Environmental education is an essential part of our Asian elephant conservation program in Cambodia’s Prey Lang forest. We regularly share information from wildlife monitoring with key community stakeholders, which includes young people, to promote forest conservation. Photojournalist Allison Shelley captured images from a recent event in the village of Siem Bouk where local school children participated in awareness-raising and environmental education activities.
Siem Bouk sits on the edge of Prey Lang Forest, home to over 55 threatened wildlife species, where we are working to conserve Asian elephants and other species through monitoring and forest protection. The village’s proximity to the forest makes it an important entry point for field visits to Prey Lang. We recently completed construction of the new ranger sub-station in Siem Bouk to support forest patrols in Prey Lang.
Kids from the village of Siem Bouk draw and color elephants and other wildlife in Prey Lang Forest.
Wild Earth Allies Senior Marine Biologist Leng Phalla talks to kids about their drawings (left); Kids hold promotional signs: from left to right the signs read: “Together we protect the elephant,” “I love Prey Lang,” and “I love elephants,” (right).
Girls act out a skit in which they are either forest animals or trees (left); Other kids from the village of Siem Bouk watch their peers (right).
Wild Earth Allies Cambodia Program Director Tuy Sereivathana leads kids in a discussion about wildlife (left); Stung Trang Provincial Environmental Department Director Eang Phirong and Vathana show kids camera trap images from Prey Lang. The posters identify the species with short descriptions (right).
Rangers get ready for the morning at a new ranger station in Siem Bouk (left). A Wild Earth Allies team member peeks out from a window in the station (right).
The sun rises over the Mekong River, which flows from the forests of Prey Lang, as seen from the village of Siem Bouk (left); Vathana sets off on the Mekong River (right).
Our Cambodia program is led by Goldman Environmental Prize winner and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tuy Sereivathana, who is building on 20+ years of successful community-based Asian elephant conservation.
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