Wildlife at odds with ELCs
Economic land concessions strewn over the remote Western Siem Pang forest, in Stung Treng province, are threatening the survival of Cambodia’s national bird, the giant ibis, a report reveals. The forest, flanking the Kingdom’s border with Laos, is home to five critically endangered bird species, yet its ecosystem is in danger of devastation, according to a 10-year report from conservation group BirdLife International Cambodia, which documents the extent of the region’s biodiversity and its role in providing a crucial habitat for globally threatened species. … Since 2009, almost 150,000 hectares of the isolated area have been earmarked as Protected Forest by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, but BirdLife International says another large slice of the forest is leased to the Green Sea Agriculture Company Limited under a 70-year agricultural concession. …
