Sunday 17 March 2019

Cambodia – a Summary



Three weeks plus in Cambodia is an adventure! We encountered a great range of nearly 300 species of birds; [too] many that were threatened – some critically so. We saw amazing ancient history and experienced stories of their brutal not-so-distant-past. We enjoyed amazing food and saw ways of lives that have disappeared from much of the world. We were lucky to have been able to travel and stay in relative comfort, given Cambodia’s state of development.

Lucky, too, we were in our guide Sophal Chen aka Naran the main man.  Naran was a very, very good guide with excellent knowledge of birds and one saw again and again his quiet compassion and true joy in seeing and photographing Cambodian nature [even species that he had no doubt photographed many times before]. That was special. ‘A smiling Buddha’ was how he described himself and like that man he remained calm and unruffled despite heat and stress and ants invading picnic lunches and constant questions and our petty concerns and requests. The only time he became a little stressed was enduring the pain of the bullshit of Bokor National Park and the vandalism described as development within. 

Credit, too, to our drivers who nearly lasted the whole trip with an unblemished record despite the chaos of Cambodian traffic – their last day ending with a minor smash!

Everyone saw lifers and many got many. Even our guide, Naran scored three. The birds can be summarised by our group’s top ten – derived mathematically.
1.       Bar Bellied Pitta
2.       Slaty legged Crake  
3.       Cambodian Tailorbird & Oriental Bay Owl
4.       Long tailed Broadbill
5.       Red headed Vulture
6.       Giant Ibis & Bengal Florican & Mekong Wagtail
7.       Milky Stork & Collared Falconet & Large tailed Nightjar

Now these species were obviously selected according to the perspectives of each of the participants as were the birds of the day on pages past. Some species were selected because of uniqueness or endemism [or regional endemism] or the quality of the view and / or their threatened status.

We were also lucky to get an insight into the conservation ‘scene’ in Cambodia. Sadly there is not a great argument for optimism. While Cambodian Bird Guides Association and the similar Sam Veasna are promoting local grass roots campaigns and projects and these are having local effects more active and well funded NGO’s and projects are needed. Most importantly, and I claim this without having any idea on how to achieve it, a Cambodian Government [with some integrity and free of corruption] is needed to make and enforce thoughtful laws regarding the preservation and conservation of their natural resources, biodiversity and endangered species. Failures in the government respecting protected areas that they do have points to continued and serious problems in fauna protection.

Hunting, a tradition sadly in no real danger of dying out, continues putting more wildlife at risk. Case in Point Eld’s Deer, a species listed in our information as easy to find proved impossible to find with Naran claiming that they had not been seen this year! Perhaps they have, through hunting, become locally extinct for the area that they are usually found in is within a Nature Reserve [set up most specifically for the endangered Sarus Cranes]. At several places we heard gunshots; if not hunters then I am yet to think of another possible theory.

Deforestation is continuing, clearly. Many places, deemed reserves, seemed to be reserved for illegal logging. In many areas key trees have been logged, cut up in-situ and then the remaining vegetation burned and agriculture emerging among the still smoking ruins.

Population, a perennial global issue, remains an issue in Cambodia. And, of course, it contributes, as does capitalism, to the loss of biodiversity.

If responsible governance was available Rewilding could be part of the solution for Cambodia’s wildlife. Reserves, established in the relatively lowly populated northern plains, could potentially, be rewilded. The original fauna, in some instances absent for decades or even centuries, could be returned and thereby further encouraging a tourist trade in wildlife viewing [but having the result of biodiversity protection]. Case in point; in the northern plains there exists populations of three critically endangered vulture species. These birds are critically endangered globally for a variety of reasons but, chief among them, was the spectacular decline because of a drug used on cattle in India named Difxxxx. Currently the birds need to be fed as many of the big mammals in this area have been hunted out. To save the vultures their ‘prey’ species need to be returned. Potentially wild cattle [Asian Water Buffalo, Gaur, Banteng], Sambar and perhaps Eld’s Deer could be reintroduced or have their populations supplemented. Wild Boars remain but are probably quite low in numbers. Most exciting though; perhaps tigers and leopards could / should be brought back offering a unique ‘safari experience’ that would be truly indo-chinese. Btw Elephants and rhinos were there too…. Imaginary I know but there is no harm in thinking out loud….Rewilding [creating something new] is perhaps easier to get supporters for than trying to save existing last fragments…

Saturday 16 March 2019

16 03 Killing Fields

Today, on our final day in Cambodia, we visited two sites that are infamously connected to the dark days of Pol Pot's thuggish Khmer Rouge Cambodian rule. Both of these places were more of an endurance than an enjoyment however they are important to visit to begin to understand exactly what the people of Cambodia have endured in recent decades.

