Empower Cambodian Communities to Protect Forests

We would like to extend a special thank you to all the amazing donors that helped fund our campaign to empower Cambodian women for the environment. Thanks to your generosity and kindness, we will be able to provide these dedicated women with the resources they need to help improve their lives and the natural environment around them. We raised close to $1,300, which will provide them with the supplies and tools they need to continue their bi-monthly meetings.

On March 8th, we also celebrated the 104th International Women’s Day. Wildlife Alliance promotes gender equality in all our efforts as it also aligns with our mission to promote sustainable development. We understand that women are powerful agents of change in communities. They play the primary role in food production, healthcare, household nutrition, and have specific knowledge about the natural resources they depend upon for providing for their families.

Our field programs work with women to help them increase their earning power, and give them a voice in the community. At our Community-Based Ecotourism Project in Chi Phat, the most successful guest houses in this community are run by women. In the rural Cambodian village of Sovanna Baitong, where Wildlife Alliance’s Community Agriculture Development Project is located, women hold the majority of the leadership positions in the community. Of the 10 senior positions on the Agriculture Association – the body of community members that manages life in the village – 7 are held by women. This is quite remarkable, as according to the Cambodian National Institute of Statistics, the national average for women in managerial positions is only 9%. Women in Sovanna Baitong run groups like the Marketing Group, which sets prices for village goods in local markets; the Credit Group, which manages the Community Fund and loans to villagers; and the Education Group, which oversees educational facilities and curricula in the community. The Tropical Reforestation Project, which aims to reconnect fragmented forest cover in the Southern Cardamom Mountains, employs primarily women workers to work in our nursery and care for the saplings year-round. Not only do these women pay it forward by empowering their daughters and family members, but the pool of people committed to resource conservation is enlarged, children are raised with a conservation ethic, and a sustainable green economy is also realized.

Join us in congratulating these remarkable women for the vital work they do for their families, their communities and the environment. And thank you again for your generous donation, and for helping us empower communities to protect forests and wildlife.