surveying-local-communities-in-seima.aspx Forestry Administration and WCS Project staff in Seima conduct regular surveys of the local communities that live in and around the Seima Protectoin Forest. The latest study describes the communities as they were in early 2008. In particular we sought to find out information on livelihoods and how many community-based organisations were present in the landscape. The report also reviews information on agri-business and mining exploration concessions, which are likely to be key drivers of demographic change in the future.The total population in the then Seima Biodiversity Conservation Areas in 2008 was estimated as about 16,600, a density of 5.4 people/km2. These are moderately large populations that create a major challenge for management. These numbers also give an approximate measure of the number of people likely to be benefitting directly from use of the SPF, since almost all families in the SPF farm and collect forest products there, whilst many people in the neighbourhood zone also go into the SPF to collect forest productsA major revision of the boundaries of the SPF was undertaken as part of the new sub-decree that elevated the status of the reserve in August 2009. Under the new boundaries, human populations in the reserve was reduced by excluding nine villages. Overall this will simplify some aspects of management, and in particular will remove the overlap with the provincial capital. The total population of the SPF in 2008 is approximately 12,800 (4.2/km2), including 4700 (3.0/km2) in the new Core Protection Forest, while the population of the 5 km neighbourhood zone is an additional 25,600 (21/km2).The overall population growth of the study area averaged 5.8% per year over 2003-2008. This growth is far higher than can be achieved through a surplus of births over deaths and indicates high rates of in-migration. The national average growth rate was 1.81% in 2004 and this is probably a useful benchmark for natural rates of growth in modern day Cambodia. 60% of the growth in the study area was in parts of just two communes, Sre Khtum (an extraordinary 43% of all growth) and Khseum. The province as a whole grew at 4.3% per year over this period, showing that migration is not only concentrated in and around the SPF. Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15935 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15933/seima-protection-forest-declared.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15933 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15933&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15933/seima-protection-forest-declared.aspx On August 7th 2009 the Royal Government of Cambodia's highest legislative body, the Council of Ministers declared the creation of the Seima Protection Forest (SPF). At 2,926 km2 this is the largest new protected area created in Cambodia since 2002. This development marks the culmination of over three years of lobbying on the part of SPF managers to secure additional legal support for the SPF as the draft sub-decree was reviewed and approved by a range of Cambodian government agencies, including the Forestry Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and finally the Council of Ministers itself.As a result of the new sub-decree, the status of the site has been changed from Production Forest to Protection Forest, and some idiosyncrasies in the boundaries of the SPF have been corrected. The new Core Protection Forest covers all key wildlife habitat that was covered by the previous SBCA Core Area, whilst also expanding westward to incorporate an area reported to have part the last remaining Eld's Deer population in the site. The SPF will include a Buffer Protection Forest where local communities will be authorized to engage in the sustainable exploitation of their natural resources, although the details governing issues such as zonation will not be confirmed until the preparation of the SPF management plan.The SPF is the first protected area in Cambodia that explicitly states the protection of bio-carbon as one of its key roles. WCS is now working with the Forestry Administration to develop a model for the reduction of green house gas emissions through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) mechanism. Since February WCS and FA have been carrying out extensive surveys to measure the carbon stocks held by the SPF to help measure the potential value of the area. It is possible that income from payments for this and other environmental services could provide significant funds to help support conservation and rural poverty alleviation programs in and around the SPF. Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:03:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15933 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15932/wild-cattle-in-the-seima-protection-forest.