By Rebecca Bone | Wildlife Mission Field Officer
As Earth Day 2021 approaches on 22nd April and millions come together in support of the environment to highlight the urgent climate action needed to restore our planet, our Wildlife Alliance Rangers are hard at work protecting the Cardamom Rainforest Landscape, Cambodia.
Our Rangers are on the front line in the fight against the climate emergency. Scientific studies have shown deforestation in the tropical belt can affect rainfall thousands of miles away and that Southeast Asia has the fastest rate of deforestation of all the world’s tropical basins so requires priority intervention. The > 1.3 million hectares under our protection is one of the last un-fragmented rainforests and great watersheds in southeast Asia and is globally significant for both climate regulation and carbon sequestration. Unfortunately, the landscape is increasingly imperiled by deforestation so during the last quarter our rangers have been busy disrupting and preventing the illegal logging trade via night ambushes and night check-points with some dramatic results!
In March, a combined night operation involving units from three patrol stations ambushed a 5-ton truck full of a rare timber species. The driver of the truck attempted a quick getaway while a car, carrying the owner of the timber and a timber trader, appeared suddenly and tried to prevent our rangers from stopping the truck. The large truck overturned, the driver was arrested, taken to court the next day and jailed. Our Rangers also confiscated and impounded 14.64 cubic meters of rare, valuable wood but, sadly, the trader and timber owner evaded capture.
However, the story didn’t end there. Happily, further investigation by our Rangers uncovered the identity of the trader who, it transpired, was involved in many other criminal undertakings and he is now being dealt with by the Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia. This latest success story adds to the numerous successful timber busts carried out by our Rangers during the last quarter and they couldn’t do it without your support. Thank you so much.
Our Rangers are tackling the global climate crisis every day, 24/7 but they need help to continue to do so. If you feel inspired to support our program, please do so this week (19-23 April) when your generosity will go even further because GlobalGiving’s Climate Action Campaign will double your donation by providing 100% matching funds on all online donations up to $100.
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