Help Rangers Protect Endangered Cambodian Wildlife

Last weekend, on August 12, we celebrated World Elephant Day! This day was created to help raise awareness about the urgent plight of elephants in both Africa and Asia. Only 35,000 Asian elephants remain and we are on the brink of losing this iconic species forever.  With the escalation of habitat destruction, human-elephant conflict and sustained poaching, the future of the Asian elephant is uncertain. Although they once roamed across most of Asia, habitat destruction has reduced their range to just 15% of their former habitat. The remaining forest is highly fragmented, and with few corridors to connect them, herds now survive only in small, isolated pockets, where they are vulnerable to poaching and inbreeding. In Cambodia specifically, it is estimated that only 300 elephants remain in the wild, and even that may be generous.

Wildlife Alliance is dedicated to not just stabilizing Cambodia’s elephant populations, but we aim to increase their numbers. In order to do that, we must ensure that these massive animals have all the space they need to thrive. Wildlife Alliance provides direct protection to 720,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of tropical forest in the Southern Cardamoms and addresses the local drivers of deforestation through zoning and demarcation of protected forestland; advocacy at all levels of government to cancel agro-industrial and mining land concessions; development of alternative livelihoods in agriculture, ecotourism, and reforestation for poor landless farmers who previously subsisted on envi­ronmentally destructive practices; and support for environmental policy development and law enforcement. Located in the Indo-Burmese peninsula, an internationally recognized biodi­versity hotspot, the Cardamom Mountain Range is one of Cambodia’s most important watersheds and carbon sinks, home to 16 critically endangered species, and one of Asia’s last seven remaining elephant corridors.

Through increased involvement of the communities in habitat management as well as participatory forest patrolling, Wildlife Alliance is actively repairing and regenerating degraded forest. To date, Wildlife Alliance has secured the cancellation or reduction of 37 land concessions, preserving vital habitat that is essential for the preservation of Asian elephants worldwide.

Thank you for your support of our forest rangers who are dedicated to preserving one of Asia’s last elephant corridors. Your donations are helping ensure a future for this iconic species.

In March, Wildlife Alliance began training 65 forest rangers at a brand new ranger station in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. This was made possible by a grant earned for our impressive work and effectiveness of our ranger protection in the Southern Cardamom National Park.

 The new Chhay Areng Ranger Station was completed back in December and since then has been completely operational. It is our first ranger station in the north, in an extremely remote area of the Southern Cardamom rainforest. In this area people are used to there being no control or regulation on his or her activities, such as illegal logging, forest clearing, or wildlife poaching. Prior to the new ranger station opening, our rangers stationed to the south were patrolling the region regularly but due to the distance, the rangers could only patrol the area about once a month. With the new ranger station, we are expecting to see a decline in illegal activities and see a healthy change for the environment and conservation of natural resources, wildlife and forests.

This area of Southeast Asia is rich in biodiversity but unfortunately there are many species that fall on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. One particular illegal activity commonly found in this northern region is the use of the snare, which is a homemade device that cruelly and indiscriminately maims or kills any individual that crosses it. Due to the previous lack of control in the northern region there are still unimaginable numbers of snare traps set in the forests just waiting for the next innocent animal to pass by. Fortunately now that we have a ranger station functioning in the region we have the manpower to search for and confiscate the snares. Unsustainable levels of snaring are currently driving an extinction crisis in Southeast Asia. In the Southern Cardamom National Park, the number of snares removed by Wildlife Alliance rangers nearly doubled in just five years, from 14,364 in 2010 to 27,714 in 2015. Because snares are cheap to make and require little effort to be effective, they are far more dangerous and devastating to wildlife populations than if everyone in the region were given a gun. We have created a microproject to help our rangers combat this crisis, but we still need to raise over $2,000 to reach our fundraising goal. It is up to all of us to help save our forests and wildlife for future generations. Please donate today to help our rangers rid the forests of and protect the wildlife!

Thank you for your continued support to our rangers. Without your support, our rangers would not have been able to stop illegal loggers and wildlife poachers from damaging the Cardamom forests.