WWF: WWF odměnil Kambodžu za snahy v ochraně přírody

WWF has honoured the Cambodian government for conservation efforts, while at the same time calling for even greater action to address urgent threats to the country's biodiveristy.

WWF International Director General, Dr. Claude Martin, presented Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, on behalf of his country, with a WWF Leaders for a Living Planet Award, in recognition of Cambodia's progress made towards the conservation of biodiversity.

WWF formally recognized the contribution of the Cambodian government to the conservation of the country's globally important biodiversity in setting aside 25 per cent of the land area in protected areas and protected forests, decentralizing the management of more than 50 per cent of the country's freshwater fisheries area to local communities, and establishing several critical environmental laws.

"Cambodia is way ahead of many other countries for establishing such a large protected area system," said Dr Martin. "But, there is also an urgent need to address natural resource management issues outside, and particularly in the landscape corridors between, protected areas."

Dr Martin also praised the government for taking key steps in creating an environmental governance framework, and highlighted the global importance of Cambodia's dry forests and the Mekong River.

"The idea that the establishment of a protected area in itself will ensure people will not exploit natural resources in the protected area is wrong," said Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"Conservation is part of a 'package' which includes a government plan to transform the agricultural sector from extensive cultivation to intensive cultivation whereby the land becomes more productive. If we do not do this, as the population increases, the forests will be lost."

The Cambodia Prime Minister discussed the Asian Development Bank's Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) initiative, which brings with it significant opportunities for economic development in the region, despite concerns of high risks for environmental degradation, such as unsustainable hydropower development.

He added that development in the Mekong River basin is an important topic, and said he would attend a GMS summit next month in Kunming, China, to discuss regional development with other leaders.

WWF hopes that the visit of WWF Director-General Claude Martin and his meeting with the Prime Minister will help usher in a stronger sense of urgency from the Cambodian government in addressing key threats to the country's biodiversity.


NOTES:

• WWF has worked in Cambodia since the mid 1990's and is part of the WWF Indochina Programme. WWF Cambodia’s mission is to ensure local participation and support to conserve the country's rich biological diversity. The WWF Cambodia programme runs projects mainly in Mondulkiri province through the Srepok Wilderness Area Project (SWAP), in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, and is implementing a Management of Strategic Areas for Integrated Conservation (MOSAIC).

• The forests of Eastern Cambodia, an area referred to as the Eastern Plains, contains several protected areas that, covering vast expanses of unique dry forest habitat that also stretch into Vietnam and thus provides opportunities for greater cooperation between the two countries.

• WWF is calling for the development of an MoU between key environmental and tourism ministries to tackle issues of jurisdiction and to clarify a common approach to conservation and tourism development, as a test case for cooperation.