ABSTRACT
The Royal Government of Cambodia initially expressed its commitment to protect the Cardamom mountain range in May 2000. In January 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued an announcement letter temporarily suspending all logging and wood product businesses in the Central Cardamoms, requesting biodiversity surveys to determine the ecological value of the area. Surveys showed that the Central Cardamoms have an extremely high biodiversity and watershed value. As a result, a temporary border demarcation of the Central Cardamom mountain range was conducted at the end of 2001. In support of the sub-decree of the establishment of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest for Watershed and Biodiversity Protection, Conservation International (CI) supported the Forestry Administration (FA) by helping create the Central Cardamom Conservation Program. Today, CI collaborates closely with the FA to manage the Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF). The Central Cardamom Conservation Program consists of a law enforcement component that focuses on upholding the Forestry Law, a community engagement component, a research and monitoring component, an ecotourism component and an information education and cooperation component. In order to manage the CCPF successfully, the FA and CI have started to develop a management plan that will ensure the success of this project.
