The Cardamom Rainforest Landscape is one of the last unfragmented rainforests remaining in Southeast Asia and is a critical part of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot at threat from relentless illegal logging and poaching.
The project relentlessly defends 465,839 hectares of forest in a highly threatened landscape. For example, recently the project team stopped the construction of a High Voltage Power Line through the heart of the REDD+ Project. A high voltage power line had been planned to bring electricity from 4 hydro-power dams to Phnom Penh, which would […]
The ranger and enforcement team in Southern Cardamom is constructing a tiger reintroduction station, which includes ponds for swimming, wild pig enclosures for tiger prey, workers house and a veterinary station. By 2023, the Indian government will begin the reintegration process by donating at least 10 tigers, giving them the opportunity to roam free in […]
In October 2020, heavy rains caused massive flooding throughout Cambodia, particularly the villages of Pursat in Pramouy, Rokay and Bak Chenhchean communes, located in the leakage zone to the north of the REDD+ Project, were badly affected. To alleviate the suffering these communities were facing, a Wildlife Alliance relief mission, supported by the Southern Cardamom […]
The project has established an effective boots-on-the-ground protection of this highly threatened forest landscape. Since 2006, the project has achieved zero poaching of Asian elephants and supported significant recovery of ungulates and carnivore populations. The project employs over 350 rangers, who have conducted over 24,000 patrols since 2015 resulting in the removal of 175,534 snares, […]
The Southern Cardamom REDD+ scholarship award program has distributed over $360,000 in bursaries, with 62% awarded to women and girls. For example, five full scholarships to universities in Phnom Penh were awarded in 2021. These scholarships include four years of annual tuition, school materials, accommodation, food stipend and health insurance, totalling $6,852 per student per […]
The project directly manages more than 150 law enforcement rangers who operate 24/7 out of 11 fully- equipped ranger stations and patrol across more than 5,000-km2 of the landscape. Rangers are well paid and receive life insurance and full health benefits, have the capacity and equipment to work effectively and safely, and are led and […]
Water resources in the Cardamom rainforest landscape have been drying up over the past decade as a result of climate change and deforestation. Families in some communities have to travel up to 5-km to collect safe drinking water from one of the few operational wells as the only other safe alternative is purchasing very expensive […]
When Wildlife Alliance began working in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia two decades ago, the remote commune of Chi Phat was known as a hub of wildlife smuggling and illegal logging. An appraisal of the region’s resources and economic development options spotlighted tourism as the best opportunity to preserve the vulnerable ecosystem and partner with […]
It is common for community members in rural Cambodia to travel many kilometers by foot or pay prohibitive prices to access drinking water. The project has provided access to freshwater supply through the installation of 43 modern wells in 7 communities and maintaining watersheds, benefiting over 27,000 people*. These wells provide water for drinking, agriculture, […]