Cardamom is a crop of cultural significance for indigenous communities living in and around the Cardamom Mountains. FB
The Sustainable Livelihoods team at Conservation International (CI) Cambodia is conducting an economic and environmental viability study on cardamom production in the Central Cardamom REDD+ target villages.
CI recently revealed that the team visited community members and market traders in Pailin, Pursat and Koh Kong provinces to understand the context and status of cardamom cultivation in Cambodia.
In addition, the team travelled to Thailand’s Chanthaburi province to learn how local farmers, officials and researchers utilise this crop.
“Cardamom, a crop of cultural significance for indigenous communities living in and around the Cardamom Mountains, requires shade for growth and presents multiple avenues for sale,” CI explained.
“From its leaves and stems, used in dishes and drinks like chicken and cardamom soup or cardamom tea, to its seeds utilised in cosmetics and traditional medicines, and even the seedlings, which can be sold to other producers,” it added.
The findings of this feasibility study continue to be analysed by the CI Cambodia team, forming part of the livelihoods strategy of the Central Cardamom REDD+ Project.
From January to March, an independent research team from the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) also collaborated with CI Cambodia and the environment departments in Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Pursat provinces to conduct a socioeconomic assessment of the Central Cardamom National Park (CCMNP).
Oum Sony, country director of CI Cambodia, said: “The team used the Social Assessment for Protected and Conserved Area and Site-level Assessment of Governances and Equity tools to collect baseline data on the wellbeing of local communities, governance and equity in the CCMNP. The team conducted 479 household surveys and several community consultation meetings in 24 villages in the three provinces”.
A recent report stated that CI Cambodia has been actively collaborating with the environment ministry to bolster law enforcement activities of various provincial environment departments, including those in Koh Kong, Pursat and Kampong Speu.
The report detailed that 42 rangers traversed over 12,500km in the CCMNP and the biodiversity conservation corridor using vehicles, foot patrols, boats and motorbikes.
As a result of these patrols and law enforcement efforts, rangers educated individuals who had entered the protected area without permission.
Other incidents reported include an individual who was fined for illegal timber transportation, two people arrested for clearing land for personal ownership (with one subsequently released), and another person who was issued a written warning.
