Samlaut Multiple Use Area is a large multiple use management area in northwestern

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

that was established in 1993. It is part of the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains (, ; , ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the southwest part of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range is within Cambodia. The silhouette of the Cardamom Mountains appears in the Sea ...

Battambang Battambang (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang province and the List of cities and towns in Cambodia, third largest city in Cambodia. The city is situated on the Sangkae River, which winds its way through t ...

and Pailin Provinces. Samlout was declared a protected area in 1993 by King

Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a member of the House of Norodom, Cambodian royal house who led the country as Monarchy of Cambodia, King, List of heads of state of Cambodia, Chief of State and Prime Minister of Cambodi ...

along with other forests and preserves. Samlout is the last remaining tropical rainforest in north-western Cambodia, covering 60,000 hectares. It is home to a wide array of rare vegetation and wildlife, including the endangered

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

. Samlout's network of rivers provides the main drinking water, food and health securities for almost 1 million people. Tens of thousands of small farmers rely on its water system to irrigate crops before flowing into the country's largest permanent body of fresh water, the Tonle Sap Lake. Samlout's Stung Sangker River plays an essential role supporting the lake's important fishery and lowland agricultural lands. Due to the limited financial capabilities of Cambodia, Samlout receives little government support for wildlife management and law-enforcement for nature conservation. In 2003, external funding and cooperation with the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP) opened up for foreign support and assistance for proper protection of Samlaut Multiple Use Area. On 3 October 2006, MJP, the Cambodian Ministry of Environment and the National Park Service of the United States signed an agreement making the Sequoia and

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...

s ''sister parks'' to Samlaut. The agreement facilitates the sharing of experience, skills, technical knowledge, and professional abilities between the two protected areas. In 2009, MJP entered into discussions with Cambodian and Thai park officials on the need to create a Transboundary Peace Park between Samlout and 2 Thai border parks (Namtok Khlong Kaew National Park and Kahlong Kreua Wai Wildlife Sanctuary). The three protected areas combined cover nearly 110,000 hectares.

References

External links

a 1993 establishments in Cambodia Protected areas of Cambodia Cardamom Mountains Geography of Battambang province Geography of Pailin province Forests of Cambodia Samlout District {{Asia-protected-area-stub