Sam Veasna Center (SVC)

Website: www.samveasna.org
E-mail: bookings@samveasna.org
Phone: Raksa (Bookings Mananger): +855 12 520 828 or +855 63 963 710

Who they are

Sam Veasna Center (SVC) was set up to generate eco-tourism to Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) project sites across Cambodia with the aim of providing sustainable alternative livelihoods for local communities in the provision of eco-tourist services. The communities, in exchange for the income from ecotourism, are asked to sign no hunting and land conversion agreements, which are enforced by WCS in cooperation with the Cambodian Government Ministries of Environment and Forestry.

SVC started focusing on ecotourism in 2006, organising bird watching trips to the WCS conservation project sites across Cambodia. Their customers are bird watchers and those interested in the environment and culture, who come to Cambodia to see the unique diversity of wildlife and Angkorian culture in Cambodia. SVC have been proactive during the last 3 years, promoting their itineraries to the international tourists they take on their trips.

When their Khmer guides are not leading tourists, they are training the communities in remote areas of Cambodia where SVC sites are located in the provision of services; food, accommodation and local guiding for clients SVC bring. The village is then able to earn an income from the tourists that stay with them.

What they do

SVC works to aid local communities in 3 ways:
1) The local communities earn an income from providing accommodation, food and local guiding services to the visitors they bring.
2) A conservation contribution is made by each visitor and used by the elected village committee for livelihood development projects, which benefit the whole village.
3) Any profits that they make are handed back to help with the costs of the protection programs at the sites SVC visit.

What they offer

SVC currently visit 8 Wildlife Conservation Society project sites across Cambodia. They are chosen for their rich biodiversity, and in particular for their bird life, which includes 6 critically endangered species. They organise itineraries focusing on the birds but also visiting the spectacular Angkorian temples en route. Most of their sites are in remote and unspoilt corners of Cambodia which gives visitors the chance to not only experience the wildlife, but also the local rural culture that many travellers miss when they come to Cambodia.

Location

The Sam Veasna Center is located near the center of town in Siem Reap, 250 metres from the Angkor Village Hotel on Watbo Road which runs parallel to the Siem Reap river.

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