IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Anonymous, | |
| Cambodian Tiger Conservation Project | |
| 2002 Full Book | |
WCS and WWF, in cooperation with the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Environment (MoE), began implementing conservation activities for the Tiger Panthera tigris in Cambodia in 1999. Supported by, among others, Save The Tiger Fund, activities began with a needs assessment. Lack of technical and physical capacity of government staff and an almost complete lack of quality field data were identified as the main areas to focus efforts. To date, the project has held three formal training courses within Cambodia and helped send three Government staff members to two international training courses. Over 40 MoE and MAFF staff from both the National and Provincial level have received training, along with staff from five Protected Areas. The first Khmer language training manual for field surveys and wildlife management has been produced. The comprehensive 90-page book is now freely available to all Government and NGO staff. Nine surveys were undertaken throughout Cambodia, covering an area of approximately 13,000 km2 and employing over 30 people and 70 camera-traps, accumulating more than 11,000 camera-trap nights. Although Tigers were confirmed on six of the nine surveys, all areas contain depressed populations, some of which are unlikely to be viable in the long-term. After the first year of survey work, the critical status of Tigers throughout the country became clear. In response, the focus of attention on writing a Countrywide Action Plan for Tigers was shifted towards developing immediate conservation strategies for those areas considered to still maintain conservable populations. The result is that on-the-ground conservation strategies were initiated in four key sites (Northern Plains, Virachey NP, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary and Samling forestry concession, Mondulkiri Province) with national level efforts being backed by the project. Site-based activities include law enforcement, hunting patrols, awareness and education programs and monitoring of Tigers, their prey, and human activities. The project has provided support to the development of a new Wildlife Law which is currently at the final stage of approval, providing a legal framework to strengthen all wildlife conservation activities. Furthermore, WCS has been working with the World Bank and the Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW) to develop a more rigorous Biodiversity Guidelines for Concession Management. Support from SAVE THE TIGER FUND has been used to lever further investment into conservation in Cambodia. The results of surveys funded by SAVE THE TIGER FUND have justified applications for major projects to the World Bank and UNDP/GEF for three key areas. Two of these - for the Northern Plains and Samling Mondulkiri - have already been approved. A cooperative analysis of all Tiger data is currently under way. All data from MAFF, MoE, WCS, WWF, CI and FFI are being collated and analyzed and will be published as a co-authored paper by those involved. |
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