Don't mess with my 70-year-old Grandma!

Grandma Sao Run shows her Bokator skills (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

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Solved puzzle reveals fabled Cambodian temple

Rebuilding Cambodia's ancient temple (File/Graphic)

Tourists walking around the ruins in Siem Reap, Cambodia (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy)

Cambodia's Baphuon temple in Siem Reap province, some 300 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh (AFP/File, Tang Chhin Sothy)

Thursday, June 30, 2011
By Suy Se (AFP)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — It has taken half a century, but archaeologists in Cambodia have finally completed the renovation of an ancient Angkor temple described as the world's largest three dimensional puzzle.

The restoration of the 11th-century Baphuon ruin is the result of decades of painstaking work, hampered by tropical rains and civil war, to take apart hundreds of thousands of sandstone blocks and piece them back together again.

"When I first saw how devastated the monument was, I never thought we would be able to put it back together," said Cambodian restorer Ieng Te, who joined the project as a young student in 1960 and was tasked with numbering stones.

"I am so happy and excited that we were able to rebuild our historic temple," the now 66-year-old said as he oversaw the final construction activities at the site.

On a recent rainy morning workers were adding a final layer of paint to newly-installed wooden staircases at Baphuon, one of the country's biggest temples after Angkor Wat, the largest structure in the famed Angkor complex.

It is one of the last jobs to be done before the temple reopens to the public next week, finally revealing itself in full glory after spending decades in pieces.

Cambodian King Sihamoni and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon will be among the first to tour the impressive three-tier temple during an inauguration ceremony on July 3.

The story of the 10-million-euro ($14m) renovation began in the 1960s when a French-led team of archaeologists dismantled the pyramidal building because it was falling apart, largely due to its heavy, sand-filled core that was putting pressure on the thin walls.

The workers numbered some 300,000 of the sandstone blocks and laid them out in the surrounding jungle.

But efforts to rebuild the crumbling towers and lavishly ornamented facades abruptly came to a halt when Cambodia was convulsed by civil war in 1970.

The records to reassemble Baphuon, including the numbering system, were then destroyed by the hardline communist Khmer Rouge which took power in 1975.

In 1995, when the area in northwestern Cambodia was again safe to work in, the French government-funded project was restarted under the leadership of architect Pascal Royere from the Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient (EFEO).

"It has been said, probably rightly so, that it is the largest-ever 3D puzzle," Royere told AFP.

The team carefully measured and weighed each block and then relied on archive photos stored in Paris, drawings and the recollections of Cambodian workers to figure out where each part fits.

"We were facing a three-dimensional puzzle, a 300,000-piece puzzle to which we had lost the picture. And that was the main difficulty of this project," Royere said.

"There is no mortar that fills the cracks which means that each stone has its own place. You will not find two blocks that have the same dimensions."

The restoration of Baphuon, one of Angkor's oldest ruins, was completed in April and Royere said it was a moment of joy for the 250-strong, mainly Cambodian, team.

Finishing the "unique" undertaking was "a collective satisfaction because it was a complicated project," he said.

Built around 1060 by King Udayadityavarman II in honour of the Hindu god Shiva, Baphuon was the country's largest religious building at the time, 35 metres high (114 feet) and measuring 130 by 104 metres (426 x 340 feet).

In the 16th century, a 70-metre long reclining Buddha statue was built into a wall on the second level using stones from the top of the temple.

These two phases of construction, hundreds of years apart, further complicated the restoration, said Royere, and working during the rainy season proved another major challenge.

But those struggles are behind him now and as the Frenchman watched camera-toting tourists amble along the long elevated walkway that leads to the temple, he said he was confident the site would become a top attraction.

Located at the heart of the Angkor park, it "certainly promises to be a great success," he said.

Gazing up at Baphuon, first-time visitor to Cambodia Gayle Sienicki from Washington DC marvelled at the temple's long journey to recovery.

"It's just amazing, I mean truly amazing, that they could take these bits of stones and figure out how to put them all back together," she said. "I'm in awe. I think this is just the coolest thing."

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Thailand hires 3 foreigners to fight case at ICJ

31/05/2011
Bangkok Post

Thailand has hired three foreign legal advisers to help fight an International Court of Justice case filed by Cambodia.

The three attorneys are from Australia, Canada, and France. Considering the importance of the case, the Bangkok Post is providing an introduction to the lawyers.

Prof James Crawford

Australia national

Crawford: One of the top UK barristers

Mr Crawford is a professor of international law at the University of Cambridge, the United Kingdom. He is one of England's top international barristers and has worked on cases in several international courts, including the ICJ.

He represented Malaysia in a dispute with Singapore over the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh island and in another dispute with Indonesia over the Ligitan-Sipadan islands.

Prof Donald M. McRae

Canada/New Zealand national

McRae: Teaches law at Ottawa University

Mr McRae currently holds the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law and teaches international law at the University of Ottawa.

Mr McRae has been a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration since 1988. He was elected to the United Nations' International Law Commission in 2006.

He was a counsel for Canada during an arbitration with France over the St Pierre and Miquelon maritime boundary dispute in l991 and 1992, was a legal adviser to New Zealand on maritime boundary issues from 2000 to 2005, and counsel to Suriname in a dispute with Guyana in 2006.

Prof Alain Pellet

French national

Mr Pellet is an international law professor at Universite' Paris Ouest-Nanterre-La De'fense.

He is one of the most distinguished French experts on international law and has made a name for himself as the representative of several countries before the ICJ in the Hague.

He is one of the most active lawyers practising before the ICJ.

In addition, he serves in an advisory capacity to international organisations on issues concerning administration and international legislation. He has been a member of the UN's International Law Commission since 1990. He was the commission's chairman in 1997.

