Cambodia Ecotourism Project wins a 2007 Responsible Tourism Awards

Ecotourism is a responsible tourism to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local resident. With its definition, Cambodia ecotourism project wins a responsible tourism award in best practice of Responsible Tourism.

Tourism is arguably now the world's largest industry, and ecotourism among its fastest growing segments. But mass ecotourism is a relatively new phenomenon, the name itself being coined only recently, during the 1980s. In fact, as recently as the 1970s, tourism and the preservation of natural habitats were viewed largely as incompatible pursuits.

Ecotourism is definable meaning and has been defined differently according to the contexts of each country. However, ecotourism has the same share goals. Ecotourism is highly climate sensitive sector and is more than simply taking tours to view wildlife in a natural habitat; it is also a mechanism for protecting this environment and all its inhabitants. Regarding to ecotourism context in the country, Cambodia has plenty of potential ecotourism resources in many provinces such as Battambang, Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Tom, and northeast provinces of the country, especially the special species and unique ecotourism products in the South East Asia. The special features of ecotourism in Cambodia include flooded forest, the largest lake in South-east Asia, deciduous dipterocarp forest, grasslands, semi-evergreen forest, freshwater wetlands, particularly the surrounding natural resource of the Tonle Sap Great Lake.

With ecotourism context in Cambodia, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has established a pilot ibis ecotourism project at Tmatboey in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, Preah Vihear province, the only known site where both Giant and White-shouldered Ibises breed and can be reliably seen. The birds are found in the forests surrounding the village, which are a mosaic of seasonally inundated dipterocarp deciduous trees. This project was awarded as a winner of “Wild Asia’s 2007 Responsible Tourism Award” which is organized by Wild Asia. The awards act as both a showcase for these exemplary resorts and as an inspiration to others. By sharing the winners' best practices and demonstrating how easy and beneficial Responsible Tourism is to implement, this a award program hope other operators will consider “Responsible Tourism” to be apart of their business strategies.

By CHHEM Samnang