Livelihoods
About Livelihoods
Industries and livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems and natural resources, but it is shockingly apparent that these resources are not inexhaustible. All over the world, rural villagers and people “on the fringe” engage in unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn farming, illegal logging, or poaching of wildlife. To reduce the need to raid forests for wildlife and plants, Wildlife Alliance is working to create alternative livelihoods to lift people out of poverty, and develop a healthy relationship with their environment.
Out of desperation, in search of income and/or food security, people are forced to:
"The Cardamom Mountain Range is the watershed for Southwestern Cambodia. Alterations and damage to this sensitive forest could affect this vital watershed that supports essential fisheries, which provide the livelihood and lifeline for many Cambodians."
- Poach endangered and protected animals.
- Carry out systematic illegal logging.
- Gather and sell endangered plants illegally.
- Clear land for the benefit of outside economic interests.
Until recently, Cambodians have slashed and burned the forest to make space for agricultural practices that were unsustainable. Also, as a means of income and/or food people have been poaching endangered and protected animals, logging illegally, and gathering plants illegally. Now, Cambodian people need alternative sources of food and income other than threatened wildlife and forests. They need sustainable livelihoods that provide for their families while protecting their threatened environment.
In the Community Agriculture Development Project, to solve the problems of deforestation and poaching in the heart of the Southern Cardamom Mountains, Wildlife Alliance is helping formerly landless, slash-and-burn subsistence farmers develop permanent agriculture so they no longer need to destroy the forest and hunt wildlife for survival. The result of this program is the creation of a newly, legally recognized commune called Sovanna Baitong (or "Golden Green" in English).
In Sovanna Baitong, families have access to agricultural training and technologies including drip irrigation, plows, and high-yield organic seeds. Through market analysis coordinated with Cambodian agencies, they are provided with training to grow crops that will increase their income at markets in Southwest Cambodia, while meeting their own food security needs with rice and vegetable production. Their children have access to schooling and healthcare, and their families have the chance to achieve a better future in harmony with the environment around them. Equally importantly, the farmers have legally recognized land tenure over their fields and crops - ensuring that they will be able to protect them and pass them along to future generations.
As another alternative livelihood program, Wildlife Alliance is supporting economic development and ecological sustainability through Community Based Ecotourism. These opportunities provide national and foreign visitors with the chance to enjoy activities including trekking, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, and bird watching, and hikes to waterfalls and Khmer Empire burial jar sites. Community-Based Ecotourism does not just provide visitors with a memorable experience in the Cardamom Mountains, but provides jobs and revenues to local communities -- and the economic incentive for the government and communities to preserve the forests and wildlife intact.
