Education: Kouprey Express

Schools in Cambodia, while improving, continue to fail to educate a significant segment of the rural population. The adult literacy rate is only around 78 percent—and women in particular are unlikely to receive a formal education.

As CambodThe Kouprey Express at a school in Koh Kong Provinceia’s population grows, pressure on the limited resources within Cambodia will continue to grow. Therefore, preserving the rich environmental heritage in Cambodia will require a well-round approach, including ensuring children learn the importance of protecting the country’s forests and the diverse array of wildlife contained within them.

 In 2004, Wildlife Alliance launched the Kouprey Express mobile education unit, which travels the Southern Cardamom region teaching children and their families about wildlife conservation, forestry laws and how to manage and protect the environment.

The Kouprey Express is a bus full of engaging and interactive tools that tours the Cambodian countryside, visiting schools, villages and community centers with its lifesaving lessons. Interactive lessons include films, classroom exercises, interactive performances andThe Kouprey Express sponsors a school mural celebrating wildlife and forests the opportunity to interact with wildlife. In addition to directly instructing school children, the Kouprey Express project provides training and school supplies to teachers, enabling them to teach these critical lessons to every class that passes through these rural schools. 

Since the Kouprey Express began, more than 50,000 children and adults have benefitted directly from the program—beginning to raise a generation of Cambodian youth with a commitment to preserving and protecting their unique environment for future generations.

“The Kouprey Express project helps to connect schools with Phnom Tamao and other conservation initiatives, educating and engaging Cambodians to participate in the protection of their wildlife.” — Paul Berg

 Paul Berg, based in Singapore, has long been concerned about Southeast Asia’s wildlife and forest issues. During a 2009 visit to Cambodia to participate in the Angkor Marathon, he took the opportunity to tour Wildlife Alliance’s field programs. He was impressed by the wildlife rescue and forest protections, but saw particular value in the need to support educational opportunities to drive long-term change. In 2010 Paul made a substantial gift to support the Kouprey Express Mobile Environmental Education Unit, strengthening educational outreach to rural communities and schools in the forests of Cambodia.