In the Chom Penh community protected area, Indigenous Forest rangers told Mongabay they cannot access places where people have prayed, made offerings, fished and camped for generations.The community protected area designation lets the Kuy people engage in sustainable farming and manage the forest, which is tucked inside the Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary about 70 miles south of the Thai border.A representative from Santana Agro, a cashew processing company that operates in the area, denied allegations the firm is encroaching into the protected area.
PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia — Ruos Lim knows what is at stake as he sets off with 10 men to patrol the Chom Penh forest.
Lim is part of the Kuy people who have relied on the wooded hills in northern Cambodia for generations. Despite being in his 70s, Lim leads the men along windy trails as they look for signs of illegal logging and land clearing.
“If we lose this sacred place, it’s like losing our Indigenous identity,” he said.
The Kuy fear they are at risk of seeing hard-won safeguards stripped away in Chom Penh, and they allege that Santana Agro Products Co. Ltd., one of Cambodia’s leading cashew companies, is encroaching onto their land to expand its farming operations. The company refutes the allegations.
