Cambodia by Nick Ray

Author:Nick Ray
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Travel.Travel Guides
ISBN: 0383798000
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Published: 2010-10-15T10:00:00+00:00

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KOH KONG CONSERVATION CORRIDOR

Stretching along both sides of NH48 from Krong Koh Kong to the Gulf of Kompong Som (the bay northwest of Sihanoukville), the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor encompasses many of Cambodia’s most outstanding natural sites, including the most extensive mangrove forests on mainland Southeast Asia and the southern reaches of the fabled Cardamom Mountains, an area of breathtaking beauty and astonishing biodiversity.

The Cardamoms cover 20,000 sq km of southwestern Cambodia. Their remote peaks – up to 1800m high – and 18 major waterways are home to at least 59 globally threatened animal species, including tigers, Asian elephants, bears, Siamese crocodiles (Click here), pangolins (Click here) and eight species of tortoise and turtle. Botanically the area is something of an enigma, because basic research has yet to be carried out, but so far more than 100 species of endemic plants have been identified.

The second-largest virgin rainforest on mainland Southeast Asia, the Cardamoms are one of only two sites in the region where unbroken forests still connect mountain summits with the sea (the other is in Myanmar/Burma). Some highland areas receive up to 5m of rain a year. Conservationists hope the Cardamoms will someday be declared a Unesco World Heritage Forest.

While forests and coastlines elsewhere in Southeast Asia were being ravaged by greedy developers and well-connected logging companies, the Cardamom Mountains and the adjacent mangrove forests were protected from the worst ecological outrages by their sheer remoteness and, at least in part, by Cambodia’s long civil war. As a result, much of the area is still in pretty good shape, ecologically speaking, so the potential for ecotourism is huge – akin, some say, to that of Kenya’s game reserves or Costa Rica’s national parks.

The next few years will be critical in determining the future of the Cardamom Mountains. NGOs such as Conservation International (CI; www.conservation.org), Fauna & Flora International (FFI; www.fauna-flora.org) and the Wildlife Alliance (formerly WildAid; www.wildlifealliance.org), and teams of armed enforcement rangers are working night and day to help protect the area’s 16 distinct ecosystems from loggers and poachers. But ecotourism, too, can play an important role in generating income for local people and thus giving them sustainable alternatives to logging and poaching.

For information on the northern side of the Cardamom Mountains, accessible from Pursat and Pailin, Click here.

TOURS

The Rainbow Lodge (Click here) arranges guided jungle walks and boat excursions. Companies offering Cardamoms treks include Phnom Penh–based Asia Adventures (www.asia-adventures.com).

In Krong Koh Kong, a number of establishments organise land and sea trips and overnights along the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor:

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