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(December 23, 2020) On Tuesday 22nd December 2020, WCS, the IBIS Rice Conservation Co., Ltd IRCC and Samsom Mlup Prey Organisation (SMP) were honored to welcome the H.E. Say Samal (Chairman of National Sustainable Development Council and Minister of Ministry of Environment) to the IBIS Rice warehouse located in Sangkat Phsar Derm Thkov, Phnom Penh. During his visit, his excellency was shown the manufacturing and packaging of wildlife-friendly and organic products and received the opportunity to taste some of the la...

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(December 04, 2020) Abstract In northern Cambodia, threatened wildlife, livestock and people are being poisoned by pesticides deposited in seasonal waterholes. Addressing this critical conservation threat requires understanding the drivers of poisoning behaviours and the social contexts in which they occur. This study across 10 communities in two protected areas aimed to provide a first assessment of this phenomenon. We used the theory of planned behaviour to measure socio-psychological determinants of behaviour a...

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(October 26, 2020) Phnom Penh, Cambodia (October 26, 2020) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released a report today showing a ten-year population trend for 13 key wildlife species found in the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS), Cambodia’s most biodiverse protected area. Using scientifically robust data collected using a standardized methodology, the report shows that the populations of green peafowl and pig-tailed macaque are increasing; populations of black-shanked douc langur, yellow-cheek...

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(October 05, 2020) Phnom Penh (October 3, 2020) – His Excellency Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and Spokesman of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) is leading an MoE delegation and a group of local journalists on a visit to Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) in Mondulkiri province October 3 – 5, 2020. The visit, organized by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the MoE with USAID support, aims to provide an opportunity to learn about and raise the public’s awareness about (i) the design and...

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(September 11, 2020) KOH KONG, Cambodia (September 11, 2020) – WCS released pics and video today showing critically endangered Siamese crocodile hatchlings (Crocodylus siamensis) – among the world’s most endangered crocodile species – swimming in a natural lake in Sre Ambel district of Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. The images were taken by a patrol from WCS’s Crocodile Nest Protection Team working in collaboration with the Fisheries Administration and Koh Kong Provincial Department of Ag...

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(September 05, 2020) Phnom Penh –Today marks the International Vulture Awareness Day with the message that vultures need all our help if they are to survive in Cambodia. Vultures are masters of the air! Recent satellite tagging of vultures in Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary has revealed vultures fly at heights of 6 km, and by flying at up to 100 km/hour can commute between the vulture feeding stations in Chhep and Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuaries with ease. However, there is more to the story. Vultures play an impo...

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(August 14, 2020) Supported by the USAID GPL, so far this breeding season eight Giant Ibis nests have been found in the middle of the nesting season this year, running from May through to October. The GPL/WCS Bird Nest Protection Team estimated that the number of nests will increase between now and October.   From 2004 until 2020, 413 Giant Ibis nests and 649 fledglings have been protected in the Northern Plains of Cambodia which covers Chheb Wildlife Sanctuary, Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, Prey P...

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(August 11, 2020) Last week, WCS SMART team, in collaboration with Fisheries Administration, provided a two-day training course on “Patrol Data Collection Using SMART Mobile App” for counterparts from Fisheries Administration Cantonments in Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk provinces and five fisheries communities along the Sre Ambel River system. The training aimed to build capacity of the participants on how to use SMART Mobile App for accurate data collection and freshwater law enforcement field observat...

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(June 10, 2020) Preah Vihear – His Excellency Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and Spokesman of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) led an MoE delegation and a group of local journalists to visit Kulen Promtep and Chheb Wildlife Sanctuaries in Preah Vihear province and the Bengal Florican Conservation Area in Kampong Thom provinces Stoung district June 9 – 10, 2020. While in Preah Vihear the delegation met with local communities to learn about organic and wildlife-friendly rice production, community-...

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(May 27, 2020) The Kingdom of Cambodia has joined the GBIF network as an associate participant, expanding the network in Asia as its fourth national member and tenth formal participant. Cambodia formalized its entry into GBIF with signature of the Memorandum of Understanding by Dr Tin Ponlok, Secretary-General of the National Council for Sustainable Development, a cross-ministerial body coordinated by the Cambodian Ministry of Environment. As outlined in the most recent National Biodiversity Strategic Action P...

