In Steung Treng Province, eco-advocates are strengthening communities to protect local environments in the face of illegal mining
Bordering Laos in the far north of the country, Cambodia’s Steung Treng province is home to forest habitats and river ecosystems that support communities and wildlife alike. The area is also home to a growing number of mining operations that threaten the beauty, sustainability and existence of these vital biomes and local communities.
One group pushing back against these threats is the Culture and Environment Preservation Association. Through programs focused on providing sustainable livelihoods through economic empowerment and rights-based advocacy, the group is working towards a future where environmental and economic prosperity are not opposing forces. We spoke with Ream Srey Rat, a 22-year-old youth leader working to educate and empower the next generation of environmental advocates.
There is a lot taking place in terms of conservation in Steung Treng. As a community leader, what are your responsibilities in your village?
My everyday activity in my community is to lead youth and children. I work to strengthen their ability to become [role] models in the community, to enact their will in environmental conservation, love nature in their community, and other activities related to the community.
For children, I teach them English and the art of dancing with the purpose of passing on our traditions and culture to the next generation. For women, I want to empower them to become leaders in the community.
Ecological conservation and protecting the natural environment is very important work. How did you get started in this area and what inspired you to get involved?
The main motivation for me to participate in environmental conservation was my dad. When I was 12 years old, my dad was a patrol officer but I did not like his job at all. I even asked him to give up his job, because I thought his job was not worthy and no one liked the job.
After I finished high school I signed a one-year-period contract for teaching, then I started volunteering at an environmental and cultural organisation that focuses on fishery and forest [conservation]. When I started working for the organisation I understood a lot and I told my father that I should not have asked him to stop. He did that [job] not for himself but for everyone in the community and for the next generation.
Besides the area’s biodiversity and ecological wealth, Steung Treng is home to valuable mineral deposits sought after by local and foreign mining companies. Have you ever encountered any of these operations in the area?
There were about ten Chinese people, including a driver, that came to my community, setting up equipment that they brought along. They stayed in the next village for about three months, then I saw a ferry docked in January and February 2023 in my village and the next village, but they drilled in the river front of my village [Koh Kandeung village].
They searched for mining [locations] in these three villages, Koh Kandeung village, Kampan village, and Thmey village. But they drilled in my village first. Equipment was brought to my village around December 2022.
Mining is an industry notorious for ecological and environmental damage. What have been the impacts of the mining operation near your village?
In my community, it causes noise pollution. The company started drilling days and nights in February, disturbing noise coming from the engine.
Noise pollution is the first [impact]. The second is that, since it has operated, my father has not caught as many fish as before. He used to catch a few kilograms of fish overnight but now…..the fishery has declined.
Drilling is assumed to be the reason for the fishery decreasing.
Have the people in your community done anything to challenge the mining operators? Is the drilling still happening today?
For my youths, they do not do anything besides observing and asking because it is the job of authorities and environmental officers. I have closely observed the drilling. I always walk there for observation, even when I hear strange sounds of boats. I sat there watching the activities and took some pictures. It fully started in February, for a month only, however it ceased its operation in March 2023.
