Cambodia Approves Land For Game Hunting Park - Government [-Plundering of Cambodia's wildlife]

Friday February 27th, 2009

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP)--The Cambodian government on Friday approved the establishment of a game park for well-heeled hunters in a remote, jungle-covered northern province, officials said.

The cabinet passed a sub-decree for the creation a more than 100,000-hectare reserve for game hunting in Ratanakkiri province, a government statement said.

The establishment of the reserve is for "investment, wildlife conservation and the sustainable development of wildlife hunting in order to serve the economy of the community," the statement said.

The reserve would help eradicate illegal wildlife poaching, it said.

The statement didn't say when the park would open or who would operate it, but Madrid-based NSOK Safaris expressed an interest in December 2007.

"First, we have to establish the area and the investment is the next step," said Chheang Dany, deputy director of the forestry administration's wildlife protection office.

"It could be NSOK or other companies. The government will examine and approve the investment project separately," he said.

Officials have previously said they are considering allowing 30 species to be hunted, including wild cattle, pigs, deer and gaur, but Chheang Dany said the number of species hadn't been finalized.

Government officials hope the project will help diversify Cambodia's tourism offerings beyond the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

Impoverished Cambodia is trying to persuade tourists to stay longer and see sights other than the World Heritage-listed Angkor temples, tapping into a number of other areas such as eco-tourism.

Tourism is one of the few sources of foreign exchange for the kingdom.

Safari park plan draws fire

02/01/2008
Radio Australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Cambodian government is considering a Spanish company's plan to create a hunting park in the country. The Madrid-based safari company wants to use 100,000 hectares of jungle in northeast Cambodia for hunting wildlife.

HOLLAND: For 38,000 US dollars big spenders can join Nsok Safaris in Africa for two weeks and hunt elephants, buffaloes and a range of other species. The company has been operating hunts in Cameroon for 30 years, now they're hoping to do the same in Cambodia.

Mark Gately is based in Cambodia and works for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He says safari parks can be environmentally sustainable if they're operated under the right conditions.

GATELY: The key thing is you need to have very detailed information on variables such as the population size, the population structure, growth rates and so on, so that you can monitor the impact of the hunting on the wildlife that's involved.

HOLLAND: Tourism is now a major earner for Cambodia, and high price hunts for foreign tourists will mean more cash for the country. Mr Gately believes the extra money could help to protect the country's wildlife.

GATELY: It is possible for example for these operations to provide a significant amount of funding for conservation activities in the area. So for example I mean these companies are often, it's obviously in their interests to protect the wildlife in the area that they're operating in so that there's actually something there for their clients to shoot.

HOLLAND: Deputy Director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry; Dany Chheang, says 30 types of animals including deer, wild boar, reptiles and birds could be shot for sport if the plan goes ahead. But he says tigers would be protected. In Africa, where hunting safaris continue to attract wealthy adventurers, environmentalists remain opposed to killling animals for entertainment.

CHHEANG: The negative press we've received in recent years has been quite disgusting.

HOLLAND: Nick deSouza is the World Society for the Protection of Animals regional director for Africa.

DESOUZA: There are pictures of young cubs being maimed by the actual hunters by their dogs, by the negative impact of them having had their mother killed. There are pictures of them having their cubs, particularly in one case where a litter of cheetah cubs were exported on a private jet to Saudi Arabia and all ended up dying.

HOLLAND: Mr deSouza says there are no positive benefits that can justify safari hunting.

DESOUZA: It's inherently cruel in that there is no way to humanely kill an animal from a distance. Error will always creep in and the animal is very likely to suffer extensive injuries that will not kill it off immediately.

HOLLAND: It's hoped that if the park opens in Cambodia's Rattanakiri province money brought in by the hunters will benefit poor people in the area. But deSouza says his experience tells him wealthy companies offering safaris rarely fulfill such noble promises. And while Mr Chheang from Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry says setting up hunting safaris in Cambodia fits with the government's plans to diversify options for eco-tourism in the country, the government must also consider the negative consequences.

Presenter - Steve Holland; Speaker - Mark Gately, Wildlife Conservation Society in Cambodia; Dany Chheang, Deputy director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry; Nick deSouza, World Society for the Protection of Animals regional director for Africa

Cambodian official: hunting game for foreign tourists not decided yet [-So why consider this project in the first place?]

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has not decided yet for the project of hunting game for foreign tourists in forests of the Mondul Kiri and Ratanakiri provinces, which was requested by Spanish firm NSOK Safaris, Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said Friday.

"Our animals have just recovered and they had miserable lives like Cambodian people during and after the civil war. We do not want to see our animals in danger or in extinction," Mok Mareth told reporters at the National Assembly.

"Personally, I could not decide it," he said, adding that the experts from his ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have to talk with experts from the Spanish company.

"Recently, we allowed a number of foreign companies to build holiday resorts for tourists but we did not allow them to hunt," he said.

"They could watch the animals through their binoculars but we did not allow shooting," he added.

Mok Mareth said that they are trying to pass a law to protect wild animals and natural resources in Cambodia.

The Cambodian agriculture ministry was in negotiations with the Spanish company to establish a luxury hunting game reserve in Ratanakkiri province, the Cambodia Daily newspaper reported earlier this month.

How about some wildlife killings to go with that visit to Angkor Wat ... " to help protect the animals and the forest"?

12-11-07
Spanish Company Mulls Game Park In Cambodia: Official

PENH (AFP)--Cambodia is considering allowing a Spanish company to set up a game park with five-star facilities for well-heeled hunters in a remote northern province, officials said Tuesday.

Madrid-based NSOK Safaris has proposed opening the game reserve on more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) in Ratanakkiri province, according to senior wildlife official Chheang Dany.

"This is high-class eco-tourism...The plan is to accommodate VIP guests," said Chheang Dany, deputy director of the Forestry Administration's wildlife protection office.

The proposal, which is being studied by the agriculture ministry, would help diversify Cambodia's tourism offerings beyond the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

"After visiting Angkor Wat, tourists can go to the beach and then to see the forest and go hunting," he said.

Experts are considering allowing 30 species to be hunted including, wild cattle and pigs, as well as deer and guars, he added.

Many of the animals are already being lost to poachers, and Chheang Dany said the game reserve would be a way of regulating hunters.

"This is a good way to protect the animals and the forest," he added.

Enrique Maestre, speaking on behalf of NSOK Safaris, told the English-language Cambodia Daily that the company wouldn't allow hunting of endangered species.

"Please do not forget that our project is a community development one and is ecologically sustainable," he said in the paper.

The government is trying to persuade tourists to stay longer and see sights other than the World Heritage-listed Angkor temples, tapping into a number of other areas such as eco-tourism.

Tourism is one of the few sources of foreign exchange for impoverished Cambodia.