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(May 26, 2020) Located inside Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Sre Preah community protected area (CPA) was established in January 2019. Over 200 families from across three villages in Sre Preah commune—O Chra, Pu Char, and Pu Kong—are members of the CPA. People in these villages traditionally rely heavily on rice cultivation and chamkar, but these activities generate insufficient income to support a household throughout an entire year. The USAID Keo Seima Conservation Project (USAID KSCP), implemente...

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(May 26, 2020) Koh Kong—On May 24, 2020, H.E Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) led a delegation to visit Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center located in Tuol Koki village of Koh Kong province. The purpose was to learn about WCS’s Royal Turtle Conservation Project which has been implementing since 2001 in collaboration with MAFF’s Fisheries Administration (FiA) and local community along the Sre Ambel River System in Sre Amble district in Koh Kong and Preah Sih...

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(May 23, 2020) Phnom Penh—To mark World Turtle Day, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) celebrates the conservation of the Critically Endangered Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtles in Cambodia. “With continuous support from our donors and good cooperation from the Fisheries Administration (FiA), plus strong commitments of our field staff and community nest protection team, WCS has made significant progress in implementing its project over the past years,” said Ken Sereyrotha, Country Progr...

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(May 19, 2020) Koh Kong – Twenty-three Royal Turtles hatched from nests on the Sre Ambel River this year. This is more than the total number hatched in the previous three years combined. The 23 hatchlings were from three Royal Turtle nests found and protected by a community nest protection team on two sand beaches along Sre Ambel River system in Koh Kong Province. One of the nests was found on a beach used every year by the turtles, while the other two nests were found on a beach not used by turtles...

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(April 30, 2020) (April 30, 2020) - Environment Minister Say Samal on Tuesday said upon inspection on the conservation work in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, authorities reported the sanctuary is home to 60 species of rare and critically endangered animals and 25 species of carnivorous animals. The place was also recognised for its conservation of Asian elephants. “We would like to acknowledge the efforts of rangers and officials of the Wildlife Conservation Society who have strived to patrol and protect th...

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(April 16, 2020) COVID-19 is giving poachers free reign – hurting species and hurting local economies. Less than 300 ibises now remain in the wild. In a single deliberate poisoning event, three Giant Ibis, equivalent to 1-2 percent of the global population, have been killed – part of a disturbing global trend where conservationists are noticing increases in hunting of protected species since the spread of coronavirus began to disrupt traditional economic and social systems in rural areas. The inciden...

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(March 12, 2020) The Keo Seima REDD+ project is undertaking its 3rd verification. During this process, the project is opening for public comment on the Monitoring and Implementing Report from March 2 to April 1, 2020. Please download the report via the link below:CCB_MON_REP_ENG_DRAFT_1650_01JAN2018_31DEC2019.pdf (English)CCB_MON_REP_KH_DRAFT_562_01JAN2018_31DEC2019.pdf (Khmer)Any comments can be made via VERRA website at https://vcsprojectdatabase.org/#/project_details/1650, or email to: cambodiainfo@...

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(March 02, 2020) Untitled Document On 2nd March 2020, WCS met with representatives of Customs, Police, Forestry Administration, Phnom Penh Court and Wildlife Alliance, to discuss technical support to a case of suspected lion bone trafficking. The meeting followed a seizure of >280kg big cat bones made by the Ministry of Interior’s Counter-Counterfeit Committee, Ministry of Commerce, and Phnom Penh Customs in late December, which resulted in the arrest of two Vietnamese nationals in conn...

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(February 12, 2020) Koh Kong (Feb 12, 2020) – As of January 2020, conservationists from the local communities, Fisheries Administration and WCS found three nests of Royal Turtle with a total of 51 eggs in the Sre Ambel River System. During the previous four years only one nest was found each year. This success comes after the release of the circular and Prakas (announcement) dated July 10, 2017 by the Ministry of Mines and Energy on the resolution to stop all sand dredging business along the Sre Ambel River S...

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(January 10, 2020) Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Department of Fisheries Conservation of Fisheries Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, ​​in collaboration with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), today released 20 Critically Endangered Royal Turtles (Batagur affinis) into the Sre Ambel River system in Dong Peng commune, Sre Ambel district of Koh Kong province. The release was made under a jointly funded project supported by the European Union (EU), WRS, Rainforest Trust, US Fo...

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