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Cambodia says Thailand’s military action around disputed temple is threat to regional peace

Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, left, President of the court Japan's Judge Owada, second right, Vice-President of the Court Slovakia's Judge Peter Tomka, second left, and Judge Koroma from Sierra Leone, right, are seen at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday May 30, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia will face off at the United Nations' highest court Monday, in the latest move to settle a decades-old battle for control of a disputed border region that has erupted into deadly military clashes. Cambodia is asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of the dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong is seen at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday,May 30, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia will face off at the United Nations' highest court Monday, in the latest move to settle a decades-old battle for control of a disputed border region that has erupted into deadly military clashes. Cambodia is asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of the dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong, right, Sir Franklin Berman, member of the English Bar, center, and Jean-MarcSorel, Professor of International Law at the University of Paris, left, are seen at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, May 30, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia will face off at the United Nations' highest court Monday, in the latest move to settle a decades-old battle for control of a disputed border region that has erupted into deadly military clashes. Cambodia is asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of the dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Thailand's Ambassador to the Netherlands Virachai Plasai, left, Thailand's Director-General, Department of Treaties and Legal affairs, Ittiporn Boonpracong,center, and Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasit Piromya, right, attend the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, May 30, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia will face off at the United Nations' highest court Monday, in the latest move to settle a decades-old battle for control of a disputed border region that has erupted into deadly military clashes. Cambodia is asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of the dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Monday, May 30, 2011
AP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — “Murderous armed incursions” by the Thai military around a historic temple in a disputed border region form a “grave threat” to regional peace and security, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told the U.N.’s highest court Monday.

Fighting between the two nations has cost some 20 lives, wounded dozens and sent tens of thousands fleeing since 2008, when the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple was given U.N. World Heritage status, overriding Thailand’s objections.

In a fresh attempt to settle a dispute that has simmered for decades between the Southeast Asian neighbors, Cambodia is asking the International Court of Justice for a new interpretation of its 1962 judgment that gave Cambodia control of the temple.

Hor Namhong said Thailand is basing its recent military action on an interpretation of the 1962 judgment that is “both erroneous and unacceptable.”

Thailand, he said, is using its reading of the ruling “to provide legal cover for armed incursions into Cambodian territory.”

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said his nation does not dispute Cambodian ownership of the temple, but said the two countries are still involved in talks to settle a border dispute in the region, which he argued was not covered by the court’s 1962 decision.

“We do not understand why we have to come here when there is already an existing mechanism” for negotiating a border, Kasit told reporters outside the courtroom.

Monday’s hearing was focused on Cambodia’s request for the court to issue an emergency order to Thailand to withdraw its troops from the disputed region. The court could make a decision on the request within weeks, but will likely take years to settle the underlying border dispute.

Tensions along the border have been exacerbated in recent months in part by pressure from influential Thai nationalist groups that have protested in Bangkok, urging the government to take back disputed border territory. Hardcore nationalists insist a 1962 World Court ruling awarding the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia was unfair.

The flare-up also comes as the Thai military raises its profile in domestic politics ahead of a general election scheduled for July 3.

“Thailand does not merely challenge Cambodia’s sovereignty in this region, but is imposing its own interpretation by occupying this zone by murderous armed incursions,” Hor Namhong said.

According to its World Heritage listing, the temple dedicated to Shiva “is exceptional for the quality of its architecture, which is adapted to the natural environment and the religious function of the temple, as well as for the exceptional quality of its carved stone ornamentation.”

Talks mediated by Indonesia’s president in early May between the two countries’ prime ministers failed to hammer out a lasting cease-fire.

“The two armies confront one another on a daily basis and new Thai aggression could arise at any moment,” Hor Namhong told the judges. “It is time for international law to speak loudly.”

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Cambodia-Thailand border dispute at UN court

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Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong is seen at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, May 30, 2011. Thailand and Cambodia will face off at the United Nations' highest court Monday, in the latest move to settle a decades-old battle for control of a disputed border region that has erupted into deadly military clashes. Cambodia is asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of the dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbors. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski) (Bas Czerwinski)

May 30, 2011

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia traded barbs Monday at the United Nations' highest court, accusing each other of launching illegal cross-border attacks around a historic temple in a disputed border region.

The competing claims came as Cambodia appealed to the International Court of Justice to order Thai troops away from Preah Vihear temple — Thailand responded by claiming the court has no jurisdiction to intervene.

Opening the hearing with an emotional speech, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong claimed Thai forces had mounted "murderous armed incursions" into Cambodian territory.

Thailand's ambassador to the Netherlands, Virachai Plasai, hit back by alleging that unprovoked Cambodian attacks on Thai territory amounted to "a blatant and deliberate violation of" the rules of war.

"This portrayal of Thailand as a big bad wolf bullying the lamb of Cambodia is totally wrong," Plasai said.

Fighting between the two nations has cost some 20 lives, wounded dozens and sent tens of thousands fleeing since 2008, when the 11th-century temple was given U.N. World Heritage status, overriding Thailand's objections.

In a fresh attempt to settle the dispute that has simmered for decades, Cambodia is asking the world court for a new interpretation of its 1962 judgment that gave it control of the temple.

But Thailand's lawyer James Crawford said the 16-judge panel has no jurisdiction to intervene now because Thailand accepts the 1962 ruling that the temple is on Cambodian territory. He said the border dispute is not part of the ruling.

He was responding to Hor Namhong's assertion that Thailand is using an erroneous reading of the 1962 ruling "to provide legal cover for armed incursions into Cambodian territory."

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the two countries are still in talks to settle the border dispute.

"We do not understand why we have to come here when there is already an existing mechanism" for negotiating a border, Kasit told reporters outside the courtroom.

The court could rule on Cambodia's request for a Thai troop withdrawal order within weeks, but will likely take years to settle the underlying dispute if it accepts it has jurisdiction.

Tensions along the border have been exacerbated in recent months, in part by pressure from influential Thai nationalist groups that have protested in Bangkok, urging the government to take back disputed border territory. Hardcore nationalists insist a 1962 World Court ruling awarding the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia was unfair.

"Thailand does not merely challenge Cambodia's sovereignty in this region, but is imposing its own interpretation by occupying this zone by murderous armed incursions," Hor Namhong said.

The flare-up also comes as the Thai military raises its profile in domestic politics ahead of a general election scheduled for July 3.

According to its World Heritage listing, the temple dedicated to Shiva "is exceptional for the quality of its architecture, which is adapted to the natural environment and the religious function of the temple, as well as for the exceptional quality of its carved stone ornamentation."

Talks mediated by Indonesia's president in early May between the two countries' prime ministers failed to hammer out a lasting cease-fire.