The first was The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a museum chronicling the Cambodian genocide. The site is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (the real number is unknown).  Tuol Sleng was just one of at least 150 torture and execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge, though other sources put the figure at 196 prison centers. On July 26, 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia convicted the chief of Tuol Sleng Prison, Kaing kek Iew, (alias Duch) for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

And the second was  Choeung Ek. This is the site of a former orchard and mass grave of victims of the Khmer Rouge - killed between 1975 and 1979 - about 17 kilometres south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is the best-known of the sites known as The Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed over one million people between 1975 and 1979.  

Mass graves containing 8,895 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Many of the dead were former political prisoners who were kept by the Khmer Rouge in their Tuol Sleng detention center and in other Cambodian detention centers.

Today, Choeung Ek is a memorial, marked by a Buddhist stupa. The stupa has acrylic glass sides and is filled with more than 5,000 human skulls. Some of the lower levels are opened during the day so that the skulls can be seen directly. Many have been shattered or smashed in.

Tourists are encouraged by the Cambodian government to visit Choeung Ek. Apart from the stupa, there are pits from which the bodies were exhumed. Human bones still litter the site.

On May 3, 2005, the Municipality of Phnom Penh announced that they had entered into a 30-year agreement with JC Royal Co. to develop the memorial at Choeung Ek.[2] As part of the agreement, they are not to disturb the remains still present in the field.

Both sites were well presented with audio guides and are well worth about an hour and a half each. I could not take too many pictures.....

Birds of the Killing Fields Site.

15 03 Kampot to Saltworks

BIRD OF THE DAY - Large Sand-plover
A quick visit to the saltworks before an eventful transfer to Phnom Penh.
Little Ringed Plover

Asian Water Buffaloes

Asian Water Buffaloes

On the way to Phnom Penh in the predictably busy and chaotic traffic were were involved in a minor collision. Suddenly there was tyres screeching, vehicles swerving and then the last of our cehicles ploughing into vehicle number 3. Whiplash and bruising for a few, a few bruised vehicles and a dead one too was the result. 


bruised vehicle number 3

wounded vehicle number 4

wounded vehicle number 4

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the wounded Vince

14 03 Birthday visit to Bokor

BIRD OF THE DAY - Long tailed Broadbill

A disappointing day that finished happily with a few birthday celebrations of drinks and cake...

The bad was the disappointment of development and access to Bokor National Park. Many species that still survive in this montane forest we were denied an opportunity to find due to the restrictive thinking and practises of the resort who apparently have freedom to do what they bloody like on this Cambodian National Park. No where was there evidence of National Park staff. No where was any NP information - there was a large building [which we did not enter] that showed the real estate plans for the National Park - i wish i was making this stuff up....
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clearing within the National Park



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Draco lizard
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Wednesday 13 March 2019

13 03 Bokor National Park & Kampot Salt Works.

distant Wreathed Hornbill

poor view of a Pileated Gibbon female
Today we had a day of two halves.

The first half involved a drive up to Bokor National Park - a park designed to protect some wonderful montane forest. The roadside birding was quite good and we were rewarded with some good views of Hornbills. At the summit of the National Park the area was grim. There was development everywhere and the notion of a special area of nature to be protected and respected has been lost [Btw - Bokor is recognised as an ASEAN Park - a scheme set to conserve areas of particular biodiversity importance]. Read teh story below from a 2018 newspaper and note the comments from the Minister of Environment and it sums up the massive issues facing Cambodia regarding the protection of biodiversity.

New resorts, restaurants and casinos could be coming to Bokor National Park after environment officials endorsed an “improved” plan for the mountain along with oknha Sok Kong’s hotel company, according to the government’s news agency.

Ministry officials declined to elaborate on specifics of the 18,000-hectare project, although the agency posted photos of what appeared to be mock-ups of new developments on the mountain on Facebook.

Reached yesterday, Minister of Environment Say Samal told a reporter not to “worry too much” about the Monday meeting, claiming that nothing had been decided.

When pressed further on why he was approving new developments inside a national park, Samal asked the reporter where she had “park[ed] your spaceship”.

