Home to some of the last populations of giant ibis, sun bears and clouded leopards, Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park is recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area. In fact, new species are still being discovered here, such as the northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon by Conservation International in 2010.
This forest is also essential to local people. It provides food, fuelwood, medicinal plants and fresh water, and it supports the economy through ecotourism, agriculture and freshwater fishing. Veun Sai-Siem Pang also represents some of the most extensive ancestral lands for Indigenous communities within any protected area in the nation. These communities, whose spiritual beliefs are intimately attached to the forest, are among Cambodia’s most economically disadvantaged, poverty which has led to individuals participating in illegal and environmentally harmful activities as a means of survival to support their families.
But rapid deforestation, degradation and poaching are putting the forest’s critically endangered species — and some of Cambodia’s poorest people — at risk.
OUR ROLE
Conservation International (CI) has worked in the Veun Sai-Siem Pang region since 2009 to help protect nature for the benefit of people. The organization helped secure legal protection for the 280,359-hectare Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park, declared in 2016.
Conservation International supports teams of rangers from the government and communities who patrol the forest, alert officials to illegal logging, and educate communities on why it is in their interest to keep the forest intact.
After the 2010 discovery of the new species of gibbon in the area — the northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon — Conservation International researchers habituated a small population of the primate and worked with the local community to develop an ecotourism project, providing the apes a sanctuary in the trees while also offering families a more secure, sustainable income source.
Our plan
Conservation International is working with the local community to reduce deforestation, increase biodiversity protection, and improve local livelihoods by supporting land-use planning, sustainable agriculture and community-based production as well as developing ecotourism pathways to provide secure, sustainable jobs and a sanctuary for wildlife.
Land-use planning
Through mapping the forest, Conservation International have helped identify priority areas for conservation and recommendations around land use in support of local communities and population growth.
Sustainable agriculture
Conservation International is working to build skills and knowledge of communities so that they can directly implement sustainable agriculture primarily through cashew and cassava farming. Within our sustainable agriculture program we are supporting decision-making processes to become more inclusive, ensuring clear accountability and shared responsibilities. Furthermore, market systems have been developed to be economically, socially, and environmentally positive, securing ecosystem services to enhance local livelihoods.
Training rangers and local researchers
Conservation International provides training to Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment rangers on the best practices for patrolling protected areas including rights-based approaches for enforcement and management. The rangers have also been trained in conducting biodiversity surveys, helping them to use their limited resources as efficiently as possible to protect the wildlife and their forest homes. This training enables rangers to easily collect information during their patrols and use it to target areas facing the greatest threat from illegal logging and poaching. We also train local people to be involved in biodiversity research, including using camera traps for wildlife monitoring.
Supporting ecotourism
Veun Sai-Siem Pang may be the only place in the world where tourists can easily witness the elusive northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon in the wild. Conservation International supports local nonprofit organizations and the local community to promote gibbon-viewing to ecotourists as a forest-friendly alternative livelihood to logging. Local community members can supplement their incomes by working as wildlife guides, cooks, transport providers and homestay hosts. Tourism income is doubling annually, directly supporting community livelihoods. Profits have contributed to a local school, built a bridge and enabled community members to take low-interest loans to start small businesses.
Biodiversity research
Every year, Conservation International sponsors graduate student research on the primate populations in Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park. This research provides better understanding of behavioral ecology, feeding patterns, and the impacts of logging on primates and helps monitoring the population's health and the success of enforcement efforts. We also cooperate with other national and international institutions to conduct biodiversity and social economic surveys in the area.