Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation
I’ve just added Tmatboey Ecotourism Project in Cambodia to the directory. This is really a special place because it is being helped by the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation. Their mission from their site (SVC):
The SVC opened in January 2003, and since 2004 has been developing activities to promote wildlife conservation, including:
Ensure support for Community Funds: Visitors who come to see the birds leave a conservation contribution which goes into a local development fund directed towards various projects such as community development, agricultural assistance and fish ponds.Â
As an off-shoot of our programs, SVC has been taking interested groups and individuals to see birds, either around Siem Reap area for half a day, or to more remote locations to see several endangered and threatened species, on trips lasting from one day to over one week. This new eco tourism endeavor is in partnership with Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program (WCS), an international NGO devoted to protecting wildlife around the world, and the rural communities living in the less-accessible birding sites.
I thought the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation deserved separate mention in this blog because they are what ecotourism is really about…preserving our wildlife and eco-systems.
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SVC is new to the world wide web and new to promoting the local villages’ ecotourism efforts. Thank you for helping us with our mission. Although the communities we work with will, for the most part, not be aware of this, it is heartening to know that interested folks around the globe will know about them and perhaps help them protect the threatened species found in their remote area.
Sam Veasna Center in Siem Reap is not far from the center of the old part of town. Please drop in on us if you are visiting Angkor Wat, and see what we have to offer.
Karen Nielsen
Ecotourism Development Coordinator
WCS/SVC