Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

Cambodia is home to more than 135 species of mammal, 599 of bird, 173 of reptile, 72 of amphibian, 350 of moth and butterfly, 955 of fresh and marine fish and aquatic species, and more than 4,500 vascular plants [ ] 73 Realising the power of community protected areas The Kingdom of Cambodia has a comprehensive policy on protected areas that benefits not only biodi- versity but local communities and the economy. Each protected area is divided into a core zone, conserva- tion zone, sustainable use zone, and community zone. The sustainable use zone benefits from investment and is provided with management areas of high economic value for national economic development as well as management and conservation of the protected area itself, contributing to the local communities, and indige- nous minorities. The granting of economic land concessions to investment and development projects in the sustain- able use zones is a mechanism to form a protection line, preventing land encroachment in the protected areas, especially in the conservation and core zones. The majority of land concessions have been granted only in surrounding zones of protected areas, that is in the sustainable use zones. The granting of economic land concessions to investment and devel- opment projects in these zones can be a protector of conservation and core zones, and the investment/de- velopment projects carried out by the private sector play a significant role in stimulating economic growth, and especially enhancing the livelihoods of the people who live in and nearby the project areas. This prevents illegal or unsustainable economic practices such as clear cutting forests in biodi- versity-rich areas. In general, biodiversity and wildlife are not seriously affected by these concessions in sustainable use zones. On the contrary, the activities have contributed to the protection and replenishment of biodiversity, acting as a flood protector. For example, in Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear and Siem Reap province, the local community is entitled to the develop- ment of community protected areas (CPAs) in forest covered territories — on average, a family is entitled to 5 to 10ha of land. The local people are granted rights to use and harvest nat- ural resources such as wood for house construction, agricultural tools, and herbal medicines, based on manage- ment plans. With involvement of the community in forest management within the CPAs, the Cambodian government will encourage and facili- tate the sales of forest carbon credits with the hope of improving liveli- hoods and using the funds from the sales to develop infrastructure and human resources in the communities. Siem Reap, Cambodia Cambodia C ambodia is home to the world’s largest freshwater fish and has an extensive tiger habitat. The forests rivers, grasslands and wetlands are home to many newly recorded species. The country has designated 23 protected areas covering approximately 3,273,300 ha, equal to 18 per cent of the country’s area. The government’s Rectangular Strategy stresses the need to maximize agricultural production as well as to ensure the sustainable use and management of natural resources and the maintenance of biodiversity. fancycrave on Unsplash