Chambok Community-Based Ecotourism Project

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes constitute one of the approaches that have been adopted and implemented in Cambodia in order to ensure the effective use of natural resources. PES, as the name implies, involves payments made to compensate and incentivize individuals or groups engaged in activities that support the provision of ecosystem services. In Cambodia, the pilot PES program was instituted as a complementary program to the Protected Area Management Program in 2002 with support from the Ministry of Environment (MoE), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery (MAFF), and international nongovernmental organizations: Chambok is approximately 110 km from Phnom Penh City. The National Road No. 4 from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville passes by Kirirom National Park. The drive from the capital to Chambok takes about 2.5 hours regardless of the season. The Chambok Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) site (Figure 4) shares its borders with Kirirum National Park and is well known for its spectacular scenery and educational nature walks. Attractions include a 3.5-kilometer hike to an amazing 40-meter waterfall, bird-watching and wildlife viewing, an ox-cart ride, homestay in the village and enjoying the Cambodian rural lifestyle. The project received both technical and financial support from Mlup Baiting, which is a local environmental NGO that launched the project in 2001 and ran it until 2004. Since then, the project has been managed by the Chambok CBET Management Committee members.

This teaching case is available here.

Published by World Fish.