An indigenous community in one of Cambodia’s poorest provinces has received new funding in its effort to set up an eco-tourism site at a lake that was recently returned to villagers from private ownership. The mostly indigenous ethnic Kuoy residents of Romchek village in northeast Preah Vihear province are to receive a share of almost US$20,000 in grant money to invest in environmentally sensitive visitor sites in the pristine forestland around Choam Prei lake. Choam Prei, used by the Kuoy as a cattle-grazing site and water and food source, was returned to the 213 families of Romchek from private ownership this year after a process that involved local, provincial and central government. A plan to develop the 70-acre lake into a site for hosting tourists was approved in June 2010 by the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, implemented globally by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “The site has a lot of potential for the entire village,” said Ly Setha, a project officer for a provincial civil society organization, Ponlok Khmer, that will channel funds from the small grant into eco-tourism projects for the area. Read More
