Guest blog: Nick Marx and Phnom Tamao - A Walk on the Wild Side!

This guest post by International Advisory Board Member Don Sladkin first appeared on our newsletter as Part 4 of his travelogue on Wildlife Alliance’s projects in the Cardamom Rainforest. Read Parts 1, 2, and 3. Click here to find out how you can visit our projects.

PTWRC - TIGER ARAENG

On my first full day visiting Wildlife Alliance projects in Cambodia, I accompanied Nick Marx, Wildlife Alliance’s project manager for the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC), on the 45-minute drive south of Phnom Penh to the facility.  With us was biologist Roth Bunthoeun, a Cambodian Forestry Administration officer seconded to the project and an invaluable asset to the PTWRC team.

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Guest blog: Rustic Ecotourism at Chi Phat

This guest post by International Advisory Board Member Don Sladkin first appeared on our newsletter as Part 3 of his travelogue on Wildlife Alliance’s projects in the Cardamom Rainforest. Read Parts 1, 2, and 4. Click here to find out how you can visit our projects.

Day 3 of my visit to the Wildlife Alliance field programs in Cambodia, and after another nice evening spent at the Four Rivers Floating Eco-Lodge downriver, I was picked up at the Tatai Bridge by Amy and Somkiat in the (until-now) trusty 1994 Camry.  We drove to the riverside village of Andoung Tuek on the Preak Piphot River, more than an hour away and just off Rt. 48.  From here we took a small speedboat upriver to the Community-Based Eco-Tourism (CBET) project at Chi Phat Village, stopping briefly at Wildlife Alliance’s Steung Prat patrol station.

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Guest blog: Tatai Ranger Patrol

This guest post by International Advisory Board Member Don Sladkin first appeared on our newsletter as Part 2 of his travelogue on Wildlife Alliance’s projects in the Cardamom Rainforest. Read Parts 1, 3, and 4. Click here to find out how you can visit our projects.

On Day 4, and after another nice evening spent at the Four Rivers Floating Eco-Lodge on the Tatai River, I was picked up at the Tatai Bridge by the now-repaired Camry and transported just a few minutes away to Wildlife Alliance’s Tatai Ranger Patrol Station.  Like the other five Wildlife Alliance ranger stations in Cambodia’s Cardamom mountains, Tatai has a complement of two patrol teams and their Wildlife Alliance advisors.  Each team is normally comprised of a Forestry Administration official as Team Chief and four military police gendarmes.  The two station teams alternate on multi-day patrols in their area of the Cardamoms looking for poachers and illegal loggers.  Confiscated animals are sent to Wildlife Alliance’s Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC) near Phnom Penh for rehabilitation; apprehended poachers and loggers are turned over to local law enforcement authorities; and confiscated forestry products and seized vehicles are kept at the compound as evidence pending trial.

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Guest blog: Sovanna Baitong: Five-Star Farm

This guest post by International Advisory Board Member Don Sladkin first appeared on our newsletter as Part 1 of his travelogue on Wildlife Alliance’s projects in the Cardamom Rainforest. Read Parts 2, 3, and4. Click here to find out how you can visit our projects.

On Day 5, we started our five-hour drive back to Phnom Penh, stopping in late morning at Wildlife Alliance’s Community Agriculture Development Project (CDAP) at Sovanna Baitong, a few kilometers off Rt. 48, the main artery in southwest Cambodia. The CADP project was initiated in 2003 by Suwanna Gauntlett, Wildlife Alliance’s Founder and CEO, and is part of Suwanna’s concept of providing alternative livelihoods for those engaged in illegal extraction of wildlife and timber from Cambodia’s protected forests. The CADP program at Sovanna Baitong encompasses the use of modern farming methods, including drip irrigation, to grow high-value produce for the regional markets, and the establishment of local village committees to address local issues vital to the lives of all of the inhabitants.

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