The Ministry of Environment has been working hard to increase the forest cover to 60 percent by 2050 as planned, affirmed the ministry’s Secretary of State H.E. Chea Sam Ang.

He emphasised the commitment while presiding over the celebration of the 17th World Ranger Day (July 31), held in Kep province on Aug. 15, adding that protected areas in Cambodia currently cover about 40 percent of the total land area.

H.E. Chea Sam Ang took the opportunity to thank the rangers for their dedication to protecting natural resources, striving to increase green cover and enforcing the law against natural resource crimes.

Rangers are front-liners who turn policies and strategies related to the conservation of protected areas and natural resources into grassroots activities, especially the implementation of the “greenness” strategy of the Environmental Chakra Strategy such as setting up nurseries for distribution to the public.

For his part, H.E. Som Piseth, Governor of Kep province, underscored the provincial administrat
ion’s active participation with the Ministry of Environment in making Kep province clean, green and sustainable. He recalled that Kep has been recognised as an ASEAN environmentally sustainable city, which has been awarded in Brunei, Indonesia and so on.

Mr. Neth Vibol, on behalf of the partner organisations of the Ministry of Environment, reaffirmed their continued active contribution to the cause of sustainably protecting and conserving natural resources in accordance with the ministry’s Environmental Chakra Strategy.

The World Ranger Day celebration in Kep also featured performances by park rangers on patrols, natural resource crime crackdown, their commitment to law enforcement, etc. The event was followed by seedling planting at Kep National Park.

The Ministry of Environment started celebrating the World Ranger Day to commemorate the brave heroism of the forest rangers in their mission to protect and conserve natural resources and the environment in 2015, and has continued to observe this day every ye
ar with the participation of relevant institutions, national and international organisations, monks, students, local communities, the public, and the private sector.

There are 73 protected areas in the Kingdom of Cambodia, covering more than 7 million hectares, accounting for more than 40 percent of the country’s land area, with a total of 1,120 park rangers, including 38 females.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse