Project News

On an auspicious morning of June 21, 2023, the Phnom Ta Kong Community Forestry (CF) of Stung Treng celebrated their new station which had just been fully completed its construction in May. The heavy rain of yesterday brought fresh & clear weather to the foot of the mountain forest and celebrated the event today. The inauguration ceremony blended tradition and modernity by starting with a customary religious praying session of the Prov[1] indigenous culture and ending with ribbon-cutting of the modern time. SNRM project team and distinguished guests from commune governance took part in the celebration jubilantly.

After the praying session came the arrival of the distinguished guests led by Mr. Chan Ponika, Project Director of SNRM and Deputy Director of Forestry Administration, and Mr, Sou Sontara, Project Manager, Deputy Director of Dept. of Inspection and Law Enforcement of Ministry of Environment. Everyone gathered round in the station for remarks given by representatives of each organization who were the catalysts of the project and ultimately contributed to the birth of the station.

Started off with Mr. Mean Vong, Chief of Phnom Ta Kong CF Management Committee (CFMC), the history of the CF was briefed starting from the formation of CF in 2007, recognition in 2015, to the arrival of the SNRM project in 2021. The Chief mentioned the achievements of the project in these two years, but it was in the following remarks by Mr. Rey Raksmey, Deputy Chief of Forestry Administration Cantonment (FAC), that they were detailed. Mr. Rey Raksmey listed the activities supported by JICA which include, setting up of boundary poles, the billboards and signboards, the capacity building training for the CF members, the provision of patrol equipment, the replacement of waterpipe, the livestock training, the ongoing process of state land registration for CF, and the construction of this station.

Then Ms. KATO Aiko, representing JICA Cambodia Office, gave her remarks on her impression and hope for the CF. After having arrived in Cambodia two weeks before and spent the whole fortnight in the capital city, she expressed her delight in seeing the greenery and feeling the fresh air in Phnom Ta Kong. Moreover, she was awed and inspired by the Chief who painted the station they were celebrating by his own hands. She hoped that this station would be treasured by the community and, as well as the other activities that had been done or were ongoing, would contribute to the effort for natural resource management by the CF.

Lastly, Mr. Chan Ponika gave his speech of appreciation to the CF, JICA, FAC and other stakeholders who had brought out the success to our project so far. He stated that the termination of SNRM was coming and thus the CF should commit to finishing the remaining planned activities on time and make sure that the result of the project would be sustainable in the long run. He encouraged the CF members to commit to protecting the forest as natural resources could generate revenue for them through eco-tourism or by attracting foreign investors. Furthermore, he urged the CF to figure out what can be done to improve their livelihoods that can be linked to natural resource conservation. Mr. Chan Ponika ended his remarks with a request to the local authority to combat forest crimes in the area cooperating with CF.

For the purpose of improving livelihood, some of the CF members had been appointed as cow raising volunteers and had received a training provided by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) under the coordination of the SNRM project. After the speeches, Mr. Chan Ponika had the honor of handing over the certificates from DoA to the trainees to recognize their participation in and completion of the training course.

The ribbon-cutting session took place after the certificate session. The freshly painted station was finally announced to be officially open for utilization after the red ribbon was split in half. Subsequently, the guests proceeded to plant a bunch of luxury saplings around the station for memorial.

The celebration ended with a close-knit party in which everyone shared a friendship meal and danced to their hearts’ content. Forestry might be a physically demanding sector, but if we got such participation of CF members, it may be as enjoyable as dancing!

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[1] The Prov (Brao, Praov) are an ethnic minority group found on both sides of the Cambodia-Lao border. They traditionally depend on forest for livelihood and have long animistic beliefs for centuries.

Inauguration of the CF Station in Phnom Ta Kong CF

Praying to the deities in the mountain

Memorial photo session

Mr. Vong, the chief of CFMC

Mr. Ponika, the official operation

From left to right, Mr. Sontara, Mr. Raskmey, Mr. GOSEKI, Chief Advisor, Mr. Sokha from FAC, Mr. Ponika and Mr. Pen Sobol of Commune Chief

CF members, JICA Expert team and JICA officers