I would like to introduce you to one of our brave and hard working CAPU members. After extensive planning and consultation with community members, the Community Anti Poaching Unit project was finally officially launched in 2007. It is not easy and can be outright dangerous. We are all so proud of the work that they do to protect their forests! Please meet Mr. Chan Bros. We asked him why he chose to join the CAPU team. This is his response:
Mr. Chan Bros ( Real name is Po Chhai)
My name is Chna Bros. I am 56 years old from Cham Sla village, Chi Phat commune, Thmor Bang district, Koh Kong village. I have 4 children (3 females).
Before joining with the CAPU, I used to work with one NGO on Carbon stock project. I worked with them to measure carbon on the trees since 1994 till 2007. I started loving animals and forest since I was working with them. When their project was ended, I just stay at home and work at my farm. In 2010, I was strongly interested in joining with CAPU team because I know this is the only way that I can help community to protect the wildlife and our forest. I know most of people in my village are hunters and loggers. It’s hard work to stop them because it their job to earn money and they always say, If they don’t do this job, they don’t know what to do. They need money to support their family, but for us need wild animals to be alive!
Patrol is a high risk work for rangers. We need to challenge and confront with many problems in the forest. In rainy season, it rains every day and it really difficult to walk with carrying heavy stuffs. Normally, we don’t walk the same trail, we always find out the new trails that we think might have a lot of traps or snares, and during the dry season, the big problem for us is water. Rangers also feel afraid of unexpected killing from poachers too. Surely they hate us who interrupt their job! We heard from the news more often about rangers have been killed in the forest in some provinces. Even though, those fears and obstacles can’t stop our heart and willingness to do it. We also want to see wild animals live in safe place and ever green forest stay still for visitors and our next generation. Importantly, Chi Phat is known as tourism place, so we would like visitors who came here, can enjoy and refresh their life with our forest and can see wildlife.
I’m happy to be a protector! My family and my relatives also support me to do this work too. Based on my experience of work so far, I can see that the percentages of trap and snares for big animals such as deer, sun-bears, wild boar, monkeys are reduced almost 95% I could say. However, the big problem now is snares for civets. For my idea, only CAPU rangers can’t stop them! We must work hard together with Wildlife Alliance and local authority to provide education or law enforcement on them strictly.
I’m really thankful for all your support to rangers and this is really mean a lot to us. Some rangers change their life from poachers to be protectors because of CAPU. We do hope this project will be last long! Because I can see it’s effective ways to protect wildlife and we will do our best to work on this.
