Climate Action Cambodia Project #38178

Plant Trees to Restore PreyLang Wildlife Sanctuary

by Peace Bridges Organization

Project Report | Aug 22, 2019
What happens when you cut down all the trees?

By Peace Bridges Organization | Project Leader

Planting trees at a school in Prey Veng province

Cutting trees creates an immediate heating effect in the area. In fact, cities without trees are usually about 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees F) hotter than forested places. Clearing trees contributes to climate change by releasing carbon into the atmosphere. It reduces the fertility of the soil. It causes erosion and dries out the soil. It diminishes the water table. Animals lose their habitat. People lose access to food, supplies, shelter, and sacred places.

This is a lot of bad news. Here’s a bit of good news.

Peace Bridges Organization recently used funds from supporters like you to plant more trees in Prey Veng province. Prey Veng literally means "long forest" in Khmer. Unfortunately, very little of that forest is there. In Prey Veng, Peace Bridges staff also hosted workshops about the changing environment in Cambodia and climate change.

On the 7th of August, Peace Bridges met with 49 Christians in Preah Sdach district (Prey Veng) to facilitate discussions on the topic of “Jesus’s Call to Care for God’s Earth.” Our facilitators shared some of the negative effects of cutting down the forest with participants. Some of them had never heard about their own forests, like Prey Lang and Preah Rokar. There was a great turnout and people were very interested in this important issue.

Later, we all went to Praposroluy Primary School to plant trees with the young students. They had a lot of fun digging holes and planting rosewood saplings. The teachers were pleased that they will one day have more shade on their school grounds.

Thank you for supporting our environmental education and reforestation initiatives. Though we are not a formal reforestation program, we believe these activities are important ways to engage people with hands-on learning about the importance of trees. When they see, hear, touch, and plant a tree for themselves, the theoretical becomes real and they feel more connected to the earth.

Thank you for your interest and support!

Group discussion about climate change and Cambodia

Planting trees at a primary school in Prey Veng

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Jul 24, 2019
Tree Monitoring Visit to Kbal Khlaa Forest

By Peace Bridges Organization | Project Leader

Samnieng stands with one of 4-yr old rosewoods

On July 12-14, Peace Bridges staff, peacebuilders from churches in Kampong Thom, a researcher, and international guests traveled into Prey Lang to the Tiger Head (Kbal Khlaa) community forest. This section of Prey Lang is in Kampong Thom province and under the care of Kbal Khlaa community members. Not only do they protect their community forest but they also volunteer as members of the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN). They regularly patrol Prey Lang to document illegal activity and stop illegal logging.

This visit to Kbal Khlaa served three important purposes:

First, we visited the tree planting sites from 2015-2017 to monitor the progress of the saplings. Unfortunately, trees in two of the sites had mostly died due to poor soil quality and either too much water or drought. Nevertheless, many of the trees were still alive. The rosewoods that survived have already grown much taller than a person.

Second, this trip brought together international and local guests with the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) for an opportunity to learn from one another. The PLCN shared about their experience managing their forest and patrolling in it. They shared about the challenges of being away form their families, traversing the forest in bad storms, and other external factors that make their work extremely difficult. The international guests left with stories to tell in their home countries to advocate for the forest and local management.

Third, the PLCN used this trip as an opportunity to meet and plan for the upcoming months. Members of the PLCN met to discuss developments in national policy that will soon affect their forest protection work.

Thank you for your support of this important trip. As we told you in our previous update, we're disappointed that we had to cancel the Prey Lang tree planting due to factors beyond our control. Nonetheless, we are looking forward to planting 2,000 trees in Prey Veng province next month and more next year. Stay tuned for updates coming to you soon.

Peace and blessings,

The PBO team

Some members of the PLCN and Kbal Khlaa

Group photo from the tree monitoring trip

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Jul 5, 2019
Important Update Regarding the Tree Planting

By Peace Bridges | Project Manager

Greetings friends and supporters,

This is an important update regarding the status of our tree planting event.

In June, the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) submitted the event proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Preah Vihear Provincial Department of Environment. Unexpectedly, the Ministry rejected this proposal, claiming that the PLCN is not a registered legal entity. Only three months ago, however, they approved a proposal for the Prey Lang Festival.

The PLCN is a network of people living in and around the Prey Lang forest in four provinces who protect it. There is no requirement by any law to register as an NGO or association. Rather than being registered as a non-governmental organization, the PLCN has chosen to remain as a community-based organization.

Due to the untimely rejection of our tree planting proposal, a committee of planners has decided on several alternatives to the original plan.

First, members of the PLCN, community members, Peace Bridges staff, and other guests will go to the Kbal Khlaa community forest in Prey Lang to support the forest communities there and monitor the progress of trees planted two, three, and four years ago.

Second, we will move the site of our tree planting to Prey Veng province. There we will conduct a seminar on climate change and plant 2000 trees on the grounds of several churches.

We do not anticipate using all of the funds raised this year by our generous donors. Therefore, we will hold remaining funds and use them to plant trees in Prey Lang and other important sites.

We thank you for your support and understanding. There are things that happen here that are beyond our control. Please stay tuned to receive updates about the monitoring trip next week and the Prey Veng tree planting in September.

Warmly,

The Peace Bridges Team

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