Help Rangers Protect Endangered Cambodian Wildlife

2022 has been quite a year for Wildlife Alliance/Cambodian Ministry of Environment rangers whose patrols to protect the Cardamom Rainforest Landscape are supported by your generous donations. In the first 9 months of 2022, our rangers already removed more wildlife snares than during all of last year – indicating that Southeast Asia’s snaring crisis is worsening. This report highlights a recent case where our rangers caught a Phnom Penh police official poaching wildlife inside a protected area and summarizes overall patrol results achieved thus far this year.

In early September, the Stung Proat and Sre Ambel patrol units caught and detained two hunters in the middle of the night. The pair had been hunting wildlife and illegally using weapons inside the Southern Cardamom National Park, and were caught red-handed with several dead animals, including 1 pregnant sambar deer (IUCN Red-Listed Vulnerable species), 1 civet and 3 kilos of bush meat. In addition, they had 3 pistols and 2 rifles with scopes and targeting lasers, and were driving a pick-up truck with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces license plates. During the investigation, it became apparent that the men were Phnom Penh police officers and one of them held the rank of 1^st Lieutenant!

Our Cardamom Forest Protection Program team filed a case with the Koh Kong Courts requesting maximum legal penalties be applied to this pair of State Officers who were using State resources to destroy protected, state-owned natural resources. Provisional detention warrants were issued for both of the men, and they were handed over to Kong Kong Prison officers. We hope this case serves as a deterrent for other officials who may think they are above the law!

While this case is just one example, our rangers are busy day and night and they accomplish a lot. From January-September 2022, our rangers:

• Conducted 4,842 patrols within Cardamom protected areas.
• Removed 33,373 wildlife snares and 7,328 meters of net traps.
• Saved 260 live animals from poachers and illegal hunters.
• Removed 582 illegal logging and hunting camps/ huts.
• Stopped 152 cases of land encroachment.
• Confiscated 1,121 chainsaws, 132 mechanical buffalos used for hauling timber and 19 excavators/ bulldozers/ tractors from illegal logging sites.
• Submitted 124 court cases against offenders.

Support from donors like you is vital to paying salary supplements for the Ministry of Environment rangers on our teams, who make it possible for us to operate patrol stations and ensure the Cardamom’s vital habitat is protected. Thank you so much for helping us make this landscape safer for wildlife!

If you are planning to make any year-end gifts, please mark your calendars for November 29^th when you can help us earn a portion of GlobalGiving’s $1.2 MILLION USD Incentive Fund. All unique donations of up to $2,500 made November 29, 2022 from 12:01AM-11:59PM Eastern Time will be matched! To meet the match requirements each donation must be:

1)     Made via GlobalGiving’s website during the campaign period.

2)     Made by a unique individual with a distinct name, email, and payment account (only 1 donation per person will be matched, even if you give to multiple projects).

3)     Donations must be made by the account or card holder.

4)     Acceptable payment methods include: credit or debit card, Paypal, individually purchased GlobalGiving gift cards (corporate gift cards are ineligible), and M-Changa/M-Pesa.

The more we raise, the more matching funds we’ll receive!

We know times are tight and appreciate all that you do already. If you cannot afford to donate right now, please consider sharing this report with friends or family to spread the word about our work and this Giving Tuesday opportunity. Best wishes for a wonderful giving season.