People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF)

The Central Indochina Dry Forests Ecoregion comprises a large area of northeastern Cambodia and adjoining forests in Vietnam and Laos. It is characterized by a habitat mosaic that comprises dry deciduous forest with patches of semi-evergreen forest and grassland, interspersed with seasonal and permanent water bodies and wetlands and associated vegetation (Baltzer et al. 2001).

Within this ecoregion, intact deciduous dipterocarp forest is considered to be “irreplaceably globally significant”, in part due to the significant representation within it of 53 “Key Species” of mammal, bird and reptile that are threatened with global extinction. This ecoregion is considered a conservation priority by a number of respected conservation authorities and organizations, including BirdLife International, WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary protects 2,500 square km of deciduous forest mosaic on the border between Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri provinces in eastern Cambodia. Key species confirmed from the sanctuary include Gaur Bos gaurus, Banteng B. javanicus, Dhole Cuon alpinus, and Eld’s Deer Cervus eldii, Sarus Crane Grus antigone, Giant Ibis Pseudibis gigantea, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris and White-rumped Vulture G. bengalensis.

The most recent scientific assessment in LWS, conducted in 2001 by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), indicated that the site “has considerable importance for biodiversity” (Net Neath et al. 2001). Notably, MoE stress that “there is a high chance that [the] Tiger population could rebound to a healthy level as long as the targeted hunting of Tiger and their prey is stopped immediately” (ibid).

Field monitoring and camera-trapping surveys conducted by LWS rangers in November 2004, with support from WildAid Foundation Thailand (now Wildlife Alliance) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), provided the most recent evidence for the continued survival of Tiger Panthera tigris and Leopard Panthera pardus within the sanctuary.

The biological value of the sanctuary and its environs is confirmed by BirdLife International, who designated two Important Bird Areas in the landscape for supporting “one of the most intact remaining examples of the bird community of the dry forests of central Indochina” (Seng Kim Hout et al. 2003).

The dry forests of eastern Cambodia suffer from poor soils and highly seasonal availability of water. For this reason the landscape has long supported low densities of human populations that have a high degree of dependence on surface water and forest products. These prevailing environmental factors also largely explain the high conservation value of the landscape, as well as the high potential for successful conservation. However, new developments are constantly bringing new pressures which PRCF is striving to address.