Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary
Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia is not classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
REDD+ has implemented its program within Keo Seima in partnership with the Cambodian Ministry of Environment, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Their efforts have played a crucial role in producing Verified Emissions Reductions, commonly known as carbon credits.[1]
Bunong Indigenous People Association.
Website: https://bunong.org/
Telephone: +855 9 998 74 51
Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Organization.
Website: https://cipocambodia.org/
Email: cipo@cipocambodia.org/
Samdhana Institute.
Website: https://www.samdhana.org/
Diakonia.
Website: https://www.diakonia.se/en/
Email: diakonia@diakonia.se
WCS is among the very few conservation NGOs working in Keo Seima, providing technical and financial support to the park. WCS supports law enforcement around the park by monitoring threats such as land clearance through satellite data and technical tools such as SMART law enforcement monitoring. The WCS partners with the Cambodian government in implementing the REDD+ carbon emission reduction program, the largest of its kind in Cambodia’s land use sector.[1]
With international NGOs essentially locked out of the county, the responsibility of deforestation monitoring falls on Cambodian law enforcement efforts, which, on paper, appear to support conservation efforts in Keo Seima to reduce forest loss and safeguard the livelihoods of the Bunong population. Since 2001, several acts of legislation have been introduced, designed to award land titles to Indigenous communities inside the boundaries of the wildlife sanctuary. However, conservationists say the government’s intentions are not playing out in practice.
“The apparent aims of these legislative acts are noble, and something on paper we support – ensuring legal recognition of traditionally owned lands, especially for indigenous [Bunong] people,” the WCS staff member said. “But the reality of its implementation is that land has, and likely will, be given to anyone who can establish a veneer of legitimacy to a claim of historical use. We strongly support legal titles for indigenous communities, and this has and continues to be a major part of our work in Keo Seima.”[2]
The WCS page further lists the following partners in its administrative, technical, and financial support of Keo Seima: Cambodia Rural Development Team, CAMPAS Project, Agence Française de Développement, UK Department for International Development, Elephants Livelihood Initiative Environment, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Cambodian Forestry Administration, Danish International Development Agency, New Zealand's International Aid & Development Agency, Sam Veasna Center. It is unclear exactly how each of these organizations directly supports the sanctuary.[3]
Jahoo Gibbon Camp is a community-driven ecotourism initiative supported by World Hope International, which generates over $14,000 yearly for the community. This income is allocated towards managing the ecotourism venture and community development initiatives.[4]
Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary is managed by the Royal Government of Cambodia's Ministry of Environment, with technical and financial support from WCS Cambodia.[1]
The Royal Government of Cambodia, Ministry of Environment
Website: https://www.moe.gov.kh/en
Telephone: (+855)23-213-908 / (+855)23-220-369
WCS Cambodia
Email: smahood@wcs.org
Telephone: +(855)12-815-123
Website: http://cambodia.wcs.org
Cambodian Ministry of Environment
Website: https://www.moe.gov.kh/en
Telephone: (+855)23-213-908 / (+855)23-220-369
Wildlife Conservation Society – $220,000 to 20 local communities in 2018 under the REDD+ Benefit Sharing Mechanism, used for supporting community construction projects.
U.S. Agency for International Development – from August 2018 to August 2021, donated €1,758,237 toward the Land Governance Project.[1]
In 2016, the Walt Disney Corporation bought $2.6 million of carbon stock from Keo Seima.[2]
The violations against the Bunong can be traced back to the Cambodian government’s granting of Economic Land Concessions (ELC), which are grants given to private companies allowing them to develop agricultural and other operations through mass deforestation. ELC began in 1996 and ended in 2012, but the practice has continued through various legal loopholes.[1]
In January 2018, a forest protection ranger, a military police officer, and a WCS staff member were fatally shot while confronting illegal loggers within the sanctuary. Cambodian security forces are recognized for their cooperation with illicit loggers who transport timber to Vietnam, a neighboring country.[2]
In November 2018, Sarah Milne and Sango Mahanty, scholars at the Australian National University, collaborated on a paper detailing how the Keo Seima REDD+ project marginalized local communities due to the changing bureaucratic standards imposed on REDD+ initiatives. "We term this phenomenon 'bureaucratic violence'—an aspect that seems inherent to the green economy. This concept helps to explain recent instances of REDD+'s harmful impacts, such as its disregard for or facilitation of local displacement and human rights violations," Milne and Mahanty wrote, highlighting that communities were coerced into accepting various documents concerning land within the scope of the REDD+ project.[3]
In May 2020, over 200 Bunong individuals protested following their rejection from accessing farmland in Keo Seima. Cambodia's Ministry of Environment attributed this action to the implementation of conservation laws.[4]
In September 2021, 100 hectares of forest land inside Keo Seima were cleared illegally with no intervention or action from the provincial environment department. Andong Kraloeng community member and forest protection activist Sok Khathot reported observing bulldozers clearing the forest.[5]
[1] https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/under-cover-of-covid-19-loggers-plunder-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/31/cambodian-forest-defenders-killed-after-confronting-illegal-loggers
[3] https://cambodianess.com/article/redd-projects-still-struggling-to-live-up-to-expectations-in-cambodia
In May 2018, Mondulkiri Provincial Court prosecutors charged six villagers for creating 10 camps within Keo Seima. The villagers were found in the forest by rangers and villagers on patrol and were charged with measuring the area to clear it.
In September 2019, the main suspect in the slaying of the three conservationists in Keo Seima over a year and a half earlier confessed his guilt.[1]
On July 15, 2021, a French Court dismissed a lawsuit brought on behalf of 97 Bunong families against Cambodian rubber plantation firm Socfin-KCD. The families alleged their Indigenous rights were violated when a tribunal in Nanterre ruled they had no legal rights or title to the land in dispute.[2]
The Land Law of Cambodia regulates land ownership, use, and management, establishing rights for individuals and communities while promoting sustainable practices.
The Forestry Law of Cambodia governs the management and conservation of forest resources, aiming to ensure sustainability and prevent illegal logging.
In a rare victory for conservationists and Cambodia’s Indigenous groups, the Ministry of Environment halted a proposed marble mining venture within Keo Seima in 2023. A June 27 directive from the former environment minister Say Samal instructed the suspension of the mining exploration project before any groundwork commenced in Mondulkiri province. This decision was made merely 10 weeks after Samal had approved the approximately 4,000-hectare (9,900-acre) exploration license within the core area of Keo Seima on April 24.[1]
On July 17, 2023, a sub-decree was issued, resulting in another expansion of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, increasing its size from 292,690 hectares to 317,456 hectares (723,253 to 784,451 acres). However, despite this expansion, the boundaries of the REDD+ project remain unaltered.[2]