CAMBODIA: Poachers turn gamekeepers in eco-tourism projects

A community ranger riding an elephant in Srepok Protected Forest in Cambodia's eastern Mondulkiri province (Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN)

MONDULKIRI, 24 November 2009 (IRIN) - Poaching was a serious business for Chran Thabb - until his tracking skills were put to better use protecting his former prey. He is one of 45 rangers in the remote eastern province of Mondulkiri recruited for a grassroots tourism project that uses employment incentives to encourage environmental conservation.

"Before, whenever I saw an animal in the forest, my first thought was to shoot it," said Chran, now a guide for treks around Dei Ey village, in a protected forest area in Mondulkiri.

"I don't do that any more. The animals would become extinct and I want the next generation to see them," he said.

Because of its forests, mountains and rare wildlife, rugged Mondulkiri has been targeted by the Cambodian government as an area for eco-tourism development, after lobbying by WWF. The wildlife group launched conservation projects more than four years ago in this remote region, which has been likened to Africa's Serengeti for its abundant wildlife.

WWF has recruited former hunters to put their knowledge of the forest and expert tracking skills to good use. The overall aim is to establish an environment where wildlife can recover after years of hunting, poaching and neglect. Richer wildlife, conservationists hope, will attract tourists - and, in turn, create jobs for local communities.

Most of Mondulkiri's impoverished population comprises indigenous communities who practise shifting cultivation but also grow cash crops, although this is under threat from deforestation and changing climate patterns, according to a September 2009 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Lack of access to education and primary healthcare are key development concerns in Mondulkiri, IOM says, with 59 percent of its population living below the poverty line, according to a 2004 study by the Cambodia Development Resource Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

"In a poor province such as Mondulkiri, eco-tourism offers a long-term alternative livelihood to combat the short-term illegal activities they do now to earn a living," said Olga van den Pol, head of WWF's eco-tourism operations in Mondulkiri province.

Wildlife in the area, which is near the border with Vietnam, was severely depleted in the 1970s and 1980s when battling Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese soldiers relied heavily on hunting for survival.

But since the launch of conservation projects, rangers are seeing an increase in wildlife for the first time in years.

Community values

Most people in the area belong to the Phnong ethnic group. Bill Herod, a development worker who works with Phnong youth, said cultural forces should operate in favour of conservation efforts.

"Phnong are more likely to see common ownership of the land, and less likely to want to hunt for wildlife on an individual basis," he said.

Given Cambodia's violent past, it is especially important to avoid using violence to deter poaching and instead focus on encouraging livelihoods, conservationists say.

In countries such as Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, governments have resorted to heavily armed patrols in an attempt to combat poaching. But this method is increasingly being shunned.

"For a poor rural person who wishes to feed their family, no deterrent will be sufficient, but the chances of being killed are far higher," said James MacGregor, a researcher for the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development. "Guns raise the stakes but don't combat the poaching necessarily," he told IRIN.

Challenges

While those employed by the projects hope their fortunes will improve, the initiatives are no panacea for the area's poverty.

Krak Sokny, a teacher and farmer in Dei Ey village, doubted the eco-tourism initiatives would reach a sufficient scale to extend benefits to locals not directly involved, but said they would instil an active interest in conservation in villagers.

And while Dei Ey and other areas appear to be on the path to recovery, other lands in the province still face serious threats from speculators and slash-and-burn practices.

Local development workers also say police and well-connected officials continue to traffic wildlife and timber with impunity.

Against these forces, villagers in Mondulkiri's eco-tourism enclaves are trying to carve out a space for themselves and adventurous tourists.

"I'm hoping there will be more tourists so we can earn money that way and not have to go hunting in the forest," said Am Pang Deap, who previously made ends meet selling fried bananas in Dei Ey, but now works at a new eco-tourism resort. "People are trying to hunt less and maintain what's left for tourists."

Cambodia’s new park protects tigers, elephants and CO2

Washington, October 25 (ANI): The government of Cambodia has transformed a former logging concession into a new, Yosemite-sized protected area that safeguards not only threatened primates, tigers, and elephants, but also massive stores of carbon.T

he Royal Government’s Council of Ministers recently declared the creation of the Seima Protection Forest, which covers more than 1,100 square miles along Cambodia’s eastern border with Vietnam.

“We commend the Royal Government of Cambodia for their decision to protect this important refuge for the region’s wildlife and also for safeguarding stocks of carbon,” said WCS Asia Program Director Colin Poole. Seima is the first protected area in Cambodia created with the conservation of forest carbon as one of its key goals.

WCS is helping to measure carbon stocks contained in Seima Protection Forest to calculate the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions that will not be released to the atmosphere as a result of the project’s work on reducing deforestation. This effort will support WCS’s “Carbon for Conservation” initiatives to help provide incentives to people to protect their forest in high-biodiversity landscapes, which are being developed in conjunction with negotiations on a proposed international policy known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). In addition to work in Cambodia, WCS is supporting similar efforts in Bolivia, Guatemala, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Indonesia.

”In addition to safeguarding the wildlife of Cambodia, Seima Protection Forest will serve as an important model for demonstrating how REDD could be implemented on the ground,” said Dr. Jane Carter Ingram of WCS’s Conservation Support Team. “Forests provide numerous benefits for both wildlife and rural communities, so efforts such as these will help on local, regional and global scales,” she added. The newly designated protected area contains 23 species of carnivore, including seven cat species, two bears, and two species of wild dog.

Cambodia Saves Rare Bears

By Ker Yann, VOA Khmer
Video Editor: Manilene Ek
27 April 2009

In China and Vietnam, thousands of bears are farmed for their bile, which many consider a potent traditional Chinese remedy. Scores of other bears are killed to make bear paw soup, which is considered to be a delicacy. Now, conservationists in Cambodia are rescuing as many bears as possible from animal traffickers in order to give them a better life.

Jodie Ellen spends her days playing with some of the most adorable bear cubs. Altogether, she helps look after over 100 infant and adult bears at this huge bear sanctuary, 40 km south of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. The project is run by Free the Bears, an Australian-based NGO that rescues bears from illegal traffickers who supply bile farms in China and Vietnam. Other bears are sold for their meat. The group also takes in bears that are kept as pets and often neglected and abused. Ellen only has good things to say about these bears.

Jodie Ellen: "Bears are just an amazing species. They are intelligent, they have such personalities, and they're such a vital part of the ecological scheme of things. So every species is worth protecting, and bears are up there with that."

Every morning, Jodie, her husband Peter, and a team of volunteers head to the local market. They buy dozens of bananas and pineapples - enough to feed the bears at the sanctuary for one day. Volunteers work hard unloading the fruit and chopping it up for the bears to eat. They mop and scrub their cages, making sure the animals have clean and healthy places to stay. Although the work can be long and tiring, Australian volunteer, Janine Ferris, says she loves it.

Janine Ferris: "They can do whatever they want. They eat, they throw their bananas around, they do whatever, and I'm just there to clean up, and it just brings me enormous joy. It's really wonderful."