"The two armies confront one another on a daily basis and new Thai aggression could arise at any moment," Hor Namhong told the judges. "It is time for international law to speak loudly."

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Cambodia launches legal fight in UN's top court

Cambodia will tell the court that clashes with Thai troops at Preah Vihear have increased since July 2008 (AFP, Valerie Kuypers)

Monday, May 30, 2011
By Jan Hennop (AFP)

THE HAGUE — Cambodia on Monday launched a bitter legal battle before the UN's highest court, asking it to order an immediate Thai troop withdrawal around the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, scene of heavy clashes earlier this year.

"We will ask the court to swiftly provide the provisional measures to protect the peace and avoid an escalation of the armed conflict in the area," said Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, who represents Cambodia.

"Cambodia is asking the court to implement measures to prevent further destruction of the temple and the area around it," he told a 16-panel of judges before the International Court of Justice based in The Hague.

In February the UN appealed for a permanent ceasefire after 10 people were killed in fighting near Preah Vihear, but fresh clashes which broke out in April further west left 18 dead and prompted 85,000 civilians to flee.

The court ruled in 1962 that the temple itself belonged to Cambodia.

"Thailand is under obligation to withdraw any troops in the area around the temple," the Cambodian representative said.

He said that although there had been clashes in the past, Thai aggression substantially increased after July 2008, when the UN's cultural body UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage site.

"It's time for the voice of international law to speak loudly," Hor Namhong said, calling the ICJ "the guarantor."

That is why we brought this dispute here -- it has been going on too long," he said.

Thailand was expected to make its first public submission later Monday.

Speaking outside the courtroom, Thailand's caretaker Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya denied Thailand ever questioned the court's 1962 ruling.

"We have never contested or disputed the court's decision on the temple," he told reporters.

He said Thailand's dispute was specifically over the 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) area surrounding the complex.

"That's different," Kasit said when asked about the disputed territory. "The court did not have the jurisdiction to rule about that."

But he said Thailand's view "has been our position for the last 50 years."

"We do not understand why we had to come here," he said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters in Bangkok that it was "unncessary" for the court to consider Cambodia's petition.

"The request violates the previous ruling. ... We will fight based on the court's jurisdiction and facts. When Cambodia won the last case, the Thai government followed the ruling and has done so since 1962."

The 11th-century complex has been at the centre of an ongoing legal wrangle between Thailand and Cambodia -- which took its southeastern Asian neighbour to the ICJ in 1958.

The UN court ruled in 1962 the 900-year-old Khmer temple belonged to Cambodia, but both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim ownership of the surrounding area.

Cambodia last month asked the ICJ to explain that ruling, with the ICJ saying it would rule on a clarification at a later stage.

The ICJ has set down two days for public submissions after which judges will convene and give a ruling, said a source close to the court who asked not to be named. Two more hearings for submissions are also scheduled for Tuesday.

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PM’s daughter [Hun Mana] doesn't 'like' Facebook profile

Hun Mana attends a Visak Bochea Day celebration on Diamond Island in Phnom Penh earlier this month. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)
Monday, 30 May 2011
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen‘s daughter Hun Mana claimed on Saturday that someone had opened a Facebook account in her name and requested the immediate removal of the account by its creator.

In a statement published by Khmer-language daily newspaper Kampuchea Thmey, Hun Mana, who owns the newspaper, thanked the creator for comments about her work as a “humanitarian activist” but requested that the account be removed.

“I appeal to whoever created the Facebook account to remove it, because it is not mine,” Hun Mana said in the statement. “I do not have a Facebook account.”

The 30-year-old added that her father, Hun Sen, also is not on Facebook but that someone has created an account in his name as well.

A screenshot on Kampuchea Thmey’s website shows that the account in Hun Mana’s name currently boasts 627 Facebook “friends”, while an account in Hun Sen’s name has netted 4,961.

Ministry of Information Cabinet Chief Chhum Socheath said yesterday that it was not appropriate for people to create Facebook accounts in the names of others.

“If people love technology, they should not use technology to affect someone, especially leaders,” he said.

“They should use their own name to avoid damaging someone’s honour,” he added, noting that people who create fake accounts sometimes use “bad pictures”

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Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Cambodia..Cambodia's royal oxen fail to predict rice harvest

Cambodia's royal oxen shunned rice grain on Saturday during an ancient ceremony to predict the country's agricultural fortunes -- prompting fears of a poor rice harvest among superstitious farmers.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni greets people during the annual royal plowing ceremony in Phnom Penh. Cambodia's royal oxen have shunned rice grain during an ancient ceremony to predict the country's agricultural fortunes -- prompting fears of a poor rice harvest among superstitious farmers.

King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the ritual in a park outside the palace where thousands of people watched royal astrologers observing the animals' behaviour.

After a symbolic ploughing of a portion of the field, a pair of oxen were led to seven dishes -- rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and alcohol -- laid out on trays.

They were seen eating only corn and beans, allowing the palace's chief astrologer Kang Ken to declare that this year's corn and beans harvests will be bountiful.

The astrologer did not spell out to the crowd what it meant for the rice yield, sparking concern among farmers.

"I am very worried that we will not have a good rice harvest," farmer Ros Makara, 52, told AFP after the ceremony, which marks the start of Cambodia's rainy season, traditionally the time to plant rice.

"But I will try my best to grow rice. I do not totally rely on the prediction," he added.

While still taken seriously by many rural Cambodians in this deeply superstitious country, ploughing ceremony predictions have been called into question in recent years.

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Cambodia's royal oxen fail to predict good harvest

AFP - Cambodia's royal oxen shunned rice grain on Saturday during an ancient ceremony to predict the country's agricultural fortunes -- prompting fears of a poor rice harvest among superstitious farmers.

King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the ritual in a park outside the palace where thousands of people watched royal astrologers observing the animals' behaviour.

After a symbolic ploughing of a portion of the field, a pair of oxen were led to seven dishes -- rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and alcohol -- laid out on trays.

They were seen eating only corn and beans, allowing the palace's chief astrologer Kang Ken to declare that this year's corn and beans harvests will be bountiful.

The astrologer did not spell out to the crowd what it meant for the rice yield, sparking concern among farmers.

