Northern Plains

The Northern Plains of Cambodia are the largest remaining intact block of a unique landscape that once covered much of Indochina. Dominated by open deciduous forest, grasslands and seasonal wetlands, the area has been described as the Asian equivalent of the African savannas. It maintains a community of large mammals and wetland birds found nowhere else in the world.  Following 30 years of conflict, during which the area was completely inaccessible, WCS initiated the first biological surveys in 2000. Using WCS’s Landscape Species approach, we are working to establish CALM (Conservation Areas through Landscape Management) across the Northern Plains.

The Human Aspect
The Northern Plains, up until as late as 1999, were one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge. The area is remote with a low human population distributed widely across the landscape. Communities are heavily dependent on the area’s natural resources for their livelihoods. Fishing, hunting and resin-tapping are important activities for many people, though landmines and banditry continue to pose serious threats.

Threats
The single greatest threat to the wildlife of the area is hunting; both to supply the international demand for animal products, and opportunistic hunting to serve internal or local markets.  As security slowly improves, these activities together with logging of the remaining semi-evergreen forest are increasing rapidly. The localized and seasonal nature of essential resources such as waterbodies and mineral licks also makes the protection of these sites a necessity for the whole landscape.

WCS Activities
The CALM approach seeks to manage the entire Northern Plains as a single landscape. Already the project has identified a network of key sites for conservation, both inside and outside Protected Areas. The aim is now to develop individual conservation plans for these sites and integrate them into a larger, landscape-level strategy. WCS has conducted field activities to identify key areas for conservation, using several methods to determine wildlife presence and abundance. These surveys have revealed more sightings of the endangered Giant Ibis in one month than have cumulatively been made in the whole of the last century. Participatory natural resource agreements are being piloted with a community in one of the most important key areas.  The Northern Plains contain several areas that qualify as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and WCS is working at these sites to protect the nests of large waterbirds including ibises, adjutants and darters. WCS has also initiated a supplementary feeding and research program for vultures in response to their rapid decline across their range.  Education plays an important part of WCS’s role in Cambodia, and in the Northern Plains this involves many activities including the training of rangers in Chhep Protected Forest and Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, producing films for education in local communities, and working with local communities to understand the links between conservation and tourism. 

Important Next Steps
• Expand work with local authorities and communities to improve land-use management and planning within the project area.
• Work with Provincial authorities to incorporate biodiversity conservation goals into mainstream provincial planning.
• Set up patrol teams to work with the new Forestry Administration system to stop illegal hunting and hunting and logging activities in and around the Chhep Protected Forest.
• Support the staff of Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary to improve management of the sanctuary and encourage key species tourism.
• Expand wildlife monitoring activities for the Landscape Species.
• Continue ongoing education work, expanding into more local villages inside and around key areas.