Everland’s Statement – The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project Human Rights Watch Report

Advancing human rights is critical to every project that Everland represents. 

The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project is no exception. And for over a year, we have been supporting Wildlife Alliance as they engage with Human Rights Watch about a report Human Rights Watch has prepared on the project. 

We have learnt that this report will be published imminently. 

While we have only just received the report and are still working through the details, the nature of its allegations appears largely the same as those made by Human Rights Watch in their letter to Wildlife Alliance dated 6 November 2023.

Therefore we encourage everyone to read this open letter by Wildlife Alliance CEO Dr. Suwanna Gauntlett which comprehensively addresses the concerns raised. We credit Wildlife Alliance for transparently communicating about these matters well in advance of this report.

The letter sets out Wildlife Alliance’s correspondence on these matters and makes clear:

• Crucial facts and context that are excluded from Human Rights Watch’s report.
  
• The 29 communities who directly benefit from the project’s work, including the Indigenous Chorng people, overwhelmingly support the project – and express that support freely.
  
• Without the dedication of Wildlife Alliance, much of the Southern Cardamom rainforest would be gone, and the local communities displaced and disenfranchised by land grabbing, logging, mining and construction, and other infrastructure development – as has taken place throughout Cambodia.
  
• Wildlife Alliance’s commitment to continuous improvement in its multi-decadal effort to transform the relationship between people and the forest, and the actions it is taking.

Everland remains committed to the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project, given Wildlife Alliance’s thorough responses to the allegations and the tremendous positive impacts the project has achieved for human rights, sustainable development and forest conservation in one of the most challenging operating environments in the world.