NaturelLife Cambodia has shared its experiences and challenges in empowering Tonle Sap region communities and tackling the decline of the Sarus Crane at an international workshop featuring more than 100 participants from six nations: Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, China and Myanmar.

Hosted in Thailand from June 27 to 29, the primary objective of the workshop was to share achievements, challenges, and good practices, as well as foster relationships among The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)’s grantees and donors.

NatureLife Cambodia’s social media said that as part of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot - Phase III, CEPF has released 28 small grants and 57 large grants. With funding support from CEPF, NatureLife Cambodia is actively working to conserve critically endangered species like the vulture, ibis, and sarus crane, and empower local communities to co-manage protected areas.

Bou Vorsak, the executive director of NaturelLife Cambodia, provided further insights on July 2 about the workshop and the CEPF’s activities, now in Phase III. He said the workshop featured grantees from six countries with over 100 projects.

“Apart from sharing our successful work experience and challenges, we also discussed what should be done more in the new phase of the CEPF for the six countries,” he stated.

NaturelLife Cambodia has shared its experiences and challenges in empowering Tonle Sap region communities and tackling the decline of the Sarus Crane at an international workshop. NATURELIFE CAMBODIA

He touched upon Cambodia’s specific requests to the CEPF.

“For Cambodia, we discussed locations that we requested for expansion to the CEPF that is in the Lower Mekong Delta in Takeo and Kampot province to help all wetlands, as well as Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). That was our request,” he said.

The CEPF was established to protect Biodiversity Hotspots, the most endangered and biologically diverse areas on Earth. It is a joint initiative of the Agence Française de Developpement (AFD), Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan and the World Bank.

The Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, which includes parts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and southern China, is a region of global biological significance.