Srey Lek is a sun bear and was kept as a pet for 12 years. She developed a habit of scratching her belly with a metal pole. When the wound became infected, her owner was no longer able to take care of her and handed her over to Free the Bears. Vuthy Chon, a project manager, is taking extra special care of her.

Vuthy Chon: "The wound on her chest has been there for at least 4 or 5 months and during that time she never received proper treatment from a veterinarian. That is why the wound got bigger and now it may be hard to treat. We are treating her in this clinic with antibiotics and cleaning the wound with saline solution."

Some bears arrive at the sanctuary with serious injuries after being caught by hunters using snares. Others are found at traders' homes awaiting sale to the highest bidder.

Once at the sanctuary, bears are treated for any injuries and are slowly integrated into groups of animals of a similar age. Sun bears are found across Southeast Asia. Adults weigh between 45 to 60 kg and healthy bears can live into their late twenties. In Asia, they face increasing poaching, especially to make bear paw soup. Some people believe eating bear meat gives them extraordinary virility and strength.

Jodie feeds a sun bear known as Sai through a hole in this wooden box. The bear will soon be sent to France in this crate to be part of a breeding program. The goal is to help increase the size of the species' population outside of Asia in case the local population drops to more critical levels.

Jodie is training the bear to get used to staying inside the box for longer periods at a time, to make the long-distance flight as comfortable as possible for her.

It is impossible to know exactly how many bears are left in the wild in Asia. The group says there are 4,500 bears at bile farms in Vietnam and over 7,000 bears at roughly 200 bile farms in China.

Bear bile contains ursodeoxycholic acid, which is believed to reduce fever, protect the liver, improve eyesight, break down gallstones, and act as an anti-inflammatory. Although scientists have come up with synthetic bile that is equally effective, many people still seek the real thing, in spite of the harm that bile farming causes to these bears.

Bears are highly intelligent, so to keep the animals at the sanctuary on their toes and always learning new things. Although life in the wild would perhaps be ideal for the bears, until threats to the species subside, the sanctuary may be the next best thing for the animals.

Information for this report was provided by APTN.

Critically endangered vulture saved from poisoning

WCS veterinarian Dr. Priscilla Joyner (right) and bird bander Helen Ward (left) examine one of the white-rumped vultures Photo credit: Allan Michaud.
WCS conservationist Angela Yang holds a rare-white rumped vulture, one of two birds that survived a poisoning incident in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province. Photo credit: Allan Michaud.

March 19, 2009
Jeremy Hance
Mongabay.com

Seven critically-endangered white-rumped vultures were found dead in Cambodia after feeding on the corpse of a poisoned buffalo. Two survivors however were also apart of the group. An adult and a juvenile that had fed on the poisoned buffalo were sick but alive. The pair was sent to a veterinary clinic in Phnom Penh to be cared for by staff from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB).

The adult responded quickly to treatment and after being tagged for later identification was rereleased into the wild. The juvenile vulture is still being treated.

“Vulture populations across Asia have plummeted,” said Hugo Rainey, WCS Technical Advisor to the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project. “Every bird that we can save is important not only for vulture species, but for the ecosystems that rely on these birds as critical scavengers.”

Considered one of the most abundant birds of prey in the world at one time, the white-rumped vulture experienced precipitous declines beginning in the 1990s largely due to the anti-inflammatory cattle drug diclofenac. The drug proved effective in cattle but caused renal failure and mortality in any vulture that fed on the cow corpses which still retained the drug. Populations of white-rumped vultures dropped a staggering 95 percent and have yet to recover.

Cambodia is one of the last strongholds for the species. However, even here the white-rumped vulture is not without threats—for example feeding on a wild buffalo which had been poisoned by hunters. Fortunately the vulture is being monitored closely in Cambodia, which led to the rescue of at least one individual.

WCS is a member of the Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project, which was established the country by the government and several NGOS in 2004 to save the ailing species.

Fauna of Cambodia: still rich but living on borrowed time?

Krek (Cambodia). 06/02/2002. Children looking at monkeys being seized by the Wildlife Protection Mobile Unit. (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)

30-12-2008
By Anne-Laure Porée
Ka-set in English
Click here to read the article in French
Click here to read the article in Khmer

A few weeks ago, farmers alerted an organisation for the protection of wild fauna, claiming a buffalo had been attacked by a tiger. The news generated a wave of optimism among the rare informed specialists, filled with the hope of seeing a trace of the feline, at last. But tigers go around so unnoticed that one comes to wonder whether they still inhabit Cambodian forests. However, the answer is straight: an investigation proved that no tiger was involved in the attack. So the question is voiced: are there any Indochinese wild tigers left in Cambodia? Yes, according to wildlife conservation organisations. And yes again, according to hunters. At least, they agree on that matter... The cameras installed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recorded images of tigers back in 2007 and thus confirmed the presence of the typically Asian mammal – no, you will not find tigers in Africa! – in Cambodia. However, exactly how many of them are left nowadays in the country? That is the question...

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the mythic animal as an endangered species on its Red List, i.e. a species faced with a high risk of extinction in the wild. The subspecies, supposed to be living in the forests of Cambodia as well as Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China, might gather a few hundred individuals scattered here and there, but as for those solely living on the Cambodian territory, hunters' prognostic amounts to no more than twenty individuals... Véronique Audibert-Pestel, who finished in 2004 a documentary-film on tiger trafficking in Cambodia and is now the president of Poh Kao brings to light a sad reality: “Tigers can still be found today, but very few live in the wild. There are even more of them living in captivity in people's houses in the United States than in zoos! Out of 9 subspecies of tigers, three are already extinct.”

Infamous traditional remedies
The presence of the tiger, or any other big predator, on a site is the sign that the ecosystem has been preserved. But in Cambodia as in neighbouring countries, forest ecosystems have suffered a severe blow. People log forests to sell wood and cultivate the land, thus destroying the precious flora and fauna's natural habitat. Hunting and poaching, the worst nightmare for wild animals, supply a juicy market. David Emmett, regional director for the Indo-Burmese Conservation International programme, estimates that illegal trade in Southeast Asia brings in enough money to be classified second just after drug trafficking.

Cambodians rarely eat captured animals, their price being far too high. They are generally sold abroad for their meat but are also used in the preparation of traditional remedies. Pangolins, for instance, are appreciated and sought for their meat or scales, incorporated in Chinese remedies. Five tonnes of frozen pangolin meat (corresponding to the slaughtering of more than 1,400 animals) were seized in Vietnam on December 22nd. This year, the mammal has gone to be classified as a “threatened species” and now appears on the IUCN's red list.

