This is the third article in a three-part series. Read Part One and Part Two. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia In March 2021, Cambodia signed into law Sub-decree No. 30, which removed official protection from some 127,000 hectares of land formerly included in national parks, reserves and wildlife sanctuaries in Koh Kong province. Purportedly done to […]
Mongabay seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics,and finance on conservation and development.
Crocodylus siamensis), and Cambodia’s largest concentration of Asian elephants (
Elephas maximus).
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are critically endangered. Image by Frendi Apen Irawan via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SS 2.0).
The first biodiversity survey of the Cardamom Mountains in 2000 found that although they cover just 6% of Cambodia’s land mass, they account for most of Cambodia’s large mammal species and half of Cambodia’s known bird, reptile and amphibian species. On the coast, the Cardamom Mountains connect to Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary, which encompasses some of the largest remaining pristine mangrove forests in the Gulf of Thailand and part of one of four Ramsar sites in Cambodia.
by James Fair
Since the late 1990s, the Cambodian government has granted at least nine private companies Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) within the park for commercial crop plantations such as acacia and sugar cane, ecotourism and general infrastructure developments.
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.
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.