PHNOM PENH, Cambodia A flurry of subdecrees released through the end of July and early August show that the Cambodian government has approved he addition of more than a million hectares of land, or 2.5 million acres, to the country’s protected areas. But amid the ongoing deforestation and privatization of Cambodia’s protected areas, civil […]
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia In July, conservationists in Cambodia sounded the alarm over a regulation that saw eight protected areas in Koh Kong province collectively lose territory twice the size of Phnom Penh, the country’s capital. Officials said the move, affecting nearly 127,000 hectares (314,000 acres) under Sub-decree No. 30, was meant to grant land […]
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.