"I am very worried that we will not have a good rice harvest," farmer Ros Makara, 52, told AFP after the ceremony, which marks the start of Cambodia's rainy season, traditionally the time to plant rice.

"But I will try my best to grow rice. I do not totally rely on the prediction," he added.

While still taken seriously by many rural Cambodians in this deeply superstitious country, ploughing ceremony predictions have been called into question in recent years.

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Too much oppression in Nambodia, the royal oxen refuse to predict rice harvest for the dictatorial regime anymore?

Cambodia's annual royal plowing ceremony marks the beginning of the kingdom's planting season (AFP) Cambodia's royal oxen fail to predict rice harvest

Saturday, May 21, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's royal oxen shunned rice grain on Saturday during an ancient ceremony to predict the country's agricultural fortunes -- prompting fears of a poor rice harvest among superstitious farmers.

King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the ritual in a park outside the palace where thousands of people watched royal astrologers observing the animals' behaviour.

After a symbolic ploughing of a portion of the field, a pair of oxen were led to seven dishes -- rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and alcohol -- laid out on trays.

They were seen eating only corn and beans, allowing the palace's chief astrologer Kang Ken to declare that this year's corn and beans harvests will be bountiful.

The astrologer did not spell out to the crowd what it meant for the rice yield, sparking concern among farmers.

"I am very worried that we will not have a good rice harvest," farmer Ros Makara, 52, told AFP after the ceremony, which marks the start of Cambodia's rainy season, traditionally the time to plant rice.

"But I will try my best to grow rice. I do not totally rely on the prediction," he added.

While still taken seriously by many rural Cambodians in this deeply superstitious country, ploughing ceremony predictions have been called into question in recent years.

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Haunting memories linger in Cambodia

This used to be a school.Then the Khmer Rouge communist regime took over. From 1975 to 1979, this institute of higher learning was turned into a torture chamber, Security Prison 21. An estimated 20,000 people were beaten, maimed, tortured and killed in the converted Phnom Penh high school. Some of them were soldiers for the opposition. Others were simply intellectuals, academics, doctors, teachers, monks and
students.

Now the buildings form a memorial site called Tuol Sleng, which translates to “Strychnine Hill.”

These are some of the people who died there. Their faces haunt me.

On the right you can see photos of the prisoners as they looked when they arrived at S-21.

The corresponding photo on the left side is how they looked before they perished.

Many of the classrooms still have blood-stained tiles underneath rusty beds and shackles.

The building facade is shrouded in barbed netting. The desperate prisoners who tried to commit suicide off the buildings were instead wounded by razor-laced wire.

When the guards ran out of burial space near the school, the prisoners were taken outside of town to Choeung Ek extermination center, a place better known as the Killing Fields.

Already-weak inmates were beaten with iron bars, axes and bamboo sticks until they were tossed into mass graves. Then chemicals were poured over the bodies to kill those who were buried alive.

I have a difficult time coming up with any words to talk about this. It's why I still haven't written about my experiences visiting the genocide memorials in Rwanda. It's such a deep dark confusing pit of emotion, I don't even know where to begin.

It's heinous, yes. Confronting such evil makes me doubt my belief that people are inherently good.

It forces me to question God. It makes me want to cry out in horror.

But it goes beyond that too.

As I travel, I realize how much of the existence I enjoy is pure luck. It is only by chance that I came into this world in a humid Georgia hospital instead of a humid Cambodian town.

It is only a fluke that I have an easy life, one I never had to fight for. It's a sheer accident that I didn't witness the slaughter of my family in 1994 Rwanda. Instead I was getting shoes dyed to match my prom dress.

It could have been me. It could have been you.

It could have been all of us.

Sometimes the horrible incidents that we see on the news feel so far away.

But it only takes one chilling walk through a sorrow-soaked hallway to remind you of how close it could really be.

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Tours & cruises: Cambodia and Vietnam

Vietnam's Mekong Delta (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)

By Avital Binshtock Special to the Los Angeles Times

6:30 a.m. CDT, May 15, 2011

Pacific Delight’s eight-day Mekong River cruise from Cambodia to Vietnam aboard La Maguerite or Amalotus makes it possible for travelers to visit pagodas, shop Cai Be’s floating market, see a catfish farm and tour small villages as well as important sites and cities. Onboard are dance and musical performances, cultural discussions and themed dinners.

Itinerary: Cambodia: Tonle Sap Lake to Kampong Tralach, Oudong, Chong Koh, Phnom Penh to Vietnam: Tan Chau, Sa Dec, Xeo Quyt, Cai Be and Ho Chi Minh City

Dates: Departures through December

Price: From $1,599 (prices rise later in the year), double occupancy, including lodging, all meals and alcoholic beverages, and guides. The rate does not include international airfare or transfers (which can be purchased from Pacific Delight), taxes or gratuities.

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Cambodia's wildlife pioneer: saving species and places in Southeast Asia's last forest http://news.mongabay.com/ via CAAI By Laurel Neme, special to

Cambodia's wildlife pioneer: saving species and places in Southeast Asia's last forest

http://news.mongabay.com/

via CAAI

By Laurel Neme, special to mongabay.com

May 11, 2011

Suwanna Gauntlett has dedicated her life to protecting rainforests and wildlife in some of the world’s most hostile and rugged environments and has set the trend of a new generation of direct action conservationists. She has designed, implemented, and supported bold, front-line conservation programs to save endangered wildlife populations from the brink of extinction, including saving the Amur Tiger (also known as the Siberian Tiger) from extinction in the 1990s in the Russian Far East, when only about 80 individuals remained and reversing the drastic decline of Olive Ridley sea turtles along the coast of Orissa, India in the 1990s, when annual nestings had declined from 600,000 to a mere 8,130.

When she first arrived in Cambodia in the late 1990s, its forests were silent. "You couldn’t hear any birds, you couldn’t hear any wildlife and you could hardly see any signs of wildlife because of the destruction," Gauntlett said. Wildlife was being sold everywhere, in restaurants, on the street, and even her local beauty parlor had a bear.

Suwanna Gauntlett on patrol, second from right. Photo courtesy of: Suwanna Gauntlett.

