Casinos, condos and sugar cane: How a Cambodian national park is being sold down the river
by James Fair on 4 May 2021
Botum Sakor National Park in southern Cambodia has lost at least 30,000 hectares of forest over the past three decades.
Decades of environmental degradation go back to the late 1990s when the Cambodian government began handing out economic land concessions for the development of commercial plantations and tourist infrastructure.
NGOs in Cambodia are said to be unwilling to speak out against the destruction of Botum Sakor because they are afraid they will not be allowed to operate in the country if they do.
Encompassing the largest tract of unbroken rain forest in Southeast Asia, Cambodiaâs Cardamom Mountains have long been plagued by rampant deforestation and poaching. But a new generation of dedicated conservationists is helping to protect this vast wilderness, backed by ecotourism initiatives that are only now beginning to put down roots.
Guests of the new Cardamom Tented Camp kayaking on the Preak Tachan in Botum Sakor National Park.
For hundreds of years, the misty, mysterious jungles of Cambodia have enticed intrepid adventurers. In the 19th century, French explorer Henri Mouhot was the first European to stumble upon the overgrown ruins of ancient Angkor. The forested plateau of Phnom Kulen, once a Khmer Rouge stronghold, is now known to harbor âlostâ temple-cities too. And in the countryâs southwest, the wild Cardamom Mountains have in recent times divulged secrets of their own, including hoards of burial jars belonging to some long-forgotten tribe and a gro