Raise Awareness to Protect Wildlife in Cambodia

The Kouprey Express works to not only educate students about conservation issues, but also raise awareness in the general public. This dedicated team uses community workshops, PSA’s and billboards to inform the general public about wildlife laws. They also attend meetings between various entities to promote regional cooperation in Asia.

In July, our Mobile Environmental Education Project Manager, Amy Van Nice attended an Asia's Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) Partners' meeting in Thailand. This informative session provided valuable insight into the important work being done to combat wildlife trafficking in other Asian countries. Sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in partnership with Freeland Foundation, ARREST works to promote regional cooperation and halt the illegal trafficking of endangered species.

The meeting resulted in greater cooperation with Thailand, and Thai Police plan to visit the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team and the Southern Cardamom Forest Protection Program to learn more about our effective wildlife and timber trafficking methods. The Kouprey Express education team will also prepare to present at an outreach event for border communities to help train Thai staff, so that similar environmental education can be done in Thailand. The Partner’s meeting was a very productive session, and we look forward to working together to increase capacity building and coordination on wildlife trafficking operations and investigations.

This program also allows us to produce large scale public outreach efforts to address the supply and demand driving the illegal wildlife trade, as well as educate the public about the steps they can take to protect wildlife in Cambodia. One such effort is the installation of major billboard signs promoting an anti-wildlife trafficking message. In June, the Kouprey Express installed four large double-sided overhead billboard signs along key national highways. These signs make it clear to the public that obtaining wildlife products is illegal, as well as promotes our 24-hour nationwide wildlife rescue hotline for citizens to report wildlife crime. We would like to give a special thanks to Gowri Shankar, who kindly provided the images of the king cobra for the billboard.

Education is vital to ending the demand for illegal wildlife products, as well as promoting conservation in poor countries like Cambodia. Thank you for supporting this important project!