Most of you might be aware that Cambodia is famous for its vast Cardamom Forest. The country has an area of about 402,000 hectares of the Cardamom Mountains in Southwestern Cambodia.
These cardamom mountains are the main source of the large rivers and also help in safeguarding the watershed. Being a part of the Indo-Burma bio-diversity, the cardamom forest also helps in protecting the vast mammal species of Cambodia which also includes the famous Asian Elephant, Malaysian Sun Bear, Indochinese Tiger etc.
In this forest you can also come across some of the critically endangered species of Siamese crocodile, reptiles, birds etc. The forest is also attached with the two main forest sanctuaries known as Mt. Samkos and Mt. Aural. Collectively, both occupy about 1 million hectares of area which is known to be the largest wildlife sanctuary in the whole of Southeast Asia.
The climate of the cardamom forest in Cambodia is 6 months of rain and 6 months of sunshine. The rainfall can reach up to 3,000mm per annum. The temperature of the forest varies from about 25 to 30 deg. Celsius at a low altitude and at about 20 deg. Celsius at a higher altitude (which means over 1000 m).
The forest is currently under serious threat mainly due to land mines, infection from malaria and other diseases. Poverty is another main cause of concern in this region. There has been news about land speculation such as land grabbing, logging and hunting in this forest. The juridical system being weak, poachers are taking complete advantage of mishandling this beautiful forest. We must ensure that the Cardamom forest is not affected and destroyed by these miscreants. There has also been news that is being spread all around about some local armed forces have been involved in crimes in the forest.