Wildlife Conservation Society Community Project Sites

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

Communities & Activities

The following Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) project sites provide sustainable alternative livelihoods for the surrounding local communities in the provision of eco-tourism services. The local communities work with the Sam Veasna Center (SVC) across these remote and biodiverse areas to provide travellers with the opportunity to see an amazing array of bird life, while exploring both the local way of life and the magnificent ruins of the Angkor empire.

Ang Trapaeng Thmor (ATT)
This Khmer village of rice farmers and fishermen is located by an Angkorian reservoir that was rebuilt during the Khmer Rouge period through the slave labour in the late seventies. The reservoir is 8 x 11km depending on the season and was declared a Sarus Crane reserve by Royal Decree in 2001. Apart from the Sarus Crane it is an important breeding and feeding site for over 150 species of birds and the critically endangered Elds Deer.

ATT can be visited as a day trip from Siem Reap or accommodation can be arranged overnight with the option of visiting the proposed Unesco World Heritage temple site of Bantei Chma.
Visitors bird watch by vehicle and on foot around the reservoir then have the opportunity to see silk traditionally grown and woven under the wooden stilted houses in the local village.
SVC organise boat trips on the reservoir which let the visitor view the bird colonies on the seasonally flooded vegetation of the lake and the traditional fishing techniques practised by the villagers.

Prek Toal floating village and core bird reserve
This is a Khmer floating village dependent on fishing from Tonle Sap Great Lake and lies adjacent to the Prek Toal core bird reserve. The houses, which are floating on rafts of bamboo, are towed to new locations up to 9 times each year due to the fluctuating levels in the Lake. The lake experiences the hydrological phenomena of a massive back flow of the Mekong which changes direction in the rainy season and floods up the Tonle Sap River to fill the lake.

Typically SVC organise day trips from Siem Reap to Prek Toal. This involves a boat trip across the lake into the core bird reserve, through the seasonally flooded forest. The final destination is a WCS observation platform which is set up to keep watch on the colonies of large water birds, which are the largest in South East Asia. After this you will return to the village for lunch on a floating house followed by a paddleboat tour to experience the local way of life and culture.
Overnight trips can be arranged which mean that you can arrive at the core reserve by dawn, which is the best time for bird watching. This schedule also has the advantage of avoiding being out during the hottest hours.

Florican Grasslands
These are small villages that are dependent on seasonal rice in the Tonle Sap Lake floodplains. SVC is working with a number of village communities in the IFBAs (Integrated Farming and Biodiversity Areas), which combine conservation of the critically endangered Bengal Florican and their unique flood plain habitat with helping the local farmers to grow rice and rear livestock in a way that does not affect the birds. Ecotourism gives the local community an additional incentive not to hunt or destroy the habitat of the floricans.

The Florican Grasslands are usually visited on route or on the way back from other SVC sites such as Tmaboey. They are an easy ride along National Route 6 with short off road tracks into the Tonle Sap Floodplain to see the Bengal Floricans. There are also many other species that inhabit this threatened environment. Although this is very much a bird watching experience, the vast open horizons and small rice farming communities should appeal to anyone interested in an unchanged landscape. A visit to the Angkorian temple site of Sambor Prey Kuk is an easy diversion to the Florican Grasslands.

Tmatboey Village
This is a small remote forest village traditionally dependent on growing forest rice and hunting in the dry deciduous forest of Northern Cambodia.

The forests around Tmatboey are home to the critically endangered Giant and White shouldered Ibis and many other near indigenous species associated with deciduous dry dipteropcarp forest (DDF). WCS in partnership with the Cambodian Government facilitated the village to elect a committee to provide ecotourist services including a lodge, which would provide an income for the local community. In return for the tourist income the Committee was required to sign a no hunting and land conversion agreement. SVC’s role is to market the site and organise the itineraries using SVC trained bird guides to ensure together, with local rangers, that visitors get to see the birds and sometimes mammals without disturbing them. Tmatboey won the WildAsia Responsible Tourism Award in 2007 and The Equator Prize for poverty reduction linked to biodiversity conservation in 2008.

Tmatboey is a 160km in a 4WD from Siem Reap, which takes about 4 hours depending on the time of year and state of the roads. SVC recommend a 3 night stay to fully appreciate the environment and village. Activities are based around bird watching usually early in the morning and late afternoon. The village is also very interesting due to it’s remote location which makes it self sufficient in producing all it needs. Every visitor should certainly include a village tour. The Lodge itself lies away from the village with the sound of the forest all around and is a very pleasant place to spend time whether or not you’re a fanatical bird watcher. The route to Tmatboey goes past the impressive Beng Melea and Koh Ker Angkorian temples which are often included in the trip.

Okoki and the Vulture Restaurant
The inhabitants of Dongphlet the nearest village to Okoki are Kui – a Khmer ethnic minority. As at Tmatboey they subsist on simple agriculture and exploiting the forest.

