On 27 April 2022, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a MRLG partner, organized a consultation in Preah Vihear with representatives from the commune, district and provincial authorities to validate the results of the zonation of two wildlife sanctuaries: Chheb Wildlife Sanctuary and Prey Preah Rokar Wildlife Sanctuary.
These two wildlife sanctuaries were established in 2016 over an area of 190,027 hectares and 90,361 hectares respectively in view of protecting their abundant biodiversity. These areas are under considerable pressure from illegal logging, agricultural land encroachment, hunting, wildlife trade and habitat destruction. To better control these activities, it is fundamental to delineate and define clearly the various management areas within the sanctuaries that correspond to different levels of protection and access.
For this purpose, the Provincial Administration established a coordination team in January 2020 that collected the necessary data for defining the management zones. WCS has been supporting the local communities to participate to this process by defining their current land and resource use and customary practices and by ensuring that they are well reflected in the zoning and that their community lands are protected. The process of zoning has involved many consultations across 48 villages, at communal and district levels. The provincial consultation was the final step of this collaborative process for the final endorsement of the resulting draft management area maps
“Today’s consultation workshop is very important as we validate the data collection and the mapping of each management zone. It will clarify the area occupied by the community and recognize this occupation by all stakeholders. This will also help prevent land encroachment.” – said H.E Suo Serey, Chairman of the Provincial Working Group and Provincial Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear.
Mr. Yan Bunsoeung, Chief of Wildlife Sanctuary also emphasized the importance of zoning to define clearly in what areas communities can access resources and what areas are fully restricted. “Boundary demarcation and poles are important to make all stakeholders aware of the boundary of each zone. This will help reduce encroachment within the protected area and community land. It will also protect the land tenure rights.”
Following this consultation, the working group will conduct the final field verifications, then the information will be submitted to the provincial administration for approval.
“The Preah Vihear Provincial Administration will prepare all necessary information and submit to the Ministry of Environment for consideration. If approved, the Royal Government will issue a sub-decree for these two protected areas. The areas occupied by the communities will be registered as private land. It will impact positively the feelings of the community members and also their livelihood especially those who have farmland adjacent to conservation and sustainable use zones.” – H.E Suo Serey added.