In fact, Cambodia has long been one of Asia’s five main source countries for wildlife exported for traditional Asian medicine, exotic pets, and meats. While laws protecting species and prohibiting their sale were on the books, they were never enforced. But that’s changing.

In just 10 years, Suwanna and Wildlife Alliance has worked hard with Cambodia’s Government to reduce the illegal wildlife trade—with great success. As Suwanna says in this interview, "We’ve repressed the wildlife trade by 70 percent. [Now] like in prohibition time [in the US] when people had to go into closed bars, they have to hide to eat wildlife."

Her work with Wildlife Alliance also focuses on protecting habitats in Cambodia and elsewhere. Suwanna likens Cambodia’s challenges to the movie Avatar, and notes that the biggest threat to wildlife is clear-cutting of its tropical forest for commerce. The stories are similar around the world. In Brazil, for example, forests are cleared for soya and livestock; in Indonesia, it’s for palm oil and rubber. This reality has prompted Suwanna and Wildlife Alliance to focus on fighting these forest conversions and instead providing alternative and more diversified and sustainable means of making a living.

Already, she and Wildlife Alliance have helped convince the government to avoid 28 economic land concessions and saved over 2 million acres of forestland. One of those that Suwanna discusses in this interview focus on her efforts in the southern Cardamom mountain range, one of Asia's last seven elephant corridors and Cambodia's largest remaining intact forest.

The Cardamom Mountains are a unique landscape. It's the largest watershed in region, with 20 major waterways that feed 3,800 villages in over 6 provinces. Already, her program has reduced elephant poaching there by 95 percent, tiger poaching by 50 percent and forest fires by 80 percent.

One of many waterfalls around the village of Chi Phat with ecotourism programs set up with the help of Wildlife Alliance. Photo courtesy of: Suwanna Gauntlett.

However, those successes are under constant threat from proposed land concessions. For instance, a titanium mine was recently planned in the heart of an elephant corridor in the Cardamom Mountains. And now a proposed banana plantation threatens to sever the corridor if it is allowed to move ahead.

The following is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that probes the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. The WildLife airs every Monday from 1-2 pm Eastern Standard Time on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at www.theradiator.org or download the podcast from iTunes, www.laurelneme.com, or http://laurelneme.podbean.com. This interview originally aired March 21, 2011.

ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE IN CAMBODIA

Suwanna Gauntlett releasing confiscated macaques. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: What was the wildlife situation when you arrived in Cambodia in 2000?

Suwanna Gauntlett: There was a massive genocide of animals that were being exported to neighboring countries, used in restaurants or for pets inside the country. … When I arrived in Cambodia in 2000 I was appalled because I saw wildlife trade everywhere. Wild animals being sold in markets, in people‘s home, on the sidewalks, in restaurants. You'd go to the bathroom, and you would see turtles and pangolins in nets waiting to be boiled. On the roof, there would be long-tailed macaques, which are monkeys, waiting for their brains to be eaten alive. In the back of restaurants, you would see bears waiting for their next paw to be cut off to be eaten after golf tournaments as a delicacy. You’d be invited to a general's home and he'd have tigers and bears in his garden in tiny cages. I remember there was a beauty parlor where young ladies use to go, and I used to buy some beauty products there, and upstairs there was a bear in a cage in the hallway.

Laurel Neme: For what purpose?

Suwanna Gauntlett: It is a completely different mentality. If you have a powerful wild animal, it's a sign of status—it means you are more powerful than that animal and it means you have money. Showing your friends a tiger or a bear in a cage means that you’ve really made it and you're high up and you have high status.

Laurel Neme: What did you do about it?

Rereleasing turtles that had been confiscated from illegal wildlife traders. Photo courtesy of: Suwanna Gauntlett.

Suwanna Gauntlett: I worked with Cambodia’s Forestry Administration, who was very willing to take a stance on this. Cambodia already had a law [prohibiting wildlife trade], but it wasn't being enforced. I helped them create the first brigade [called the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team or WRRT] in Southeast Asia on law enforcement with the Forestry Administration and military police to go around the country and crack down on all the illegal wildlife trade, such as shipments to neighboring countries, in restaurants and at markets.

We [WRRT] would do undercover investigations, inspections and crackdowns. We cracked down on thousands of restaurants. I was lucky enough to have the Prime Minister on board, who gave orders to all the law enforcement agencies to stop the wildlife trade. The mayor of Phnom Penh created new regulations and talked about it every morning on his five-minute radio show, threatening to close restaurants if they didn’t stop selling wildlife. And he followed up and closed the biggest restaurant in town.

Laurel Neme: What's been the result?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Today you will not find in Phnom Penh wildlife for sale, at least not visibly. You can sometimes order it if you call in advance, but it’s not on menus—everybody knows it is illegal.

Laurel Neme: How long did it take to change things?

Suwanna Gauntlett: We did it in a couple of years. Of course, one brigade is not enough to stop the entire illegal wildlife trade crossing the borders but it sets the pace, gives the message, and shows that the government is serious in enforcing the laws.

WILDLIFE RAPID RESCUE TEAM

Suwanna Gauntlett with Tati Ranger Station Patrol Unit. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: How big is the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) and what factors led to its success?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Having support from a high level was very important. The brigade is 14 men—four foresters, 10 military police and 1 Wildlife Alliance advisor that goes on patrols with the team. Formally, Wildlife Alliance is the project manager of this brigade, which is called the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team.

Laurel Neme: What areas of the country does it cover?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team focuses on the whole country. In 2005 or 2006, we received support from the US government because of our great success in Phnom Penh and they asked if we could replicate it in five other cities—so we did through a combination of education and law enforcement. But the brigade is working throughout Cambodia's 23 provinces.

Laurel Neme: That's a huge amount of land to cover for 14 people.

Suwanna Gauntlett: It is. Sometimes they have to break up into three groups. We have a lot of people calling and saying, "We would like to donate the bear that we have. We realize that it was not a good idea to keep this bear in the cage." So the team is really split very thin. Unfortunately, this is the only brigade that exists and it’s already expensive to operate.

Laurel Neme: What are some of the species you’re seeing in the trade? Are you seeing a lot of pangolins being trafficked?