Okoki is the most remote site SVC visits in Cambodia. It is just 20km from the Laos PDR border in the Chhep protected forest. Due to the remote location, Okoki is free from human habitation though there is some disturbance from traditional forest burning in the dry season and always (illegal) hunting. Despite this, it remains a pristine environment for mammals as well as birds. A committee elected from the village of Dongphlet is responsible for setting up camp at Okoki and providing the food and local guiding. This ensures that they receive a direct economic benefit from tourists and are asked to sign the no hunting and land conversion agreements required at all the WCS project sites.

Okoki is usually visited as part of an itinerary of different Cambodian sites. It is a 1 day drive from the nearest town and a very long day drive from Siem Reap. It’s remote location has ensured the continued survival of some very rare birds including 3 critically endangered species of Vulture; Red headed, Slender billed and White rumped. As part of a conservation program WCS kills a cow, which is paid for and timed to coincide with the visitors SVC brings. This is greeted with a feeding frenzy of up to a hundred vultures and also attracts Dhole, Jackal and occasionally leopard.

The mixture of evergreen forest along the watercourses and dry forest elsewhere attracts a diversity of species including the very rare White winged Duck and Green Peafowl. Elephants are known to be in the area though are rarely seen.

Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area (SBCA)
The villages in SBCA belong to the Bnong ethnic minority and traditionally subsist on basic agriculture and exploitation of the forest.

SBCA covers 2000km2 of Mondulkiri Province in the East of Cambodia next to the Vietnamese border. The habitat is Southern Annamitic mixed evergreen, bamboo and dry deciduous forest. Traditionally the comparatively low population density has meant that a wide biodiversity of birds and mammals has managed to coexist with local communities though that is now threatened by land grabbing leading to illegal logging, mining companies and hunting.

SVC run trips of 2 or 3 nights to SBCA based around bird watching in the forest. The ‘jungle’ vegetation means that a different set of birds and animals are present. Although rarely seen there is a resident population of wild elephants as well as the largest global colony of Doucs black shanked Lemurs in the world. Visitors stay in a converted Forestry Administration HQ and aside from the bird watching, night drives give the exciting possibility of seeing large mammals such as Banteng and Gaur. The local guides come from Bnong villages in the area, and these can be visited when not birding.

Kratie on the Mekong River and Bokor National Park in Kampot Provine
Kratie is a small town on the banks of the Mekong and Bokor National Park located on the most Southerly extension of the Cardamom Mountains. 15km upstream from Kratie are a series of deep pools where the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin feed. The Bokor mountain environment at 1000 metres elevation is habitat for yet another biodiverse system of flora and fauna.

These are 2 very different sites at opposite ends of the country. While the star of the show near Kratie is the Irrawaddy Dolphins, the riverbanks of the Mekong provide yet another habitat for local animals and birds. Under French Colonialism Bokor was a hill station complete with a casino and hotel chosen because of the elevated cool climate. The hill station, soon to be replaced with a new hotel complex lies at the Southern tip of the national park, which for the most part remains intact with beautiful waterfalls, stunning scenery and some near endemic birds.

SVC also leads groups through the temples of Angkor looking for birds at the same time as marvelling at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm to name a few. SVC has weekly bird watching trips around Siem Reap to train local guides where visitors with limited time are welcome to join.

Please note: We do not encourage children under 12 on longer trips, but for those slightly older a managed itinerary across Cambodia can be the trip of a life time.

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.

It is a stipulation of the Wildlife Conservation Society that all visitors to their project sites are accompanied by a SVC Guide, this is to maximise the tourists chances of seeing the birdlife and minimise their disturbance.

View on Google Maps

What you need

- Mosquito repellent
- Torch
- Binoculars (SVC do have a few pairs they can lend out)
- Good walking shoes
- Light breathable clothing
- Hat

Accommodation & Amenities

• Accommodation varies at the different sites you will visit. Day trips from Siem Reap allow the visitor to return to the guest house / hotel of their choice where a night can cost anything from US$1.00 to US$1000.00 depedning on your preference.
  At the SVC flagship site of Tmatboey there is a lodge and bungalows built from forest materials with solar powered electricity and hot water.
  Okoki near the border with the Laos PDR Republic is the most remote site and accommodation is in comfortable safari style tents.
  At most locations SVC can organise single rooms or tents depending on the size of the group with beds, mattresses and bed linen.
• Showers and Western style drop toilets are available at all sites (separate tents have been arranged at Okoki). The water is generally OK for washing though most people use bottled water to drink which is provided on all of SVC trips.
• There is solar powered electricity. However, it may not run all night.
• All types of food are available in Siem Reap. At most of the destinations and in small provincial town hotels on route, food is Khmer which can be prepared spicy or not according to taste. Vegetarian food is usually available.
• Prices will be available soon.

More information

Find out more about the Sam Veasna Center, an NGO that works with these communities.

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