Botum-Sakor National Park
Encyclopedia
Botum Sakor National Park is a national park
of Cambodia
. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand
, Botum Sakor is a peninsula
projecting southwest from the Cardamom Mountains
. The National Park comprises 183,408 hectares of designated park land and spans three districts of Koh Kong Province
: Kiri Sakor, Botum Sakor and Koh Kong. The park is under the administration of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment.
The majority of Botum Sakor’s area comprises gently sloping lowland and flood plains. The climate is characterized by a tropical monsoon and the area has two high tides per day with a range of approximately 1.5 m. The human population of Botum Sakor National Park is unknown. Disturbance is however known to be extremely high with an estimated 229 km² (~30 km²/year) of evergreen forest lost from 1997 - 2002 through illegal logging
2. Although this large scale illegal logging has been halted in the last few years, the area is now under extreme threat of destruction under the pretext of so-called development1. A Chinese company named "Chinese Development Group Co" started the clearing of around 36.000 hectares of land in the district of Kiri Sakor in August 2010. This project, situated to the east of the peninsula, is officially worth US$5 billion and will include the construction of new roads, an airport, a port, a golf course, an ecotourism site and a large commercial area with residential living, hotels, restautants and retail stores. There are serious concerns in the conservation community as well as in the local population that little, if any, international-standard environmental impact assessments were made prior to the approval of this massive development project, which is expected to last up to 25 years.
Wildlife in Botum Sakor National Park
Recent camera-trap evidence suggests that the area is home to several critically endangered species such as the Asian elephant, the Indochinese tiger, the clouded leopard, the sun bear, and other endangered species. Local poachers affirm that there is also quite a considerable population of pilaeted gibbons. Several kinds of snakes including charismatic species such as the king cobra and the Malay pit viper are regularly seen, and subsequently hacked to death by local residents, at local plantations. There is also a known small p[opulation of Siamese crocodiles in some of the parks creeks. As for the remote interior of the park, no scientific investigation has ever been carried out due to the area's extremely hard terrain. Although Wildlife Alliance
conducts conservation and wildlife and forest protection programs within Botum Sakor National Park, poaching remains extremely rampant and it is generally believed that what this area of Cambodia, classified as one of the world's 25 top biodiversity hot spots by Wildlife Alliance, is destined to be turned into a ghost-forest unless radical measures are taken.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand
Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand , also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:...
, Botum Sakor is a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
projecting southwest from the Cardamom Mountains
Cardamom Mountains
The Krâvanh Mountains, literally the "Cardamom Mountains" , is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia, jutting into southeastern Thailand.-Location and description:...
. The National Park comprises 183,408 hectares of designated park land and spans three districts of Koh Kong Province
Koh Kong Province
Koh Kong is a province of Cambodia. The name means "Kŏng Island Province". Its capital is Koh Kong.-Geography:The most south-western province of Cambodia, Koh Kong has a long undeveloped coastline and a mountainous, forested and largely inaccessible interior which embraces part of the Cardamom...
: Kiri Sakor, Botum Sakor and Koh Kong. The park is under the administration of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment.
The majority of Botum Sakor’s area comprises gently sloping lowland and flood plains. The climate is characterized by a tropical monsoon and the area has two high tides per day with a range of approximately 1.5 m. The human population of Botum Sakor National Park is unknown. Disturbance is however known to be extremely high with an estimated 229 km² (~30 km²/year) of evergreen forest lost from 1997 - 2002 through illegal logging
Illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...
2. Although this large scale illegal logging has been halted in the last few years, the area is now under extreme threat of destruction under the pretext of so-called development1. A Chinese company named "Chinese Development Group Co" started the clearing of around 36.000 hectares of land in the district of Kiri Sakor in August 2010. This project, situated to the east of the peninsula, is officially worth US$5 billion and will include the construction of new roads, an airport, a port, a golf course, an ecotourism site and a large commercial area with residential living, hotels, restautants and retail stores. There are serious concerns in the conservation community as well as in the local population that little, if any, international-standard environmental impact assessments were made prior to the approval of this massive development project, which is expected to last up to 25 years.
Wildlife in Botum Sakor National Park
Recent camera-trap evidence suggests that the area is home to several critically endangered species such as the Asian elephant, the Indochinese tiger, the clouded leopard, the sun bear, and other endangered species. Local poachers affirm that there is also quite a considerable population of pilaeted gibbons. Several kinds of snakes including charismatic species such as the king cobra and the Malay pit viper are regularly seen, and subsequently hacked to death by local residents, at local plantations. There is also a known small p[opulation of Siamese crocodiles in some of the parks creeks. As for the remote interior of the park, no scientific investigation has ever been carried out due to the area's extremely hard terrain. Although Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife Alliance is an international non-profit wildlife and forest conservation organization with current programs and partnerships in Cambodia, Thailand, and the Russian Far East...
conducts conservation and wildlife and forest protection programs within Botum Sakor National Park, poaching remains extremely rampant and it is generally believed that what this area of Cambodia, classified as one of the world's 25 top biodiversity hot spots by Wildlife Alliance, is destined to be turned into a ghost-forest unless radical measures are taken.
External links
- http://www.bcdo-cambodia.org/