Then, after the situation of pangolins, gibbons, whose situation seems to have worsened, and bears, who for their part are still stalked. Their bile is renowned for its ability to cure many illnesses but has to be fresh to be effective, and must therefore be collected on live bears. Nick Marx, an animal specialist at Wildlife Alliance and working with Cambodian rescuers at Phnom Tamao's Wildlife Rescue Centre – managed by the Cambodian government and benefiting from Wildlife Alliance's technical and financial aid – still remembers the rescue of a young black bear, a few years ago: “We explored the area where we found him and discovered more than 200 hunting traps there! The traps were designed in an extremely cruel and unselective manner. I remember that we found a dead muntjack deer lying not far from the bear. After five days, the bear's injured leg was so infected that we had to perform an amputation.”

The impossible return to the wild
Chhouk, a baby elephant, also ended up in the Phnom Tamao Rescue Centre, located 25 miles south of the capital Phnom Penh. The animal was found in February 2007 in the mountains of Mondulkiri, a leg stuck in a trap. Chhouk lost part of his leg because of that and has now no chance whatsoever of going back and live in the wild jungle. The team looking after him are currently seeking funds to elaborate a prosthetic leg for him and offer him a zoo life that would be similar to that of the centre's five other rescued elephants.

The most frequent seizures also include turtles and reptiles. The last one, carried out in November, involved almost 1,070 lbs worth of live turtles, cobras and pythons, found in the Kandal province on the road to Vietnam. Six months earlier, a similar seizure was made in the Battambang province and yet, the thirteen rescuers of the governmental Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, composed of incorruptible and devoted people working day and night on their project, perfectly know that what they see and have access to is only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, the major part of animal trafficking slips out of their hands, despite the information they receive and the creation of a hotline (+855-(0)12-500-094). Since the establishment of their unit in 2001, they managed to seize between 35,000 and 40,000 live animals which they released into their natural habitat whenever possible.

The surprises of nature
Fortunately, everyday life is not always synonymous with stalking and death for these animals. The forests of Cambodia, the second largest and most intact in Southeast Asia, still hold some beautiful surprises and discoveries. “Scientists came back on the Cambodian territory after the war, in the years 2000”, Tom Evans, technical advisor at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) explains. “For forty years, nobody had set foot in there and some species had never been observed before.”

Nowadays, researchers are able to carry out open-air studies on animals and plants on which no or very little data was available. And forests hold a huge quantity of species. WWF released mid-December a report stating that 1,068 new species had been identified by scientific experts in the space of ten years in the six countries sharing the Mekong river, including 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, 4 birds, 4 turtles, 2 salamanders and a toad.

Peov Somanak, a member of the Conservation International research team, recalls one of the most moving moment of his life as a researcher: the rediscovery of the hairy-nosed otter, thought to be extinct. After a long and detailed investigation among villagers and fishermen, the species was eventually identified and spotted in the Tonle Sap area but also along the Cambodian coast. “This is an incredible stroke of luck in terms of conservation!”, he said with delight.

The last sanctuaries
A WWF report, published this Tuesday December 30th, also mentions the fact that the Phnom Prich sanctuary is home to one of the most important populations of yellow-cheeked gibbons, with about 1,000 individuals counted. Phnom Prich is now one of the last shelters for this species of gibbons. Last summer, a WCS report certified that the most important population of langur monkeys, these endangered primates well-known for their stunning colours, can be found in the Seima Park in the Mondulkiri region.

Despite the good news, however, one must not forget that the density of a wild species is observed in connection with the scale of the region, since animals know no boundaries. The existing Cambodian protected areas will therefore not be enough to preserve the species.
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Raising children's awareness on wild fauna protection
Save Cambodia's Wildlife publishes children's books in Cambodia. Very educational and well-documented, these books are available in a bilingual English and Khmer version and provide large and colourful illustrations. The last pages provide information about different species. A beautiful example is the little book entitled Will You Hear My Song, which tells the story of a young pileated gibbon recounting his memories of the forest canopy, the tragic death of his parents, how he found himself taken away by poachers and how he eventually went back into the wild. Useful and simple information about eight magnificent primates living in Cambodian forests can be found in the last pages.
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Species acknowledged as endangered by the Cambodian authorities
Apart from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of all the threatened species in the world and the list drafted by the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which focuses on species threatened by international trade, the Cambodian government established its own list of endangered animals, only available in Khmer. The list, officially approved by the Cambodian authorities on January 25th 2007, includes 37 mammals, 51 bird species and 4 species of reptiles.

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Other useful web links:

- World Wildlife Fund for Nature website , more commonly known under the acronym WWF (EN)
- Wildlife Alliance page offering the possibility to make a donation to sponsor an animal and finance the elaboration of a prosthetic leg for Chhouk the elephant (EN)
- Traffic website: Traffic is an organisation in charge of monitoring wildlife trade.

Primates are being eaten to extinction by mankind

August 5, 2008
Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter
Times Online

Asia had the worst record for declining primates, with 71 per cent in the region being under threat. In Cambodia, the country with the worst record, 90 per cent of native species are struggling to survive.

Almost half the world's primate species are under threat of extinction because they are being eaten or having their homes destroyed by Man.

Monkeys, lemurs, langurs and great apes are among the primates under threat of eradication in a review of all 634 species, apart from human beings.

It was found that 303 of them face the possibility of extinction in the wild, and for 69 species the threat is so severe that they were classified as critically endangered.

Habitat destruction was identified as the single most damaging cause of decline, but for some animals the threat posed by being hunted and eaten by people was the most significant factor.

Among the animals most likely to end up on someone's table are: the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and Delacour's langur, in Vietnam; the golden monkey and L'Hoest's monkey in Rwanda; and Kirk's red colobus, in Zanzibar and Tanzania.

Asia had the worst record for declining primates, with 71 per cent in the region being under threat. In Cambodia, the country with the worst record, 90 per cent of native species are struggling to survive.

“It's really, really serious,” said Jean-Christophe Vié, of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), as the results of the survey were released at the 22nd International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh.

“Primates are one of the most threatened groups we've assessed and the threat is growing. Deforestation is the main threat but on top of that we have hunting pressure.”

Primates are among the easiest prey for human hunters because they are comparatively easy to spot in the tree canopy, and often advertise their presence with loud calls.

Red colobuses, langurs, mangabeys, howler and spider monkeys are among hunters' favourites because, at 10 to 20lb each, they make a sizeable meal loaded with protein.

Russell Mittermeier, a primate specialist at the IUCN and president of Conservation International, said: “We have raised concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we imagined. Tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but it appears primates are quite literally being eaten to extinction.”

Humor helps a rare bird survive in Cambodia

Conservationist Sum Song Zoning speaks about the value of the Bengal Florican bird to a group of villagers who live near Tonle Sap Lake. (David Montero)
Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. (Heng Sinith/AP – File)
The rare Bengal Florican bird had been decimated by hunting, but now its numbers are on the rise – thanks to efforts like Mr. Zoning’s. (Allan Michaud/AP)

Conservationists’ gentle engagement with locals boosts the prospects for the Bengal Florican.

May 13, 2008
By David Montero
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

For Sum Song Zoning, a community officer with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) of Cambodia, the secret to conservation is a good sense of humor.