Suwanna Gauntlett: By and large, the charismatic species are going to extinction, so they aren't available in the forest anymore. Therefore, the traders are focusing on less charismatic species, which is now pangolins. Pangolins are now worth something like $200 per kilogram, when they used to be $45 per kilogram, and 10 years ago they used to be $5 per kilogram. [Consequently,] they’re becoming more and more rare. Pangolin is now an endangered species. Slow lorises, we can hardly find any more. Long-tailed macaques are being sold for laboratories in Vietnam. So you have the more common species being trafficked.

Laurel Neme: How is the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team funded?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team is funded through a variety of organizations, including Sea World-Busch Gardens, Disney, and some private donors. This year we were funded by CEPF, which is the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Unfortunately that fund closes formally this year.

Laurel Neme: What kind of success has the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team had in stopping illegal trade?

Suwanna Gauntlett: We have suppressed wildlife trade by 70 percent. It’s pretty similar to prohibition time in the United States, in Chicago, when people had to go into closed bars to drink. Here you have to really hide to eat wildlife. It’s still happening.

The main endangered species, such as tigers and elephants, are no longer hunted because tigers mostly are extinct. They’re gone because of the wildlife trade. Elephants are extremely protected, and if you want to sell an elephant, you could hardly do it in a hidden fashion, it is too visible. So that is not happening.

However, smaller species such as sun bears and pangolins are still being sold. I would say that we are deterring the wildlife trade nationally and probably at the 70 percent level.

By the way, the mobile unit, the WRRT, has confiscated over 40,000 live animals over the last nine years as well as five metric tons of meats, seven metric tons of body parts and specimens. So, a huge amount of wildlife has been confiscated. And I think something like 637 traders have been arrested.

Laurel Neme: What happens once they’re arrested? Are they paying fines? Going to jail?

Suwanna Gauntlett: It depends on the law. If it's an endangered species they are transporting, they face five to ten years in prison. If it is a common species, they will be paying three times the value of this animal on the market, and their car [used to transport the wildlife] is confiscated. The vehicle will only be returned if they pay the penalty.

Of course, the wildlife is never returned. If the animals are still alive and in good shape, they are kept to be rehydrated and fed for 48 hours and then released back into their natural habitat, in an area that is protected properly. And if not, if they are wounded, they have to go to the rescue center until they are able to be returned to the wild.

[NOTE: For more on the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team and the rescue and rehabilitation of confiscated animals, listen to Laurel Neme’s interview with Nick Marx, advisor to the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team and Wildlife Rescue Director at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center on www.laurelneme.com/wildliferadio. An article and edited transcript will be forthcoming on Mongabay.com.]

THREATS TO CAMBODIA’S FORESTS

Forest and river with shrine near Chi Phat. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: Much of your work is also related to the forest. What are some of the threats to the forest in Cambodia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The forest in Cambodia is part of the tropical belt—we’re in the same tropical climate and biodiversity [zone] as Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Technically, Cambodia is in the Indo-Burmese Peninsula. We are helping protect one of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots, which is the Cardamom Mountain Range, [which is] the largest remaining rainforest in Southeast Asia. It is also one of only seven remain elephant corridors in Asia.

Laurel Neme: Why are the forests in Cambodia, and the Cardamom Mountains in particular, threatened?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Because of economic interests. Most of the forests in Asia have been fragmented, which means you have islands of forests and then you have great spaces of development and another island of forest. Large species, such as elephants and tigers, need continuous forest cover and a continuous range in order to reproduce and find enough food. Their species will be extinct if they are not able to move across large ranges of forest cover.

The biggest threat in Cambodia [and in other countries like Brazil] is conversion of tropical forest to large-scale agriculture. In Brazil it is for soya bean, predominantly, and livestock. In Indonesia, it is everything from palm oil to rubber to other types of high-yield crops. In Cambodia, it’s the same thing: it's rubber, it's sugar cane, and it's palm oil. Our challenge has been a little bit similar to [the movie] Avatar: we’re fighting these economic interests from the grassroots level. We’ve been successful so far in avoiding 28 economic land concessions—thus avoiding conversions of 607,000 hectares, which amounts to almost 2 million acres [of forest saved].

Laurel Neme: What is a typical economic land concession in Cambodia?

Suwanna Gauntlett: An economic land concession is a permit from the government that allows a large company such as agro-industry, palm oil, sugar cane or rubber to clear cut the forest, to bulldoze all the trees away and plant a commercial plantation instead. These permits cover thousands of hectares—typically 20,000-30,000 hectares—and you multiply that by 2.3 for acres. So, that’s almost 100,000 acres right there. Sometimes the economic land concessions are for mining or hydro power.

FIGHTING ECONOMIC LAND CONCESSIONS

Suwanna with Southern Cardamom Protection Program Chief Advisor Eduard Lefter checking map after aerial patrol. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: How do you fight economic land concessions?

Suwanna Gauntlett: We fight them on two fronts. Sometimes economic land concessions are legitimate and they're from the government, and sometimes they aren't. The smaller cases will be maybe a military [official] in a high position trying to grab land in state forest, [and he obtains] some kind of [bogus] permit from a local governor or district governor which bears no legal weight whatsoever, but he tries to bully his way in and intimidates villagers and law enforcement officers and starts clearing with his own bulldozer. If there is no close monitoring, he succeeds and then after the fact, he has his plantation on site and nobody can do anything about it.

But mostly, how we stop economic land concessions that are legal is personal interaction, between me and government officials. For all the economic land concessions that have valid permits or are going to have valid permits, I personally interact with the government. I act a little bit like a lawyer. I go on the ground to document GIS [Geographic Information System] points, do GIS mapping, take aerial photographs, and then build the case as to why that economic land concession should not be implemented in that specific location. I then correspond directly with the ministerial level, the Council of Ministers, and sometimes the Prime Minister himself, and follow up with meetings and [additional] correspondence. Sometimes, if it is really necessary, I call upon an inter-ministerial steering committee, that was formed upon our request—I bring them to the site, I brief them and they then go back to central government and represent the case.

