Cambodia’s protected wildlife sanctuary falls to mining companies despite community conservation agreements

In a troubling breach of conservation promises, mining companies have begun extracting marble and operating open-pit mines within Cambodia’s Veal Kambor Community Protected Area, devastating local communities who believed their land was permanently safeguarded.

Villagers Vorn Pang and Sao Thorn from Sre Chhuk village thought they had secured their future in 2018 when conservation officials formalized their farmland as part of a community-managed protected area. Under this conservation model, residents agreed to patrol and protect the adjoining Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary forests in exchange for 15-year management rights over nearly 3,000 hectares of community land. The arrangement promised to balance environmental protection with local livelihoods.

However, starting in 2020, the Cambodian government began allocating portions of the community zone to extractive companies without warning or compensation. Marble quarries and mining operations now tear through former rice paddies and cut into forests where villagers once sustainably harvested medicinal plants and other non-timber products. These activities are occurring in the heart of one of Cambodia’s most threatened wildlife sanctuaries.

Despite promises of compensation during a 2021 meeting between the Ministry of Environment and company representatives, affected villagers report receiving nothing years later. The situation highlights the vulnerability of community-based conservation programs when governments prioritize short-term economic gains over long-term environmental protection and indigenous rights. This case underscores the ongoing challenges facing Cambodia’s remaining wilderness areas and the communities that have traditionally stewarded them.