His audience: monks and farmers, housewives with screaming babies – each with a skeptical look that deepened as the morning heat rose. His subject: the Bengal Florican, an endangered bird few have ever heard of, let alone seen. His task: to convince the lean-looking villagers that, should they ever come across the bird, a hefty five-pounder, it is better to save it than to eat it.

By all accounts, he succeeded wonderfully. There were cheers as he took playful jabs at a monk and teased two bemused old ladies, using humor to impart the value of the bird. Diagrams and posters were marshaled to explain that, as much as they look alike, Bengal Florican eggs are not duck eggs and should be left alone. During the quiz at the end, the 30 or so participants raised their hands with gleeful eagerness, suggesting that, whether or not they ever saw the bird, they were ready to protect it.

“Ten years ago, people didn’t understand the importance of the bird,” says Zoning. “Now they understand that it’s something special for Cambodia.”

Village by village, and province by province, this simple interaction is helping to save the Bengal Florican, one of the world’s rarest birds, by directly engaging the communities that dwell in the bird’s habitat. And in so doing, this approach is presenting a unique model of community-based conservation, observers and participants say.

“This is a model of conservation between communities and conservationists,” says Robert van Zalinge, a field technical adviser for the WCS. “In remote regions, protected areas are set up just based on government decisions, and that is enforced. But here, in an area of high human population, you have a much larger community interface than any other protected area in Cambodia.”

For bird enthusiasts, the Bengal Florican is prized for its rarity, being native to only three countries in the world: Cambodia, India, and Nepal. Today there are believed to be roughly 1,300 left in the world, with about 800 to 900 in the flood plains of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia, according to research conducted by WCS.

To scientists, the bird is unique for its elaborate mating ritual, or display: the otherwise secretive males make hopping loops in the sky, hoping to attract female attention with their striking presence – black bodies set against glaring white wings.

“They’re very difficult to see. But when they display, the male sort of advertises its territory, trying to attract females,” says Lotty Packman, a doctoral student from England who is assisting the WCS to track and tag the birds.

For the people in these stark grasslands, though, where scarcity is a way of life, the bird is a potential source of income or food. By the 1990s, hunting had significantly diminished its numbers.

Today the bird faces an even greater threat: the grasslands of the Tonle Sap, which used to stretch for hundreds of miles, are quickly diminishing as private companies convert land into large-scale rice-farming operations. Almost 30 percent of the grasslands were lost in 30 months from 2005 to 2007, warns a recent report by the WCS.

“At that rate, in five to 10 years, the grasslands could be gone and the Florican extinct,” says Mr. Van Zalinge.

To prevent that, conservationists worked with the provincial governments in the flood-plain area to devise a solution: an Integrated Farming and Biodiversity Area – a protected area that outlaws large-scale dry rice farming, which damages the Florican’s habitat, but allows farmers to continue traditional methods of deep-water rice farming. The latter’s use of grazing and burning supports the Florican by preventing the growth of scrub that destroy the grass patches favored by the birds.

In 2006, a provincial government decree designated 135 square miles of the flood plain a protected area, preserving roughly half of the Bengal Florican population here. So far, the provincial governments have stopped at least two large-scale dry rice projects, according the WCS, suggesting the firm commitment of local authorities.

What makes the project novel is also the level of community involvement. As many as 20 times a month, community officer Zoning and others gather several dozen people in towns throughout the Tonle Sap flood plain. Men and women, young and old: Their participation has helped the Bengal Florican return, like the rest of Cambodia, from a devastating past.

It is too early to say how successful the protected areas have been in increasing the overall population of Cambodia’s Bengal Florican. For now, project administrators say, success means reaching people like Meach Komhan, a farmer in the district of Baray, part of the flood-plain area.

“I had never heard of the bird before,” he says, after listening to Zoning’s presentation. “I really support the conservation, because the bird is useful for Cambodian people as a natural resource. We don’t want to lose it in the future.”

The Damming of the Mekong

Boat on the Mekong River
Khone Falls
River dolphin on the Mekong River

By Daniel Milder
A-WEAR-NESS Blog

I think it's safe to say that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and I have very little in common. But, for a brief moment on March 29 when our paths crossed at the Phnom Penh Airport, we were on the same wavelength. I was coming from a trip up the Mekong to Khone Falls. Mr. Sen was going to Ventiane to determine the fate of Khone Falls. I had spent the previous week traveling up the Mekong River with aquatic ecologist Zeb Hogan who's on a mission to document the world's megafish. A megafish is any freshwater fish that grows to at least 6.5 feet in length or more then 220 pounds.

We were searching for giant fresh water stingray, and Zeb had heard rumors of a monster near Khone Falls. We spent the week talking to local fishermen and sitting around drinking lukewarm beer waiting for them to call with news of a ray. They didn't, which is not that surprising. Stingrays are very difficult to catch and are rare - technically, they are listed as vulnerable. The Mekong and the stretch just below Khone Falls in particular, is home to more megafish then any other river in the world. Along with stingray, the list includes the Mekong Giant Catfish (critically endangered) and Irrawaddy Dolphin (critically endangered). Life for these rare fish doesn't look to be getting any easier if Laos builds the Don Sahong Dam at Khone Falls, only two kilometers from the Cambodian border. That is bad news for fish living below the falls, and for Cambodians who get two thirds of their protein from fish caught in the Mekong and its tributaries, as well as relying on the river's annual floods to fertilize their fields with nutrient rich sediment. This, presumably, is why Hun Sen was on his way to Ventiane.

The Mekong River starts high in the Tibetan plateau, and makes its way through 6 countries, over a course of more then 3,000 miles. It is the 11th longest river in the world and approximately 90 million people rely on it. One of those is Sok Long, a fisherman we spoke with who lives with his family just north of Kratie not far from a dolphin pool. He is a reserved, serious man with a beautiful wife, a young daughter with wide toothy smile, and an even younger son who followed his daddy everywhere he went, and will no doubt be a fine fisherman himself when he gets older, assuming there are still fish in the river.

China has already built 6 dams on the upper Mekong, and it has resulted in depleted fish stocks and lower water levels below the dams. The Don Sahong Dam could prove particularly harmful to fish stocks in Cambodia because 87% of fish species in the Mekong, whose behavior is known, are migratory, according to The Worldfish Center. The Don Sahong Dam would prevent those fish from completing their lifecycles. The dam would almost certainly reduce water levels below it affecting Tonle Sap river and Lake, tributaries of the Mekong, which supports nearly half of Cambodia's 13 million citizens.

There is no doubt that Cambodia and its neighbors need affordable energy, but at what cost? The Don Sahong Dam is just one of many more dams planned for the lower Mekong. Another in the planning stage is the Sambor Dam to be built just above one of the last remaining Irrawaddy Dolphin pools, and Sok Long's home. The dolphins almost certainly would not survive the dam. As for Sok Long and his family, I wonder what will happen to them.
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Biography: Daniel Milder is a freelance writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He most recently wrote about rat catchers in India and motorcycle doctors in Africa for GOOD Magazine. If you know of any people or organizations doing interesting work that are not getting enough attention, he’d like to hear about them.

