Conservation in Cambodia
Part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, Cambodia is home to some of the richest ecosystems on the planet, while having today some of the fastest rate of deforestation. Large-scale developments are turning vast chunks of forests and wetlands into commercial plantations and real estate projects, while poaching and illegal logging are relentlessly degrading and emptying the forests. The situation is further aggravated by the difficult socioeconomic conditions found in rural areas and complicated land rights issues.

Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary
Prek Toal is a world-class bird sanctuary and Ramsar site located within the Tonle Sap biosphere reserve. Efforts from conservation groups, the ministry of environment and local rangers have led to an increase in the number of birds coming to roost in the sanctuary.
Photos featured in Wayne McCallum’s Mekong Solitaire (Howl press, 2021).










Phnom Kulen National Park
Located to the northeast of the Angkor temples, the mountain range of Phnom Kulen was revealed in 2015 to be the seat of a large ancient city. In spite of being a National Park, the forest has largely been cleared for cashew plantations: it is estimated that only about 20% of the original forest is in good condition.
With Archaeology & Development Foundation (ADF) and HUMY.










In recent years, archaeologists teamed up with local communities and the National Park to create Community Protected Areas around the last pockets of healthy forests remaining near the villages and developing community-based ecotourism.












Opening ceremony of the Popel village’s ecotourism center.
Community-based ecotourism in Keo Seima
Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary is home to the largest populations of both the endangered Southern yellow-cheeked gibbon and the critically endangered Black-shanked douc. The Jahoo research & ecotourism project is located in the buffer zone of the sanctuary on land collectively owned by an Indigenous Bunong community.
Photos part of the 2023 Pulitzer-supported exhibition ‘Pray for Prey’ in Phnom Penh.



The mangroves of Prey Nup
Not far from Sihanoukville, at the foot of the Bokor plateau, lies the Prey Nup mangroves, a rich network of flooded forest, mudflats and waterways thriving with a high diversity of bird and endangered mammals species.
Drone shoot for a private conservation initiative.







Marine ecosystems
Cambodia’s marine environment faces a number of anthropogenic threats, among them overfishing, the omnipresence of marine debris and the poaching of protected species. At the same time, the country is increasing its number of Marine Protected Areas.









Wetlands & Birds
Cambodia has a large number of wetlands – the floodplain of the Tonle Sap and the Mekong rivers – but these are disappearing fast under new developments, farmlands and expanding plantations.






