Equip Cambodians with Tech to Protect Their Forest

As part of the Community Peacebuilding Initiative (CPI), the Peace Bridges Organization (PBO) actively promotes and supports religious cooperation in their efforts to protect and conserve the Prey Lang forest areas. With a strong focus on community engagement, the PBO works in close collaboration with the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN), local authorities, and religious leaders to organize special ordination ceremonies that serve as powerful messages of forest protection and conservation.

These unique ceremonies bring together community members, local authorities, and religious leaders, fostering a sense of unity and shared responsibility for safeguarding the precious Prey Lang forest. Through their active participation, religious leaders demonstrate their commitment to environmental stewardship, emphasizing the significance of preserving this vital natural resource for future generations. The involvement of local authorities in these ordination ceremonies further strengthens the collective effort to protect the forest. The ordination ceremonies serve as a platform for dialogue and cooperation of religious leaders, local authorities, and community members also helps to raise awareness among the wider public about the urgent need for forest protection and conservation.

On March 14 and 15, Peace Bridges supported the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) to plan and implement tree ordination ceremonies in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, and Steung Treng provinces. These events were organized as part of their Community Peacebuilding Initiatives. Hundreds of people participated in these celebrations, including local forest communities, officials, Buddhist monks, and other civil society members. At these events, the monks blessed the trees and wrapped them in orange robes, symbolizing how the forest is sacred and vital to life.

Links:

• Steung Treng
• Preah Vihear
• Kampong Thom

Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) continue to get benerfit by upgrading their capacity using smartphones in advocating for the protection of their forest. The knowledge of using the smartphone and related techonologies has increased the effectiveness of their effort in protecting their local natural resources, raising awareness, publicity of their Community Peacebuiliding Innitiatives (CPI) or Community Events (CE), reporting or evidents/crimes records. Prey Lang activists become much more confident in their work as they have both work hard and smart. One of the big challenages is the maintain the smarphone and other hi-tech equipments so they can be used long enough, because the heat, dust and rain damage these equipments and the community has to make sure they continue to supply themselves with the smartphone and equipments.      

Links:

• Facebook of one of Prey Lang leaders in Kampong Thom