Vietnam, Cambodia discuss wildlife protection

13/04/2008
VNA (Hanoi)

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese and Cambodian forestry law enforcement officers have completed a week-long study tour to Cambodia forests which provided an opportunity to discuss and share experiences of forest protection practices.

The Forest and Wildlife Law Enforcement Study Tour of Cambodia was jointly organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Vietnam and Cambodia’s Ministry of Forest and Fisheries and Ministry of the Environment.

During the tour, officials from the Vietnam's Forest Protection Department (FPD), Cambodian environment police officers and members of Wildlife Alliance’s PeunPa group visited Phnom Tamao wildlife conservation area, observed rangers training at Preah Monivong (Bokor) National Park and attended seminars focusing on wildlife and forest conservation, the WWF said on April 9 in a press release.

The study tour gave participants exposure to forest and wildlife law enforcement methods and will encourage inter-agency cooperation in suppressing nature crime, the release said.

WWF Technical Advisor in central Vietnam Mark E Grindley said massive forest logging in the Southeast Asia region brings fortune to only a limited number of people, but is stripping the region of irreplaceable natural heritage.

He highlighted the Vietnamese government’s efforts in forest protection conducted through the tight cooperation of competent agencies. "WWF is willing to support an exchange of ideas with Cambodia, where there are some highly successful models from which to learn," Grindley said.

Cambodia, Vietnam exchange methods on protecting forests, wildlife

April 09, 2008
Xinhua

Law enforcement officers from two provinces in central Vietnam have completed a week-long Forest and Wildlife Law Enforcement Study Tour of Cambodia, a press release said Wednesday.

During the visit organized by WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Vietnam and PeunPa, a member of the Wildlife Alliance, officials from Vietnam's Forest Protection Department (FPD) and Police met their Cambodian counterparts, observed rangers training at Preah Monivong (Bokor) National Park, visited Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue center, and attended seminars focusing on wildlife and forest conservation, the WWF press release said.

They also discussed inter-agency cooperation with Cambodia's Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, which comprises Forestry Administration officials and members of the Royal Gendarmerie Khmer, it added.

The study tour gave participants first hand experience of regionally tested methods of forest and wildlife law enforcement, and will encourage greater international inter-agency cooperation between the two countries to suppress nature crime, the release said, adding that the chance to observe and discuss Cambodia's best practices will also help the participants consider ways to implement their own strategies for forest protection.

"Forest crime in Southeast Asia is a multi-million dollar activity that is stripping the region of irreplaceable natural heritage to the enrichment of a limited few. In Vietnam, responsibility for suppressing this criminal activity is shared between a wide range of agencies, from forest rangers to economic and traffic police, through to customs and border security forces," said Mark E Grindley, WWF Technical Advisor in central Vietnam.

"The Vietnam Government is encouraging the inter-agency cooperation necessary to address the problem, and we are pleased to support an exchange of ideas with Cambodia, where there are some highly successful models from which to learn," Grindley said.

The trip was jointly hosted by Cambodia's Ministry of Forest and Fisheries and Ministry of the Environment.

Srey Ya and Jo-Jo saved from the cooking pot

Free... Srey Ya and Jo-Jo at Todd's sanctuary in Kent (Pics: Frank Thorne)
On menu... sun bear in Phnom Penh restaurant
For sale... caged bear at a shop in Cambodia

Brit saves rare bears from being eaten

24/02/2008
By Frank Thorne And Susie Boniface
Sunday Mirror (UK)

Bears Srey Ya and Jo-Jo playfully rub noses as they get their first taste of freedom... after being saved from the cooking pot.

The pair were destined for the tables of restaurants in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, where diners are prepared to pay up to £500 a time for a bowl of Bear Paw Soup.

But instead of ending up in the stomachs of wealthy businessmen - who eat the "delicacy" believing it will make them strong and virile - they were rescued by Briton Todd Dalton, who brought them back to his Rare Species Conservation Trust sanctuary in Sandwich, Kent.

Srey Ya and Jo-Jo are sun - or honey - bears and at just 4ft high are the world's smallest species of bear.

The bears are found in Cambodia, Malaysia, China and Borneo, but their numbers have been decimated by poachers. They are now officially classed as "vulnerable" by wildlife experts.

When a customer orders Bear Paw Soup the animal will have a paw chopped off to make it.

It will then be kept alive until all of its paws are cut off before finally the carcass is sold as meat. The rear paws are cheaper because the bear walks on them and the meat is tougher.

The front ones are more expensive, with the left paw most prized as the bears tend to lick it when eating honey, which makes the meat more tender.

Srey Ya was just two weeks old when she was captured by poachers who had killed her mother. She was rescued by a bear charity and taken to a local zoo.

Back in England Todd learned of her plight and flew to Phnom Penh. There he also saw 16-month-old Jo-Jo, who had been seized from a cage in a restaurant. The businessman spent thousands of pounds bringing the two bears to Britain to start a breeding programme.

"I was shocked to learn that these cute little bears are on someone's menu," he said. "It's just sickening."

To support the trust or visit the bears see the website at
www.rarespeciesconservationcentre.org

More than 150 Cambodian turtles rescued from becoming dinner

30.01.08
DPA

Scores of Cambodian turtles described as "endangered" have been rescued from the near-certain fate of a dinner plate and released back into the wild, local media reported Wednesday.

The English-language Cambodia Daily reported 169 turtles in the central province of Pursat, 200 kilometres north-west of the capital, were released into the Tonle Sap lake after being confiscated from local fishermen.

The paper did not specify what species was released, but described them as "threatened." Local fisheries officials were not available for further comment Wednesday.

"People love to eat turtles," the paper quoted a government official as saying.

Despite a concerted government education programme and an increasing number of Cambodian turtle species being declared endangered, roasted turtle and turtle eggs remain local delicacies, especially in the lead-up to Chinese New Year.

Bid to end rare otter [living in part of Cambodia] fur trade

Small-clawed otter are also hunted for their pelts

Monday, 21 January 2008
BBC News

A charity is working to help end the illegal killing of rare otters in South east Asia and the trade in their furs.

Scottish-based Furget-Me-Not is backed by the Skye-based International Otter Survival Fund (ISOF).

The first area it is concentrating on is Cambodia, where Asian small-clawed, smooth-coated and the rare hairy-nosed otters are caught for their pelts.

Grace Yoxon, of ISOF, said the plan was to find alternative sources of money for fishermen who hunt the otters.

She said the survival fund was prompted to investigate the trade in otter fur after receiving a call from a company asking if it would supply them with pelts.

Mrs Yoxon, who runs a sanctuary with her husband Paul, said many of the furs ended up in Tibet for use in traditional dress.

