A group of rangers patrol the dense forests of the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. Mondulkiri environment department
Forty new rangers, including 13 women, have successfully passed their recruitment exams and been added to the ranger force in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary.
They will work with the existing force to safeguard the sanctuary’s natural resources, as part of the Keo Seima REDD+ project, a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Environment and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Following the completion of the recruitment process, the deployment was approved by environment minister Eang Sophalleth.
“The Ministry of Environment has reviewed and approved the deployment of 40 new rangers to work in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. This will be done in collaboration with WCS, which will assist in preparing employment contracts and providing monthly financial support for one-year terms, managed through the provincial environment department,” he said, in a letter to the department.
The recruitment of the additional rangers addresses the urgent need to enhance the management and conservation of the 300,000-hectare sanctuary, which makes up a large part of the province’s more than one million hectares of protected land.
Prior to their deployment, a team of less than 130 rangers and provincial environment officials was responsible for preserving the area.
Nationwide, the ministry employs approximately 1,200 rangers who oversee the protection of more than seven million hectares of conservation areas, they are supported by local communities, the armed forces and partner organisations.
Khvay Atiya, ministry undersecretary of state and spokesperson, explained that the newly recruited rangers were selected from local communities within the sanctuary to bolster conservation efforts, particularly in the context of the Keo Seima REDD+ carbon credit project.
“Our approach focuses on engaging local community members directly in conservation. This empowers them to protect their forests while earning an income to support their families. The carbon credit project is particularly significant for local communities as it provides direct benefits,” he said.
He added that effective natural resource management requires collaboration with development partners and local communities. Through the REDD+ project, community livelihoods have been improved with infrastructure development, incentive programmes, school construction and vocational training – especially in eco-tourism, which helps generate additional income for local residents.
The Keo Seima REDD+ project, launched in 2010, is being implemented on 166,983 hectares of forest within the sanctuary's total area of over 300,000 hectares. A significant portion of the funding for the project comes from carbon credit sales, which benefits 20 indigenous villages with approximately 20,000 members. These communities receive financial support through the Cash for Communities (C4C) program, enabling sustainable development and improved living standards.
