The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project successfully conducted its FPIC process for its 4th Monitoring Report (M4), starting February 15, 2023 and was completed by May 5, 2023. The FPIC process has been implemented on a continuous basis since the project began, emphasizing the importance of engaging local community members and indigenous people, and prioritizing their inclusion in the ongoing decision making and governance of the project. This is vital to the project’s ability to successfully deliver the promise of REDD+ in collaboration with the forest dependent communities. For M4, FPIC meetings were held in all 29 communities, reaching almost 1200 community members, an 18% increase compared to the last round of meetings conducted in the third monitoring period.
Ms. Pheang has played a remarkable role in mobilizing stakeholders to rebuild areas that were once threatened by deforestation. Through her leadership, she has encouraged women in her community to step forward and earn a better living.
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.
Hear from Touch It, a REDD+ scholarship student studying Economics of Informational Technology. She hopes to become a professional marketing researcher working with local villagers and farmers in her community after she graduates.
Hear from Thorn Khak, a REDD+ scholarship student who is studying agricultural science and hopes to become a specialist in his field working in his local community.
Hear from Pich Savary, a REDD+ scholarship student studying tourism who hopes to share her knowledge and promote ecotourism on a larger scale when she graduates.
Hear from Tith Sour, an Indigenous REDD+ scholarship student studying Agricultural Information Technology who hopes to become a web developer with professional skills to help develop his community and protect forests and natural resources.
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.