The Ministry of Environment and the Wildlife Alliance have agreed to organise activities that will educate and promote an environmentally friendly movement in the Cardamom Mountain range by holding a youth debate forum in 2022. This came as ministry officials inspected 10 mountain areas that will potentially be earmarked as natural heritage sites.
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
Grassroots Activists Work to Save Remaining Cardamom Mountains Rainforest
The burden of safeguarding the region’s rich resources falls on local environmental groups and a small number of park rangers.
By
March 05, 2021
Park rangers from the Thmor Bang ranger outpost in the Cardamom Mountains trek through the forest in search of illegal logging and poaching operations. A handful of rangers are responsible for protecting over 400,000 hectares of forest.
Credit: Joe Patchett
The Cardamom Mountains contain the largest watershed forest in Cambodia, consisting of over 800,000 hectares of dense monsoon forest, a vast network of estuaries and rivers, and extensive mangrove forests, pictured here.