The Sunda pangolin is an amazing animal - a scaly mammal that eats ants and termites, hides in dense forest, and rolls into a tiny ball when scared.
Wildlife Alliance’s Care for Rescued Wildlife program at Phnom Tamao is home to Pursat, a rescued hairy-nosed otter. Pursat is probably the only one of his species cared for by humans anywhere on Earth.
This blog is designed to give you current updates directly from the field. Read more to learn about the latest wildlife trafficking bust, animal rescue, or community-based project.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 8:58AM
Wildlife Alliance is doing everything we can to positively influence the Cambodian government and Australian firm Indochina Gateway Capital Limited to not move forward with a…
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:38AM In a huge reversal, Cambodian Prime Minister Sandech Hun Sen has announced that a strip mine previously approved in the heart of an elephant corridor in the Southern Cardamom Mountains will not go forward.
On Friday morning, the Council of Ministers—essentially the executive branch of the Cambodian government—met in a full session. According to a press release issued after that meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen addressed the full session and announced that a 4,400 hectare titanium mine would not be permitted to go ahead.
“Due to the concerns of the impact on the environment, biodiversity and local livelihoods [Prime Minister] Hun Sen has announced to not permit the titanium mining operation that is located in Koh Kong province,” the press release read.
Wildlife Alliance has been combating this titanium mine proposed by United Khmer Group since the very beginning. In addition to being located in dense evergreen rainforest, the strip mine was directly in the midst of a thriving ecotourism project we started by Wildlife Alliance in 2007. The government originally approved the mine in February of this year, so this latest announcement came as a welcome surprise.
“We are elated by the decision of Prime Minister Hun Sen. It is incredibly encouraging to see that the prime minister has looked so deeply into this proposed titanium mine and taken the effort to weigh the consequences that this project would have on the rainforest and the local people,” said Wildlife Alliance CEO Suwanna Gauntlett. “United Khmer Group had promised staggering revenues for the government, and we applaud the courageous decision of the prime minister to see the greater value of the forest as it currently stands.”
United Khmer Group had projected revenues of more than $1.3 billion for the mine despite having never done a scientific analysis of the proposed mining area. If it had been allowed to go ahead with the strip mine it was questionable as to whether it would be profitable. But it is certain that it would have had disastrous effects on the community of Chi Phat and the ecotourism project Wildlife Alliance and the local people have developed.
Chi Phat’s natural beauty has been the subject of numerous international articles in recent months, including a large write-up in the New York Times. But all this attention would have been for naught if the Chi Phat’s trails and scenic waterfalls had been replaced by mining pits and industrial runoff.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s decision today is a major victory for conservation in one of the largest contiguous rainforests in Southeast Asia, but threats persist. Not too far away from the proposed mine, an Australian firm is looking to set up a banana plantation that would sever the elephant corridor. But after seeing this responsible move by the Cambodian government today, we are moving forward more confident that the cause of conservation and sustainable development can come out on top in that struggle as well.
Cardamoms, Forest Rangers, ecotourism, titanium mine Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 2:16PM Be Part of the Million Tree Nursery
In Chi Phat, Cambodia, Wildlife Alliance and the community are working together to plant a million tree nursery in a region decimated by logging and slash-and-burn farming.
Devastated forestThe fragmentation of the forest disrupted one of the seven remaining elephant corridors in Southeast Asia. Without a response, the forests and wildlife that lived there had little chance of thriving.
Dramatic action was needed.
Local communities had previously eked out a living by small-scale logging or slash-and-burn farming. Even then, they could rarely put adequate food on the table, let alone consider new opportunities for their children.
When Wildlife Alliance invited them to join the cause to protect the forests and provide for their families—they signed up.
Families now had the chance to stop the illegal activities and get a job protecting the forests near where they
Women workers transplanting the saplings in the nursery. live—a plan which would ensure the region would be there for their grandchildren. A plan which begins with a million tree nursery.
In 2010, the community planted 180,000 native tropical trees over more than 440 acres of destroyed land. 667,000 saplings have already been planted, putting the community well on the way to the target of over a million trees that will reconnect a vital elephant corridor.
The communities, already knowledgeable about local forests, raise saplings in a well-equipped nursery and then transplant them into the local forest. More than 80 community members, primarily women, are employed in the reforestation activities.
They watch over the tree for its entire lifespan—from the planting and nurturing of the seed to the protection of the vibrant forest.
The Wildlife Alliance nursery and greenhouse in Chi PhatAs the saplings grow, they are transplanted in the greenhouse, shaded and irrigated for their vulnerable early life. Even after they become part of the forest, the community monitors their progress and ensures the trees grow.
By reconnecting habitat, preserving watersheds, and providing livelihoods, Chi Phat serves as a global leader in conservation and sustainable development.
Be Part of the Million Tree Nursery
1. Plant a Tree. Wherever you are, planting a tree combats the deforestation happening all over the world.
2. Find out more about Wildlife Alliance’s reforestation work.
3. Take a stand against illegal logging devastating some of the world’s most vibrant forests.
Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 4:21PM 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.
Don's Blog, Forest Rangers, SWEC Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 5:34AM The rich and powerful in Cambodia often utilize their connections or open their wallets to subvert the rule of law. With such corruption and impunity rampant, how can it be expected that ordinary citizens will play by the rules when those that lead them feel no need to do so. Therefore it was both a disappointment and a significant achievement when SWEC rangers caught a powerful district governor illegally transporting the meat of a wild animal this week.
Friday, November 20, 2009 at 3:52PM An antidrug task force led by Wildlife Alliance and Fauna and Flora International, working in close concert with forest rangers from Cambodia’s armed services and Ministry of Environment completed an arduous 10 day anti-ecstasy production operation on Wednesday, successfully destroying 10 illegal safrole distillation vats operated by local drug cartels in one of Cambodia’s most impenetrable and remote jungle areas in the country’s southwest Cardamom Mountains.
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