Help Rangers Protect Endangered Cambodian Wildlife

On August 25th and September 28th, 2013 Wildlife Alliance patrol units halted two illegal shipments of rosewood in the middle of the rainforest, after intense pursuits on Sre Ambel River. Just before the traffickers escaped from their boats, they threw part of their precious shipment of timber overboard hoping to salvage some of their profits from an estimated value of $65,000.

On September 28th, an informant called a Wildlife Alliance officer at the Tatai patrol station informing him that a stock of rosewood was hidden in the Sre Ambel River after being illegally harvested from the rainforest that Wildlife Alliance is protecting. The Tatai team immediately went to search and found the stock immersed in the river, approximately 3 meters down. They found more than 6 tons of rosewood and 1.7 cubic meters of another luxury timber called Thnong. It took 2 days and the help of the Sre Ambel patrol unit to extract the timber from the water and transport it back to the station.

Four weeks prior, on August 25th at 3:00 am, 2 slow boats with 5.5 tons of rosewood were trying to pass silently in front of the Sre Ambel patrol station with engines off so as to not be noticed. But, because they are on duty at night, the patrol unit was on alert. The team immediately jumped into the patrol speed boat to chase the trafficker’s boats. The offenders started their engines to try to evade capture, but the patrol unit was faster. The offenders realized they were cornered and had no choice but to jump out of the boats and run into the rainforest. The timber was seized and transported to the patrol station. The total shipment amounted to 5.5 tons of rosewood, 9 cubic meters of thnong, and 5.5 cubic meters of other precious timber from the protected rainforest, a huge confiscation for the team.

The Southern Cardamom Forest Protection Program had a very busy month confiscating over 2,000 snares, more than 4 cubic meters of illegal redwood and other timber, 1 pangolin, 8 turtles, 2 water dragons, and 3 birds. And despite making nearly 40 patrol stops, they were only able to apprehend one offender, as most suspects flee the scene before they can be questioned.  This is just another example of how difficult the task of forest protection truly can be – even when they are able to confiscate the tools of destruction, more often than not the actors elude them. Yet despite this challenge it is vital to conduct regular forest patrols both to stop offenders in the act, and to deter others from taking up such activities.

Our Forest Protection program would not be possible without the support of the Cambodian government. Last week, Suwanna Gauntlett, founder and CEO of Wildlife Alliance had a very productive meeting with the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister, Yim Chhay Ly, reinforcing Wildlife Alliance’s relationship with the government and Cambodia’s continued commitment to forest protection. This collaboration is essential to maintain the effectiveness of our direct, on the ground efforts to combat deforestation and wildlife trafficking, and we are grateful for their support. You can read the full press release below.

Links:

• Press Release Issued by Agence Kampuchea Presse