The first biodiversity survey ever conducted in one of northwestern Cambodia’s last forest frontiers has found potentially new-to-science species and recorded direct threats to what conservationists call a “small but precious” ecosystem.
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Spanning roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the Cambodian-Thai border, the 60,000-hectare (148,300-acre) Samlout Multiple Use Area is part of the greater Cardamom Mountain Range and straddles the provinces of Battambang and Pailin.
Samlout was one of the three first multiple-use areas declared in Cambodia more than 30 years ago. This designation indicates that the management of the protected area is meant to conserve natural resources, while also developing economic activities. Since then, however, the kingdom’s northwest has experienced deforestation at a rate matching a national, decades-long trend of forest loss.