She said: "In the West, people accept otters, but in the East they are small mammals that are just not important."

Wildlife rangers

The hairy-nosed otter had previously been thought extinct, but Mrs Yoxon said it, along with the smooth-coated, Asian small-clawed and Eurasian otter, were still being hunted in Cambodia.

Fishermen trap the animals to supplement their incomes.

Otters are listed on the database of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The international agreement between governments aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Furget-Me-Not is attempting to raise $100,000 (£51,160) to pay for workshops for wildlife rangers, leaflets and to help find alternatives for the fishermen.

Cambodian 'River Guards' keep watch over a Mekong River treasure

River guard Em Pheap (Photo: AFP)

Mekong River dolphin (Photo: AFP)

KAMPI, Cambodia (AFP) — The absence of fishing boats on this stretch of the Mekong river, just a few kilometres (miles) north of the eastern Cambodian town of Kratie, means military policeman Em Pheap is doing his job.

One of about 80 "river guards", he is part of a groundbreaking conservation effort which has been credited with helping pull the Irrawaddy dolphin back from extinction.

"There, there!" he pointed excitedly during a recent patrol on the river, shouldering his assault rifle and standing high on the back of the boat.

The pair of dolphins, dark slivers on the horizon, broke the surface with a gentle exhale of breath heard over the murmur of the current running through the submerged trees in this vast monsoon season flood plain.

The total number of Mekong dolphins is unknown, but marine specialists say the mammals remain some of the world's most critically endangered.

With their pale grey skin and blunt beaks, they dolphins resemble porpoises more than their sea-going cousins.

Their numbers already vastly reduced by Cambodia's drawn-out civil conflict -- dolphin blubber was used to lubricate machine parts and light lamps -- these graceful creatures are now falling prey to development and the attendant problem of over-crowding as this wild corner of the country opens up.

The Mekong is one of only five freshwater habitats in the world for this species of dolphin, and Cambodia supports its largest remaining population, thought to hover around 100 congregating in a handful of natural deep-water pools.

"The Kratie-Stung Treng stretch of the Mekong is their last stronghold," said Richard Zanre, the World Wildlife Fund's freshwater programme manager in Cambodia, describing a river habitat running 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Kratie to Stung Treng, Cambodia's last large port before the Mekong crosses over into Laos.

War and the ensuing lawlessness kept the region largely out of the reach of researchers for decades. But since around 2001, biologists and other wildlife experts have discovered an unexpectedly rich biosphere.

At its core are the dolphins, "a flagship species for the conservation of the river," says the WWF.

Desperate to revive a plummeting population, the government created the river guards, the first organisation of its kind and part of a conservation effort launched last year after a spate of mysterious dolphin deaths.

But while the guards appear to have had some success in bringing dolphin numbers back up, they have been met with hostility and sometimes violence from local villagers who make their living along the river.

"The most important thing is to cooperate with the people," said Touch Seang Tana, chairman of the government's Commission for Mekong River Dolphin Conservation.

"Without the participation of the local people in conservation, we will not be successful."

A spike in deaths among mostly dolphin calves last year left officials scrambling to re-think their conservation efforts as Cambodia prepared to launch one of its most ambitious tourism efforts to date: the Mekong River Discovery Trail.

The Trail, which hopes to bring tourism and development to one of Cambodia's most-neglected regions, roughly follows the dolphins' habitat.

The animals' survival is crucial to the plan's success, officials say.

"No dolphins means no tourism. No tourism means no development," Tourism Minister Thong Khon said last week as the Trail, a joint UN-Cambodian project, was announced.

The solution, according to Touch Seang Tana, was to try to radically change the economy of the river to make dolphins more valuable alive than dead.

Alternate means of livelihood would be introduced to villages along the river to take advantage of a booming tourism sector that has already benefited other parts of the country.

"My idea is... to try to get poor fishermen to change over to tourism," Touch Seang Tana told AFP. "I give them tour boats" to bring visitors to see the dolphins.

Reducing villagers' dependence on fishing is hoped to also see a drop in the use of gillnets.

Cheap and easy to use, gillnets are as efficient a killer of dolphins as they are of fish, said Touch Seang Tana, a marine scientist by training who blames this now illegal fishing method for "99 percent" of dolphin deaths.

But getting local fishermen to risk their livelihoods for an animal that is of little value commercially or as food has been hard, he explained.

"I tried to invite them to meetings to explain our actions, even tried to pay them money... But they didn't come, they sent their pregnant wives," he said.

"We decided then that we'll confiscate (fishing gear) and then they came. They came with knives, they wanted to kill the river guards," he added.

"They want to kill all of the dolphins because they are keeping people from making a living."

Since the introduction of the river guards, however, illegal net fishing, along with the use of explosives or electrical charges to catch fish -- practices that also inadvertently kill dolphins -- have dropped, said guard Em Pheap.

"Before it was a big problem, but now people are understanding more about this," he said.

The WWF's Zanre told AFP that while the number of dying dolphin calves is still dangerously high, "adult dolphin mortalities have declined" as a result of conservation.

Even before the Discovery Trail becomes a reality, its successes are evident in Kampi, where dolphins have become the local industry.

Aside from the boats lining up for sightseers, nearly every house along the narrow tree-lined road shadowing the river hawks tiny dolphin carvings.

"Everyone earns the money, even the children, from dolphins. You can see their livelihood has changed -- you can see televisions in houses, some people even have motorcycles," Touch Seang Tana said.

"The dolphin is so important. I tell them 'The dolphin is everything for you' and now they can see that," he added.

"Its future is their future."

Getting it right

A Cambodian bird-watching venture helps conserve the species and benefit the locals.

Saturday October 27, 2007
Stories by LEONG SIOK HUI
The Star (Malaysia)

It’s 4.30am and pitch dark as we slosh through wet and mucky trails with our headlamps lighting the way.

Loud, raucous croaks from cavorting frogs drown the pitter-patter of our footsteps. Our feet sink into soft mud as we wade through knee-deep water a couple of times.

Deb Kem Oum, the deputy committee chief of Tmatboey’s ecotourism project.

As dawn breaks, a vista of rolling grassland unfolds in front us. After an hour’s trudge, our guide suddenly stops. We tiptoe to him and voilà, about 100m away, high on a tree, we see a Giant Ibis sitting regally in her nest.

Looking through a telescope, I can see its dark plumage, naked greyish head and a long, slightly curved beak.

So what’s the fuss?

Well, the Giant Ibis is one of South-East Asia’s rarest bird species and, in the last century, the bird has rarely been spotted. Scientists say the bird became extinct in Thailand 30 years ago. The Ibis holds a near-mythical status among bird-aficionados, naturalists and conservationists.

And as bird-watcher John Howes quips: “You’re probably one of the first Malaysians to see a Giant Ibis in the last few decades.”

Ecotourism in Khmer country

I am in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province with Kuala Lumpur-based conservation group, Wild Asia and its team of responsible tourism assessors: Rick Gregory and Howes.