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15932 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15932&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15932/wild-cattle-in-the-seima-protection-forest.aspx Wildlife surveys in the newly extended core area of Seima Protection Forest started earlier this year and they have been yielding exciting results. One of the most interesting of these has been an unusual encounter with a large herd of one of SPF's most endangered species, Banteng.Banteng, one of Cambodia's three species of wild cattle, once occurred from southern China across mainland Southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. However, the species now persists only in greatly reduced and isolated populations, many of which are in decline. Banteng have been heavily hunted over the last few decades, for meat, trophies and medicinal use, and these threats are exacerbated by rapid habitat loss. The species is listed by IUCN as Endangered and, although the exact number is not known, it is probable that there are less than 8 000 individuals remaining in the wild.In his accounts of expeditions to Northern Cambodia during the 1950's, biologist Charles Wharton likens the landscape to the game lands of Africa as he describes huge herds of wild cattle, including Banteng, roaming the savannah forest. This is sometimes difficult to imagine today as Cambodia's wild cattle have been subjected to many of the same pressures affecting the species elsewhere in the region. Despite this there are parts of the country, in particular the open forests in the northern and eastern provinces, which still retain populations of wild cattle.Wild cattle such as Banteng play a crucial role in many ecological processes, such as large seed dispersal and the maintenance of habitat structures. In addition to playing the part of "ecological architects" Banteng constitute a critical food source for many carnivore species, such as Tiger, Leopard and Dhole. The probable extinction of the Kouprey, another of Cambodia's wild cattle species which has not been seen since the 80's, further highlights the urgency of conservation actions focusing on Banteng populations.Mondulkiri province in Eastern Cambodia has become one of the last strongholds of Banteng in Indochina, and the Seima Protection Forest is recognised as a globally important site for the conservation of this species. Banteng is one of a number priority species in SPF which are monitored annually using line transect surveys. Line transects are essentially fixed survey routes which are walked repeatedly by skilled field staff who record observations of target species. These data are used to estimate the total number of animals present in the core area. Over time managers can assess whether populations are increasing, decreasing or remaining stable, and use this information to guide and evaluate management actions.The similarity in appearance of Banteng to many breeds of domestic cattle belies its shy nature and these animals are rarely seen, even by field staff who spend much of their time in the forest. In the last round of surveys Banteng were observed on just 11 occasions, despite the fact that the biological monitoring team walked just under 1500km on transects. Such encounters that do occur often only afford the briefest glimpse of an animal before it disappears into the dense cover that herds like to keep close to. However, earlier this season one of the team leaders, Sot Vandouen, managed to capture video footage of the elusive Banteng during a transect survey. This was an area which had not previously been surveyed and the observation was all the more exciting as he counted a total of 21 animals, which is the highest number of individuals recorded in any Banteng encounter in SPF.Not only does this record provide further confirmation of the presence of healthy breeding herds but it also makes it a little easier to imagine these forests being restored to their former glory, as described by Wharton half a century ago.The biological monitoring work in SPF is made possible through support from Eleanor Briggs, Ellyssa Kellerman and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:56:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15932 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15938/surveying-alternative-sites-for-the-mangrove-terrapin.aspx#Comments 0 https://cambodia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=8535&ModuleID=46005&ArticleID=15938 https://cambodia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15938&PortalID=133&TabID=8535 https://cambodia.wcs.org/about-us/latest-features/id/15938/surveying-alternative-sites-for-the-mangrove-terrapin.aspx A rapid field-based assessment of the the Sre Ambel river and surrounding areas was implemented in late 2008 by a collaborative team comprising members of Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Conservation International–Cambodia (CI), the Forestry Administration (FA) and the Ministry of Environment (MOE).The survey, which lasted approximately four weeks, primarily focused on the numerous river valleys punctuating the coast and on a select group of focal species, and included two days of aerial overflight in a small aircraft, opportunistic observational small boat and foot based surveys, informal interviews with local communities, and limited live-trapping for turtles.The survey team concluded that the Sre Ambel river system is still in reasonably good condition in comparison to other regional river systems, although most riparian habitats had been severely degraded. They also noted several human settlements, although human population densities were lower than those of the Mekong river systems. Although the Sre Ambel river system was still considered to be the most significant known river system for Mangrove Terrapins, the team concluded that it would be impossible to prevent major development of the river system in the long-term, and alternative rivers should be identified for the release of hatchlings in the future. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15938