Cambodia launches new forest, biodiversity project in four provinces

PHNOM PENH, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Monday launched a new project worth over 3.8 million U.S. dollars to help preserve forests and biodiversity in four provinces: Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Pursat and Battambang, said a press release at the launching ceremony.
   The project is funded by the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility; it will be implemented by Cambodia’s forestry administration through February 2015.
   The four selected provinces are home to forests that have globally significant biodiversity and can also act as major carbon reserves, it said.
   Activities to be undertaken by the new project include establishment and management of forest-based businesses in approximately 30 community forests and 10 community protected areas.
   Villagers, women in particular, will receive training in production of energy efficient cook stoves to generate incomes and help reduce consumption of firewood and emission of carbon dioxide, it added.
   Chheng Kimsun, head of the forestry administration, said at the launching ceremony that the government is aiming to establish 2 million hectares of community forestry sites throughout the country by 2029.
   “This project will undoubtedly aide further our endeavors to protect, manage and preserve our forests,” he said.
   Sophie Baranes, deputy country director of UNDP-Cambodia, said in her remarks at the launch that in Cambodia, forest resources contribute from 30 to 40 percent of total household livelihood of rural people living near forests. Therefore, providing them with means to earn incomes to support their families is a crucial incentive to involve them in forest conservation.
   Forest cover in Cambodia is estimated to be currently at 57 percent and the government aims to restore it back to 60 percent by 2015, said the forestry administration’s report. (Nguon Sovan)