Laurel Neme: It is an unusual approach in some respects because the government seems so open to hearing these differing viewpoints. Why is that?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Let me put this into context. The economic land concession issue is relevant; I think, when an organization like ours, Wildlife Alliance, has been working in an area for several years. We have been assisting the government to implement the Cardamom Protection Program since 2002. It’s a give and take. We’ve helped the government put in place their ranger patrols. We conduct the aerial monitoring. We’ve helped and facilitated the zoning and demarcation of 255 km of forest; we’ve helped zone five communes and urban zones. We’ve been the developers of three communes’ alternative livelihoods, which is sustainable agriculture and ecotourism, to help the farmers stop doing slash-and-burn, which is a very destructive cultivation method that destroys rainforest. So, having seen our partnership yield a lot of positive results, the government is also willing to be forthcoming in helping to continue to protect the area.

CAMBODIA’S CARDAMOM MOUNTAIN RANGE

Aerial shot of the Cardamoms showing unbroken forest as far as the eye can see. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: Can you just describe the Cardamom Mountain range?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The Cardamoms are a unique landscape. First of all, they are one of the 34 hotspots for biodiversity on the planet. They are the largest watershed in the region. They provide a staggering providing rainfall 3,000 to 4,000 millimeters of rain per year and have 20 major waterways which feed 3,800 villagers and 350 communes over six provinces. The water coming from the Cardamoms feeds the largest lake fishery in Southeast Asia, called Tonle Sap Lake, on the northern side, and it also feeds 155 km of mangrove fisheries in the Gulf of Thailand. It's enormous. That is why the government has chosen that mountain range to produce electricity, and 16 hydropower dams are scheduled. In the area [of the Cardamoms] that we are responsible for, which is the southern portion, we are already working with seven hydropower dam companies to avoid unwanted deforestation. But that is why the rainforest is strategic for the region and for the government. It's the climate regulator and it’s also the only remaining unfragmented rainforest left in Southeast Asia. That’s why it's one of only seven remaining elephant corridors in Asia.

Laurel Neme: It's useful not just for elephants but for a lot of species because it's not fragmented and still intact.

Suwanna Gauntlett: That’s right, exactly. We have an enormous biodiversity. Just talking about plants, for example, when we did a scientific survey four years ago, we found over 2,000 plants that have no name, that have not been cataloged scientifically in just 4 months.

Laurel Neme: How about animals?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Most of the charismatic species of the Cardamoms are globally endangered or globally threatened. [The Cardamom Mountains are home to more than 74 endangered and vulnerable species and half of Cambodia bird's species.] They range from Asian elephants to Indochinese tigers, Malayan sun bears, Asiatic black bears, southern serow, pangolins, Irrawaddy dolphins, humpback dolphins. It’s an incredible biodiversity. Half of Cambodia’s bird species [are there], including Black-necked storks, Lesser Adjutants, Crested Serpent Eagles, Great Hornbills, and Wreathed Hornbills. It’s beautiful biodiversity: slow lorises, pileated gibbons, and so on.

From climatic to water to biodiversity, it is a treasure of the planet and must be preserved. It is pretty much like the Amazon in a smaller version.

Laurel Neme: How many people live there?

Suwanna Gauntlett: It is mostly unpopulated. But the reason that we are protecting the southern portion and not another portion is because that is the most populated area. When a national highway was built in 2002 to link Cambodia to Thailand, and it gutted through 155 km of rainforest, the government asked us for help because all along the road you had land grabbing for land speculation and forest fires every day. We had 40 forest fires on any given day and 37 elephants and 12 tigers had been poached in just the year preceding the program. It was total anarchy and lawlessness.

[Then,] we came in. We helped the government set up on a shoestring some small ranger stations. We had a little pot of money to do some aerial surveys, and were able to stop 401 cases of land encroachment in just the first year of operations. We helped the government create an inter-ministerial steering committee to come and put pressure on local government in the province to stop selling state forests under the table, and in one year everything was under control. We reduced forest fires to only 1-4 per week instead of 40 per day, reduced elephant poaching by 98 percent, and tiger poaching by 50 percent.

ECOTOURISM IN CHI PHAT

Houses along the river on the outskirts of Chi Phat. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: Can you describe the ecotourism that’s going on now in Chi Phat [commune/village]?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Chi Phat, where we have helped develop ecotourism, used to be the worst community of the whole Cardamoms. When the logging companies left in the 1990s, there was no more opportunity for jobs. So about 280 families went into the forest and started doing slash-and-burn [farming]: burning the forest and just planting rice with sticks. They had absolutely nothing—no buffaloes, no plowing equipment. We called it the circle of destruction. Every year, each family would go further and further into the forest, each cultivating 1.5 hectares per year. Many agencies in the United States think this is sustainable forestry cultivation, but it's not because it is not shifting circular agriculture. Basically you destroy a plot of rainforest. [Then] the rain comes and takes off the topsoil. There is no more fertility. The next year you just clear another plot of the forest. It’s very much like the migrant farmers in the Amazon. That is why we [Wildlife Alliance’s community ecotourism program] focused on Chi Phat. We were able to help develop sustainable agriculture for 75 families and then after a couple years we found funding to start a seven-year ecotourism process in Chi Phat.

Laurel Neme: What is the status now?

Suwanna Gauntlett: We're already at the fourth year, and right now ecotourism is supporting 180 families with total cumulated revenue of $66,000 since the official opening for tourism in October 2008 all the way to December of 2010. Now in South East Asia, $66,000 is a lot of money. It's not at all at the same scale as in the US.

Families get 80 percent from their own enterprises, which iseither homestays, guesthouses or tour guides. Then, their committee, which is a community committee for ecotourism, keeps 20 percent for equipment maintenance, buying more mountain bikes, more kayaks, more homestays. Currently, there are 60 rooms and we have about 30 tourists coming every day.

Laurel Neme: Who are the tourists? Where are they from?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The tourists are mostly international tourists. That’s thanks to Wildlife Alliance; we’ve done international marketing in South America, North America, Europe and Australia, and we work with six tour operators. We’ve also reached out to international travel guides such as Lonely Planet, Le Guide du Routard in France and to newspapers. Lonely Planet now is listing the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor, which is the Cardamoms, as one of the world’s top ten destinations. We’re very, very happy to have that. And, from 2008 to 2010, they also listed Chi Phat as the best community-based ecotourism in Cambodia.

HALTING A PROPOSED TITANIUM MINE

Chi Phat's main river at sunset. Photo courtesy of Suwanna Gauntlett.

