30 Jan 2008 - By Porny
You - Women are working as hard and sweating
as much as the men in WWF conservation programs
in remote areas of Cambodia.
In WWF Cambodia’s Srepok
Wilderness Area Project (SWAP), in the country’s
eastern plains, Khmer, foreign and local
indigenous Phnong women play a vital role
in preserving the Mondulkiri Protected Forest
(MPF).
Hy Somaly, a Phnong
indigenous woman, joined SWAP’s Community
Extension Team to inform and educate the
indigenous community on the importance of
wildlife conservation.
“I have to go to different
communities to inform and educate them on
how to improve their livelihoods with sustainable
natural resources use”, she explains.
It is testament to Somaly’s
skills and talents that she can work across
three cultures – her own, Khmer and that
of her foreign colleagues.
Her Khmer colleague,
Att Sreynak, a data assistant with the Srepok
project, notes that though Khmer and Phnong
people have different traditions, they can
work together very effectively to reach
the projects goals.
“Luckily Somaly can
speak Khmer, so there is no language barrier
between her and other colleagues”, she says.
Sreynak is no stranger
to hard work on the project. While collecting
data, she often has to walk long distances
into the forest. She acknowledges it is
quite demanding, but would never let the
mainly male ranger team that accompanies
her know.
“Even though the conditions
can be quite bad, especially in the rainy
season – we would never give up – because
we are responsible for getting the job done”,
she says.
As SWAP has planned
to develop its site for ecotourism, Olga
van den Pol has been a recent new female
addition to team, joining as ecotourism
team leader.
Originally from Holland
and fluent in many languages, she is still
struggling with the Khmer language.
“Though I cannot speak
Khmer language, I can ask for help from
any Khmer colleagues who can interpret for
me. The system works and we recently had
a reward from our conservation efforts with
the “capture” by a camera trap, of one tiger
we knew was in the forest, but which we
had not seen for two years. It was good
to know it was still thriving in the forest
area we are protecting and developing”,
she explains.
She hoped, as a result
of WWF Cambodia’s work in this area, that
wildlife populations would increase and
alternative livelihoods could be developed
to reduce the local communities’ dependence
on natural resource use.
The MPF is a quiet place
with fresh air and bird sounds, where some
people wish to visit or stay at for a while
for pleasure. However, as it has not yet
been developed as an ecotourism site, it
also can be considered as a dangerous place,
in particular for women who live there for
work.
All rangers and police
have to leave their posts to go patrolling
– leaving only women, who are chef and cleaners
at the posts. According to Keo Sopheak,
senior SWAP officer, women do not dare to
walk at night around in the open, because
they are afraid of dangerous wildlife.
“I can not blame them
as in the past we have seen tiger tracks
around the camp sites. It is not only wildlife
that is dangerous, humans can be worse with
hunters and poachers who might take the
opportunity to visit the post sites while
the rangers and police are not there”, he
said.
“Though they feel scared,
these women never ever give up their work.
They all play a vital role in supporting
WWF Cambodia’s conservation work, even a
chef and cleaners, they support by keeping
our staff strong and healthy. Working in
the hard conditions of the forest might
seem like a job more suited to a man, but
in the SWAP, the women play just as important
a role at every level of our conservation
work”, Sopheak says.
Porny You, communication officer, WWF Cambodia
