Ecotourism helps stem deforestation; contributes to economic community development

On Feb 16, 2022

Prah Vihea/Cambodia – In their bid to save their environment, residents of the Tabous village in the Prah Vihea province have turned to ecotourism to provide an alternative way of making money, as many of the villagers had relied heavily on logging.

Ben Davis, the founder of the BeTreed ecotourism project, said BeTreed is a nature tourism site and that it is run and maintained by environmentalists and the local communities. It seeks the conservation of wildlife and forests.

Davis leads the residents of the village to protect the surrounding forests and wildlife, as the area now is transformed into an eco-tourist site where local and international tourists come for adventure, surrounded by a beautiful forest and
mountain.

This also provides a way whereby villagers can work as tour guides and stop illegally cutting down trees and hunting animals to generate income.
Community representative Soem Thoury noted that their project was founded in 2019 but started working recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some of us who used to enjoy logging, especially the youth, turned from logging to take the role of tour guides, show eco-tourists the way in the forest and they become rangers who plant seedlings,” Thoury said.

Davis referred to climate change’s impact on forests, saying that around 70 percent of perennial trees died due to drought in just two to three years and that logging would constitute an additional burden.

“If we go to an ecotourism site, we will help the people in the community to earn more money than logging and cutting down trees. Now, after loggers see how the beautiful place brings in tourists, they would see the full picture and send their children to school instead of going logging,” said Vicheta, program organizer from Solo Landscape.

The project attracted vloggers and content creators, such as Veasna who came to experience camping and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Now, the sound of the natural environment has come back to life as the tourists said they were finally able to hear birds chirping and not sawing machines.