International Institute for Environment and Development 
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15 June 2007 |
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Calves, cubs and conservation: pictures of effective management A never before seen picture of an elephant and its calf is providing encouraging evidence that a pioneering project is helping to conserve wildlife and support local livelihoods in Cambodia. The animals themselves took the photographs, when they triggered camera traps that had been set up by wildlife biologists working with local community rangers in the Mondulkiri Protected Forest in the east of the country.
Earlier this year a leopard and cubs snapped their self-portraits in the same way there, see earlier press release "Once in a while you get a series of signs that point in all the right directions and these pictures are it," says Craig Bruce, project manager of WWF Cambodia’s Srepok Wilderness Area Project, deep in the heart of forest. "Measuring the effectiveness of protected area management can be a difficult and time consuming task, but our photos indicate that recruitment of elephant and a range of other critically endangered species is taking place. It provides pleasing evidence that the hard work of WWF Cambodia’s dedicated on-ground staff is starting to yield results," he says. The Srepok Wilderness Area Project (SWAP) aims to ensure that local people benefit from conservation in a part of Cambodia where forests are relatively intact - but threatened by illegal logging, conversion for agriculture and the unsustainable trade in wildlife products. WWF-Greater Mekong is working with the government of Cambodia and the International Institute for Environment and Development on the project, which is part funded by the Darwin Initiative. WWF Cambodia and its partners have been managing Mondulkiri Protected Forest for three years. Using local community members, outposts have been established, roads maintained, and basic repairs completed. The recruiting and training of full time staff, along with the engagement of local communities surrounding MPF, all help to ensure that this unique Cambodian Dry Forests landscape is conserved for future generations. The field teams are proving their worth in so many different aspects of protected area management and the exciting camera trap photos indicate an understanding on the part of the rangers as to areas where populations of important species are present. More importantly, the photos suggest that the rangers are effectively reducing threats so that wild animal species are beginning to relax in the environment, even where camera traps have been set up. A lot of the credit for this goes to the SWAP team, which has trained the community rangers and worked with communities to develop sustainable financing options. "Working with local people is essential to ensure that conservation in Cambodia leads to continued growth in elephant populations as well as ensuring economic growth in rural areas through developing sustainable financing options for the area," says James MacGregor of the International Institute for Environment and Development. "By the time this elephant is producing calves of its own, we aim to have a system in place that produces conservation that benefits, rather than hinders, local economic development through a dynamic mix of tourism, conservation services, and other sustainable enterprises." For further information: Chris Greenwood, communications advisor, WWF Cambodia chris.greenwood@wwfgreatermekong.org Craig Bruce, SWAP project manager, WWF Cambodia craig.bruce@wwfgreatermekong.org James MacGregor, senior researcher, sustainable markets group, International Institute for Environment and Development More information on the project: Sustainable tourism supporting species conservation in the Srepok Wilderness, Cambodia Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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