Wild Asia is here to check out the Tmatboey ecotourism project, one of the two finalists in the Community- or Family-Run Homestays category in Wild Asia’s Responsible Tourism Awards 2007.

Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ashish Joshia Ingty John.

Tmatboey is a remote village with a population of about 185 families in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Cambodia, an area dubbed the Northern Plains. Traditionally, the villagers lived off rice farming, fishing, forest products and wildlife poaching.

After years of civil war, Cambodia finally threw its doors open to scientists and conservationists in 2000. New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) then discovered a large remaining patch of deciduous tropical lowland forest, grassland and seasonal wetlands – home to a huge variety of water birds and large mammals – in the Northern Plains.

These forests have long disappeared from Thailand and Vietnam. To the scientists’ delight, many of South-East Asia’s rarest species like the Giant Ibis, White-Shouldered Ibis, White-Rumped Vulture (all listed as Critically Endangered under IUCN) and (Globally Threatened) species like the Eastern Sarus Crane and the White-Winged Duck thrive here.

Tmatboey was thrust into the limelight when conservationists identified it as a crucial site for the two Ibis species.

With the help of WCS Cambodia programme and Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, a group of Tmatboey villagers launched an ecotourism project in 2004 where tourism revenue would be used to conserve the bird population.

John Howes and Sang Mony spotting a bird.

Local guides lead bird-watchers to spot the birds and villagers provide full room and board. Cambodia-based conservation group, Sam Veasna Center (SVC) for Wildlife Conservation was roped in to promote the site and train the guides.

Helping people and birds

A five-hour trundle in a 4WD through muddy potholes and flooded roads took us to Tmatboey. Until early 2007, guests stayed in a villager’s house. On our visit in early September, wooden chalets were being built on a site about 10 minutes’ stroll from the village.

A village ecotourism committee (nine members elected by the community) manages the site – they run the chalets, provide room and board, local guides and ensure tourism profits benefit the community.

“WCS’s role is to help the community develop an alternative livelihood (from ecotourism) that minimises impact on natural resources (the forests), helps the community manage their land-use efficiently (agriculture) and conserve the birds,” says Ashish Joshia Ingty John, WCS’s community conservation management advisor, who accompanied us to Tmatboey.

“We view the community not as a problem but an integral part of the solution (for conservation),” he says.

WCS works in more than 60 countries and helps governments with scientific research and long-term management of conservation areas.

If you spot the Ibises, you fork out an extra US$30 (RM101) that goes towards supporting local projects. In return, the community makes a pact not to disturb or harm the birds.

Home in Tmatboey: A typical village house.

“Prior to this ecotourism venture, if the farmers found a Giant Ibis (their size is similar to a small turkey), they would have killed it for dinner,” admits Ashish, who was previously involved with community development work in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, for eight years. Over the years, WCS has pumped in about US$100,000 (RM337,000) into the project.

The fruits of their labour

Since 2004, tourist arrivals to Tmatboey have shot up by 35%. In 2006/07, the village committee took over the project from WCS. A total of 78 tourists visited Tmatboey last season and generated US$6,000 (RM20,000) in earnings for the villagers. Out of that, US$2,220 (RM7,500) was used for building roads and six wells (the main source of water supply for the community).

Like his fellow villagers, farmer Deb Kem Oum makes an average of US$150 (RM505)-US$200 (RM673) a year from the sale of rice, pigs, chickens and forest products (like resin-tapping). As a bird guide and the project’s deputy committee chief, Deb, 42, made US$85 (RM290) last year. The money was used for buying school supplies for his children, healthcare and food.

“Aside from the extra income, I picked up many new skills like drawing up proposals for village projects, handling the accounts and learning how to be a guide,” says Deb through our interpreter, Hout Piseth, who works for the Ministry of Environment.

“I also had to do some research to locate the birds, their nests and roosting areas and learn to identify the birds.

“Before this project, we (the villagers) didn’t know the value of wildlife and the importance of preserving them and their habitat,” adds Deb. “Now we also understand things like the impact of rubbish pollution.”

The good news is the bird population is on the increase.

“In 2002/03, there was only a pair of White-Shouldered Ibis at Tmatboey. In 2006/07, it increased to four pairs. The most recent sighting early this year indicated at least five to six pairs of these birds,” says Ashish, who’s from India.

“The Giant Ibis population has stabilised due to less poaching and destruction of their habitats,” he adds.

The challenges ahead

The whole idea of tourism, managing resources and conservation are radical concepts for the villagers. But they are taking everything in their stride, one day at a time.

“One of my main challenges is trying to juggle between farming, running the lodge and guiding the tourists,” admits Deb.

“For the villagers to think they can earn more money from tourism and to take time from their daily chores is difficult for them to conceive at this point,” chips in Ashish.

“We need more tourists to come and convince the community that it’s worth it.”

If the villagers have enough funds in 2007/08, they plan to hire a teacher to teach English.

A bright future

“We try to make the villagers feel the birds belong to them and instil a sense of pride and ownership. So even if the ecotourism venture fails, at least the birds will be protected,” says Ashish.

“Tmatboey is now a model for other communities in Cambodia. It defines a new relationship between people and wildlife that respects the rights of both and allows for mutual co-existence,” he sums up.

The writer’s trip was courtesy of Wild Asia and Malaysia Airlines.

Book a bird tour

• SAM VEASNA CENTER FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION (SVC)
• E-mail: info@samveasna.org or bookings@samveasna.org
• Website: www.samveasna.org
• A typical 4D/3N package costs US$450/RM per person, based on four pax. Price decreases with more people. Trips can be tailored-made.
• The ideal bird-watching season is during the dry season, from November to May. Giant Ibises nest from July-November, while the White-Shouldered Ibises nest from December-March.

Group Launches Plan to Save 189 Birds

In this photo released by U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, a Bengal Florican is seen in Kampong Thom province, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in this May 13, 2006 file photo. An international conservation group launched an ambitious plan Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 to raise tens of million dollars to save 189 endangered birds over the next five years by protecting their habitat and raising public awareness about their plight. (AP Photo/Wildlfe Conservation Society, HO)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
By MICHAEL CASEY
AP

BANGKOK, Thailand - An international conservation group launched an ambitious plan Thursday to raise tens of millions of dollars to save 189 endangered birds over the next five years by protecting their habitat and raising public awareness about their plight.

U.K.-based BirdLife International is calling on environmental groups, corporations and individuals to contribute the $37.8 million needed for what it is dubbing the Species Champions initiative.

The campaign comes as the numbers of extinct birds is on the rise, mostly due to poaching, habitat loss and overdevelopment. In the last three decades, 21 species have been lost, including the Hawaiian honeycreeper Poo-uli, Hawaiian Crow or alala and the Spixs Macaw from Brazil, BirdLife said.