“There are areas we allow development and there are areas set for conservation,” Samal said in a message. “Let us have some homo sapiens reasons in us, rather than orangutan.”

Bokor Mountain, once a misty 1920s French colonial retreat, was occupied by the Khmer Rouge for years before being revived as a national park in 1993.

In 2007, the park was leased to Kong in a $1 billion, 99-year deal to redevelop the summit. Since then, Kong’s company has built a road, two luxury hotels and several condominiums on the mountaintop with plans for residential developments.

It was not clear whether the “improved” plan was a continuation of the development or a new project.

Kong could not be reached yesterday. A company representative in the marketing department said the project “is handled by top management only”.

In an email, environmental activist Ouch Leng said he was “very concerned” about Kong’s development of the park, noting the lack of transparency in decision-making.

“According to legal procedure, [development] must be approved by the King and National Assembly first, but it is not surprising that Government of Cambodia rents the national park [and] never conducts public consultation with the people that is owner of the country in theory,” Leng said.

Chea Sam Ang, director of conservation at the Ministry of Environment, insisted yesterday that the concept of the development “is to protect all the nature”.

Sam Ang, who said the expansion will be an ecotourism project, added that the previous casino, hotels and condominiums that Kong built on the summit had not disturbed the natural environment.
“Why?” he asked. “That area, they built a casino a long time ago already.”

Jackson Frechette, a flagship species manager of Fauna and Flora International Cambodia, said the centre of the 140,000-hectare park remains largely intact, leaving hope that it could be developed into an ecotourism site.

However, that requires a big commitment from law enforcement, he said.

“Sokha Hotels mentioned they wanted to develop protective activities and ecotourism,” Frechette said. “Whether they show up to the table remains to be seen.”

Mother Nature founder Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, however, said he felt the mountain was already unrecognisable as a national park after years of development.


He added that the planned expansion “pretty much reinforces what we’re seeing in Cambodia for over 15 years, where powerful elites grab land which belongs to all Cambodians and basically steal it from the state for private benefit.”

Everything that we saw and experienced in Bokor over our one day and a half there showed that the resort was only interested in development and not the protection of the natural features. We were not allowed to walk trails that were previously available. Locals are prohibited to stop by roadways and there were signs prohibiting picnics. We wasted hours on our second day to access paths which had been closed off and, of course, we lost the best birding time trapped in these needless bullshit negotiations. When our guide tried to negotiate access he was refused. When i showed up they relented and allowed access to one trail that was closed off with ropes and signs. It was heart breaking to see what was happening and there is no sign that any changes will occur soon. There is not one news story about this park development on the net since 2018. The last two paragraphs in the story above sums up pretty well the attitude that we encountered.
Crested Serpent Eagle

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nearly waterless waterfall - given that it is the dry season this is not a total surprize


nearly bird less waterfall
In the later afternoon we visited the nearby salt works to search for waders.






Common Greenshank

Tuesday 12 March 2019

12 03 Hell Drive to Kampot

BIRD OF THE DAY!!! - Cambodian Tailorbird [an endemic to Cambodia]

BIRD OF THE DAY!!! - Cambodian Tailorbird [an endemic to Cambodia]
Today was a huge drive! Leaving and arriving in the dark. A nine hour plus drive; more when you add some birding stops etc.

Our first stop was not far out of Saen Monourom [the town of our hotel in the Seima area]. The area was overlooking a quarry where we had hoped to find Green Peafowl. Not unexpected, with all the noise and activity, the birds were not seen however they were heard. Gibbons were seen - Buff cheeked - high on a far ridge however even with the scope the views were not brilliant.
New bird seen - Golden crested Myna
After travelling for a considerable distance we stopped for an endemic - Cambodian Tailorbird - pictured above. The habitat literally was a tip. PS - this spp was also seen briefly at the Killing Fields although only a very poor picture was taken.
the surrounding scrub to this road side tip was habitat for Cambodian Tailorbird
Naran preparing to call the birds

a typical view of Cambodian Tailorbird
Last of our main stops enroute was to see a weaver - Asian Golden weaver and another lifer for moi.
scarecrow

male Golden Weaver

Weaver nest under construction

young male?

Monday 11 March 2019

11 03 Seima Area

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Changeable Hawk Eagle

Dark necked Tailorbird

Dark necked Tailorbird

draco sp

juv Scarlet backed Flowerpecker