Nested between two important ecoregions within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot – the Annamite Mountains evergreen forests, and the lower Mekong dry forests – the 167,000 hectare Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) is home to more than 950 wild species, including 75 globally threatened species, and is the ancestral home of the indigenous Bunong people. The Project has defended the traditional rights of over 12,000 Indigenous Bunong and Stieng people from 20 villages within the Project Area by helping the indigenous communities to secure the first Indigenous Community Land Title in Cambodia.
The Cardamom Rainforest Landscape is one of the last unfragmented rainforests remaining in Southeast Asia. It is a critical part of the Indo- Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, facing threat from relentless illegal logging and poaching. This area is globally significant for ecosystem servicing, wildlife conservation, and community livelihoods and serves as the region’s most important watershed, climate regulator and carbon sink. Using a unique approach for forest protection and community development, the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project protects 497,000 hectares of this crucial tropical rainforest ecosystem in Southwest Cambodia.
The Keo Seima REDD+ Project will use carbon revenues to strengthen and expand a number of priority interventions that are strategically placed inside and outside the project area
The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project will use carbon revenues to strengthen and expand a number of priority interventions that are strategically placed inside and outside the project area
Important community infrastructure has been established during the last two quarters, including a significant water well, various village roads, a series of new toilets, and new chicken coops for the Community Livestock Raising project. A recent scholarship student is excelling in his studies. Recent sightings of gibbons at three ranger stations highlight the importance and impact of the enforcement program.
The relentless drought results in severe food insecurity for wildlife and communities in the Kasigau Corridor, mitigated by the provision of supplemental food and water by the project team and local collaborators.
The 1 billionth Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) credit was issued to the Chyulu Hills REDD+ project following the finalization of the project’s second verification. The team has been collaborating with local community members for biomass sampling and restoration of grasslands. The drought in Kenya has been very challenging, resulting in extensive food security issues and wildfire threats, mitigated in part through emergency school feeding programs and enhanced firefighting training and equipment.
Self-identification of land tenure has been completed in Bunong villages across the project area, cementing their legal rights to their ancestral land. Land plots have been demarcated to protect against illegal land clearance by outsiders. Hundreds of community members participated in biodiversity education events. New eco-tourism spots are being scouted in the project area, but expansion has been challenging.
The project team is planning for an upcoming validation and verification of credits through regular technical meetings with the government and plans for the official integration of Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) activities. A new Master Plan was approved, highlighting the activities to be undertaken in the Alto Mayo Protected Forest between 2023 and 2027. Recent political uncertainty has shaken Peru’s economy, with negative impacts radiating to communities in the project area.
