Stamp of approval

Sunset in the Mondulkiri protected forest

You may recall my visit to the protected forests of Mondulkiri in March, where I quickly developed a serious aversion to cycling tours having completed a 70+ kilometre ride up and down mountains on day 1 and vowed never to do it again. Coming on the back of our visit to the forest camps of the WWF, the American Ambassador and his entourage were due in the next day and everyone was running around preparing for this momentous visit, and stamp of approval. Here's is the official version of his visit from the WWF website.

US Ambassador visits Eastern Plains of Cambodia
For the first time since the US government began its support of conservation work in the Cambodian Eastern Plains Dry Forest, a senior US government delegation saw for themselves how their investments have been used to support a wide range of conservation activities. US Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, US Embassy staff, together with a group of Cambodian journalists, spent three days in March with WWF’s project staff and field rangers in the heart of the Dry Forests in Mondulkiri province. “I was very impressed with WWF’s efforts to protect Cambodia’s forests and wildlife while working to improve the livelihoods of the local people through the sustainable use of natural resources,” said Joseph A. Mussomeli in a letter of appreciation to WWF.

Significant investments through WWF in wildlife monitoring, law enforcement, community-based natural resource management and infrastructure development have built a foundation for effective protected area management in the Eastern Plains’ Mondulkiri Protected Forest (MPF) and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. These have resulted in reduced pressure on wild animals and their natural habitats, improved understanding by the local community about sustainable use of natural resources, and strengthened land tenure and rights. Some of the approaches and lessons learned are now being replicated elsewhere in Cambodia and the region.

Ambassador Mussomeli was also interested by the ecotourism planning inside MPF as a critical element for sustainable financing for protected area management, and as a way to reduce local community dependence on natural resources. On this exciting component of the project’s work, Craig Bruce, Eastern Plains Landscape Project Manager, explained that “WWF involves community members living in the areas around MPF in ecotourism planning and in the hope that this will create future income opportunities through the provision of guide services, food, home stays, and sales of souvenirs to tourists.” This recent visit indicates a healthy relationship between the Cambodian and US governments, showing that there is support being given to conservation activities in the area. The Ambassador’s visit not only encourages our project staff and government counterparts, but also helps spread wider awareness of the important conservation work that WWF and the Cambodian government are working hard to achieve,” he said, “including a greater realization that there are significant challenges to overcome, such as poorly planned infrastructure development and resource extraction, illegal hunting, uncontrolled logging, and potentially harmful hydropower dam development plans.”

WWF is working together with the Cambodian government and other NGO partners to find sustainable solutions for development plans with the aim of minimizing environmental impacts. Other initiatives, such as ecotourism development, are aimed at improving local livelihoods and generating much needed revenue for overall development of the local economy. One of the next steps will be to generate political support for transboundary collaboration between Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities in order to safeguard the biodiversity of this globally important Dry Forests landscape.