Laurel Neme: Recently a titanium mine was proposed to be built right in the middle of that.

Suwanna Gauntlett: Yes. What we've done is develop the whole of Koh Kong province as an ecotourism destination, and Chi Phat is one of the three main destinations at this point. So the titanium mine would've threatened the survival not only of Chi Phat but also threaten the survival of the tourism throughout the province.

Laurel Neme: How would the mine potentially impact the province?

Suwanna Gauntlett: It would've turn Chi Phat into an industrial village. It would've ruined the waterways and polluted them. But it would've also meant that these heavy trucks would be travelling through Chi Phat and along the main scenic ecotourism road all day long with huge amounts of rock and making a lot of noise and destroying the landscape.

Laurel Neme: Where is the mine located?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The proposed titanium mine was located in the middle of the elephant corridor. It’s north of [the community of] Chi Phat; it is right in the middle of a thriving community ecotourism development that we have facilitated over the last four years.

Laurel Neme: How big was the proposed development?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The area covers 20,400 hectares. It would have been strip-mined for titanium. The titanium is all on the surface.

Laurel Neme: What is titanium used for?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Titanium is used for airplanes, artificial hips, medical instruments, and golf clubs. It’s a lightweight and very, very hard—almost incompressible—metal.

Laurel Neme: Who proposed the mine?

Suwanna Gauntlett: [It] was a Cambodian company, and the Ministry of Mines that was sponsoring them. This is what I call a typical case of uncoordinated development whereby there had been no previous information sharing or planning between two different ministries. Unfortunately, this happens in a lot of countries.

Laurel Neme: How did you advocate against the mine?

Suwanna Gauntlett: What we did is we went about getting theses two ministries to talk to each other and rallied as many different ministries and departments as we possibly could to go on site and see the dense, evergreen rainforest, the elephant corridor, and the ecotourism’s thriving businesses—so as to not destroy everything that had already been accomplished. I personally accompanied two inter-ministerial committees and the deputy prime minister on site, conducting aerial flights, going on the ground trekking, showing them the economic achievements of the community ecotourism, and really building the case for why [what is already there] is sustainable development, but if you bring in the mine and strip-mine everything, it will be unsustainable. Everyone in the village would lose their jobs. Out of 550 families, we’ve been able to build already 360 jobs. The mine said they would offer up to 300 or 500 jobs. Why take away the jobs that already exist to just replace them with one single employer?

Laurel Neme: What did villagers in Chi Phat and elsewhere think about the mine?

Suwanna Gauntlett: Villagers in Chi Phat did not want this mine. They are very happy with the diversified economic approach that we have helped them develop: 75 families doing agriculture creating produce for the ecotourism industry; then we have the ecotourism industry; and we also have a thriving reforestation center for tropical reforestation where tourists can buy a carbon neutral travel plans where they offset their travel CO2 emissions by planting or adopting a swath of forest.

Laurel Neme: How did the villagers expressed themselves to the government? What kind of impacts do they have on decisions?

Suwanna Gauntlett: How we started, we briefed the villagers, especially the community-based ecotourism committee and the 150 [ecotourism] members—actually it’s 180 families that have businesses, but it’s only officially 150 members—explaining that the mine would take out all the employment options and the small enterprises that they are managing right now. That would be replaced with employment by one single employer: the titanium mine.

We also explained to them that jobs would not be guaranteed because it’s mostly specialized heavy equipment drivers and man handlers that would be hired. There is not a lot of digging and moving by individual workers, it’s a lot of heavy equipments. And that their village would be transformed into an industrial hub.

Consequently, the four village chiefs of the commune wrote a letter to the Prime Minister requesting that this mine not be implemented, and they went around and obtained over 700 signatures to stop the mine.

In parallel to that, I personally organized visits by central government to the site to hear the villagers’ concerns, to see their businesses, and to understand the dilemma between small enterprises and a multi-sector economic approach versus a larger pot of money by a mine but that would reduce the employment pool to only one employer, which is not very sustainable over the long term. Once the mine is finished, the whole natural resource is destroyed and people are left as poor as before because they no longer have a job.

Laurel Neme: What was the initial reaction?

Suwanna Gauntlett: The [Forestry Administration] and the Ministry of Mines, they're talking to each other. They were both part of an inter-ministerial committees deciding on the issue. [Wildlife Alliance was] invited to actually defend the case of the forest and ecotourism with the company in an inter-ministerial meeting with 17 departments. [Then,] the government informally spoke to the company asking them to reduce the surface [area from 20,400 hectares] to 50 hectares.

We made the case that the company did not do any exploration and there was no proof that the quantity of the titanium was enough to make the mine profitable. One of the things that happened during this debate was that the company pretended that the whole mining area was only bare soil and bamboo, and we were able to demonstrate that it was not bare soil and bamboo but [rather] dense, evergreen rainforest. The government saw that the mining company was lying. We kind of nudged them in that direction, saying that we thought this mining company was a cover-up for logging.

EPILOGUE ON TITANIUM MINE

In February 2011, the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen approved a 20,400 hectare concession to United Khmer Group for this titanium mine. The approval came ahead of a meeting that had been scheduled on February 11, 2011, at the Council for the Development of Cambodia, that was meant to discuss the proposed mining project. In a press release at that time, Suwanna Gauntlett noted that, “Without scientific research to prove the economic viability of the proposed mine, bulldozing the rainforest is simply destructive and does not even make good business sense."

In a dramatic turnaround two months later, the Cambodian government reversed its decision. Following a weekly cabinet meeting on April 8, 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that it would rescind the permit for the titanium mine due to concerns about its impact on the environment, biodiversity and local livelihoods.

While surprised by the reversal, CEO Suwanna Gauntlett was elated, saying “It is incredibly encouraging to see that the prime minister has looked so deeply into this proposed titanium mine and taken the effort to weigh the consequences that this project would have on the rainforest and the local people. United Khmer Group had promised staggering revenues for the government, and we applaud the courageous decision of the prime minister to see the greater value of the forest as it currently stands.”

However, after narrowly stopping this planned titanium mine, the region is again threatened, this time by a proposed Australian-funded industrial banana plantation.

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