The Keo Seima REDD+ Project lies on the frontier of a deforestation wave that has devastated the surrounding landscape in recent years – including the total loss of the nearby Snoul Wildlife Sanctuary. In 2020, the repatriation of over 100,000 Cambodians working overseas due to COVID-19 put even greater pressure on the forest, increasing internal migration as people sought opportunities to meet their urgent livelihoods needs.
In 2020, the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project continued to face, and face down, an unrelenting series of threats to the forest and its wildlife, while providing communities with crucial support in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Ranging from small scale poaching to large scale corrupt land-grabbing, the project has tirelessly defended the highly threatened Cardamom forest.
Located in a remote 300,000 hectare rainforest area in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project provides essential basic social services for over 50,000 people in 28 villages. Already challenged by the remoteness of the project, poor infrastructure, and other day to day implementation issues, in 2020 the project had additionally to overcome the new challenges brought by the COVID pandemic. Yet the project successfully faced down these daunting challenges and made breakthrough accomplishments that advance the project toward durable conservation success.
In 2020, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project continued to deliver unwavering impact for the forest, wildlife, and community, delivering social services and economic resiliency in a time of economic collapse. The world’s first REDD+ project, Kasigau continues to deliver groundbreaking results for, and in partnership with, the 120,000 community members living within the project area.
This past quarter, the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Rangers have worked diligently to protect the biodiversity of both tree and animal species, with successful arrests of poachers and loggers. Additionally, Southern Cardamom REDD+ camera trappings have captured new images of dholes, an Endangered wild dog species that is crucially dependent on the continuous forest cover provided by the Cardamom Rainforest Landscape.
Partnerships combining the strengths of the Wildlife Works team with those of other organisations in the region, have continued to advance the collective development of shared sustainable development goals for all involved.
Ongoing implementation of initiatives structured to safeguard forested ecosystems and critical wildlife have been the main focus of this past quarter. The project has issued and delivered new equipment and supplies, and advanced key activities under the project’s collaborative and transparent benefit sharing model. The second verification is fully underway, with biomass sampling and biodiversity analyses taking place during the quarter.
The population of 11 key species in the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) were monitored between 2010 — 2020 using line transects. The report shows that populations of green peafowl and pig-tailed macaque are increasing, that populations of black-shanked douc langur, yellow-cheeked crested gibbon, long-tailed macaque, and wild pig are stable, and that populations of Germain’s silvered langur, stump-tailed
macaque, and all ungulates except wild pig are decreasing. More than 80% of species trends matched or improved on the anticipated trends set in 2010 in the REDD+ Project Document. These results highlight the success and impacts of the project, while spotlighting where new conservation interventions are most urgently needed.
Strengthening the foundations for durable conservation: Deepening partnerships with the community and Peruvian Government during the ongoing COVID pandemic.
This past quarter has been focused on the ongoing implementation of critical forest and wildlife protection initiatives and community programs in education and conservation. Other significant activities include the issuance and delivery of new equipment and supplies and a vehicle to enhance the progress of project related activities. The project continued to apply its collaborative and transparent benefit sharing model to design a holistic suite of project activities alongside the local communities.