The first birds to benefit will be the Bengal Florican in Cambodia, the Belding's Yellowthroat in Mexico, Djibouti Francolin in Djibouti and Restinga Antwren from Brazil. All have seen their numbers drop from a few thousand to a few hundred and their ranges limited to a few isolated locations.

"Critically endangered birds can be saved from extinction through this innovative approach," the group's Chief Executive Mike Rands said in a statement. "This is an enormous challenge, but one we are fully committed to achieving in our efforts to save the world's birds from extinction."

All the birds targeted in the campaign are listed by the World Conservation Union as critically endangered which means they are on the brink of extinction.

Among them are the Black Stilt, a New Zealand shorebird whose numbers have been reduced to a handful. Many like Taita Thrush in Kenya are confined to diminishing fragments of their former habitat. Others like the Red-headed Vulture are still widespread in Asia and still have populations measurable in thousands, but are in dramatic decline, having lost over 80 percent of their numbers in just three generations.

"We all have a negative impact on the environment, and we all have a little bit of blood on our hands when a species goes extinct," said Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's Global Species Program Coordinator. "The Species Champions initiative provides everyone with a personal opportunity to play their part in mitigating these impacts and in saving species from extinction."

BirdLife officials said the funding will also go to implementing environmental awareness programs, helping developing government conservation policies, creating protected area networks and carrying out surveys to better understand, assess and fight the threats facing the birds. Programs will also be aimed at removing invasive species, especially those that threaten island nesting species.

"The initiative is about raising funds to direct at the key people and organizations on the ground who can make a difference for these species on the brink of extinction," Butchart said. "It is the first time this approach has been taken in such a globally comprehensive and coordinated way for an entire class of organisms."

Sicence comes to the rescue of Cambodian elephants in the Cardamom Mountains

In this photo released by Fauna and Flora International, Cambodian elephant conservationists train trackers to identify elephant dung during a field survey in a remote area in southwestern Cambodia, on Jan. 11, 2007. Conservationists said Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, they plan to send some 520 samples of elephant dung to Australia for DNA analysis, hoping the results will help them estimate more accurately the number of elephants in the Cambodian wild. (AP Photo/Fauna and Flora International)

In this photo released by Fauna and Flora International, a Cambodian elephant tracker measures the size of elephant dung during a survey in the jungle in southwestern Cambodia, on Dec. 7, 2006. Conservationists said Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, they plan to send some 520 samples of elephant dung to Australia for DNA analysis, hoping the results will help them estimate more accurately the number of elephants in the Cambodian wild. (AP Photo/Fauna and Flora International)

Prum Sovanna, left, a Cambodian elephant conservationist, prepares to place a bundle of tubes containing elephant dung in a box at his office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. Conservationists said Friday they plan to send some 520 samples of elephant dung to Australia for DNA analysis, hoping the results will help them estimate more accurately the number of elephants in the Cambodian wild. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Matt Maltby, an elephant conservationist, shows a tube containing elephant dung at his office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. Conservationists said Friday they plan to send some 520 samples of elephant dung to Australia for DNA analysis, hoping the results will help them estimate more accurately the number of elephants in the Cambodian wild. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodia sends elephant poo to Australia

August 3, 2007
AP

Conservationists said they plan to send some 520 samples of elephant dung to Australia for DNA analysis, hoping the results will help them estimate more accurately the number of elephants in the Cambodian wild.

The samples will be sent to a laboratory in Melbourne in the next few weeks, said Matt Maltby, the technical adviser of the US-based Fauna and Flora International's Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group.

DNA from the dung can reveal the age, sex and health of the individual elephant that produced it, the group said in its statement.

DNA Solutions, the Australian firm that will analyse the samples, said a population profile can be compiled from DNA analysis.

"By looking at the number of unique profiles from the samples, and using statistical calculations, we plan to be able to find the population of Cambodian elephants left in the wild," DNA Solutions said in a statement on its website.

Tuy Sereivathana, project manager for Fauna and Flora International, said researchers began collecting the samples in January this year from various sites in the Cardamom Mountains, southwest of the capital Phnom Penh.

The mountains include forests stretching over 10,000sq km, the US-based conservation group said on its website.

The mountains are believed to be home to the largest population of elephants in Cambodia. Various estimates have put the total nationwide at between 200 to 500 elephants, Maltby said.

He said a technique using cameras strapped to trees has proven ineffective in helping keep an accurate count. "Usually you just get a camera shot of the leg or not good enough shots to identify individual elephants," he said.

UN project to save the rare Mekong dolphins

07/19/2007

An UN project aims to safeguard the species at risk of extinction and boost tourism in the area. Today the local fishermen live on less than 50 cents a day.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Safeguarding the sweet water dolphins of Mekong, an extremely rare species which risks extinction, and re-qualifying the area to boost tourism and the local economy, where still today people live on less than 50 a day. That’s the aim of a project elaborated by a United Nations team who intend to convert 200km stretch of the Mekong River into a leading eco-tourism destination. “The Mekong River dolphin is a treasure we must protect. It is the second tourism icon of Cambodia, after Angkor Wat” (Khmer temple found in the archaeological site of Angkor, near Siem Reap city), says Thok Sokhum, the Cambodian tourism official overseeing the development of what will become the Mekong Discovery Trail.

According to the WWF, Between 80 and 100 of the dolphins are managing to survive in nine deep pools between the scenic town of Kratie and Cambodia's border with Laos; Conservationists have been warning for several years that the dolphins' demise is imminent, improving villagers' livelihoods is key to ensuring their survival.

This is why the UN’s World Tourism Organisation will pinpoint areas for infrastructure development and identify activities that will provide new sources of income for fishing villages in a region where most residents survive on less than US 50 cents a day. These villages have seen their incomes plunge even further as patrols of River Guards, set up to protect the dolphins, began cracking down on gill-net fishing, strictly enforcing fishing zones and targeting illegal methods such as dynamite, cyanide and electric-shock fishing, which risk compromising the river’s delicate ecosystem.

The project, which is being funded by the Cambodian government, the UN and the Dutch development agency SNV, has two phases: The first is an urban renewal plan for the provincial capital, Kratie that aims to turn the riverside town into a gateway to the country's spectacular but rarely visited northeast. Once the Kratie facelift is finalised, the Mekong Discovery Trail will be charted. This will include cycling paths and other eco-friendly activities that planners say will primarily benefit local communities and small-scale businesses, as well as the dolphins. The number of international tourists has been rising by about 20 per cent a year over the past several years, and is on track to surpass 2 million this year.

Jolie'S Animal Sanctuary Protecting Cambodian Wildlife

2007-06-13
World Entertainment News Network

ANGELINA JOLIE is doing her best to protect wildlife in Cambodia - by opening an animal sanctuary for endangered animals.

The Tomb Raider star adopted first son Maddox from the south east Asian country in 2002, and has often visited since in her role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.

But Jolie insists her love of animals hasn't influenced her eating habits she's still firmly carnivorous.

She says, "I have an animal sanctuary in Cambodia.

"I'll protect the tigers. But I do like steak."