Sam Veasna Center For Wildlife Conservation (SVC)

Who they are ?

Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation (SVC) is a registered Cambodian non-profit, non-

governmental organization. The aim of SVC is to serve as a focal point for conservation initiatives in northwestern Cambodia.

The Center was established in 2003 in memory of Sam Veasna, a pioneering Cambodian conservationist whose work led to the rediscovery and protection of the highly endangered bird, the Bengal Florican. He also discovered the presence of Sarus Crane in extensive wet grassland site in the province of Banteay Meanchey.

SVC started focusing on ecotourism in 2006, organising bird watching trips to the WCS conservation project sites across Cambodia. Their customers are bird watchers and those interested in the environment and culture, who come to Cambodia to see the unique diversity of wildlife and Angkorian culture in Cambodia. SVC have been proactive during the last 3 years, promoting their itineraries to the international tourists they take on their trips.

What they do?

SVC works to aid local communities in 3 ways:
1) The local communities earn an income from providing accommodation, food and local guiding services to

the visitors they bring.
2) A conservation contribution is made by each visitor and used by the elected village committee for livelihood development projects, which benefit the whole village.
3) Any profits that they make are handed back to help with the costs of the protection programs at the sites SVC visit.

We hope to fulfill our ambitions through raising awareness of Cambodia's rich wildlife heritage and facilitating activities that promote wildlife conservation. In conjunction with our program to train English-speaking Cambodian birding guides, we are promoting Cambodia as a destination for birding/conservation tourism.

In addition, through our Conservation Contribution fund, SVC is committed to fulfilling the objectives of ecotourism: long-term environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability. 

SVC specializes in arranging birding tours to remote areas of Cambodia to see rare birds. We are also working with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), relevant government agencies and local villages.

The objective is for families in remote villages make their income through ecotourism, eventually replacing traditional livelihoods of hunting wildlife, habitat conversion and rice growing, all of which threatened the existence of the birds.

What they offer?

SVC currently visit 8 Wildlife Conservation Society project sites across Cambodia. They are chosen for their rich biodiversity, and in particular for their bird life, which includes 6 critically endangered species. They organise itineraries focusing on the birds but also visiting the spectacular Angkorian temples en route. Most of their sites are in remote and unspoilt corners of Cambodia which gives visitors the chance to not only experience the wildlife, but also the local rural culture that many travellers miss when they come to Cambodia.

• Tours lasting from one day to two weeks can be arranged through SVC. 

• The options range from a 4-day, 3-night stay at Tmatboey, an isolated village located in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in the Northern Plains of Cambodia and home to the critically endangered Ibis species, to an overnight stay at the Florican Grassland Sites, which harbor the largest known population of Bengal Florican in Cambodia and possibly the world.

• How about a 3-day, 2-night stay at Chhep Vulture ‘Restaurant' where vultures are fed?' The remote site with basic accommodation facilities boasts three resident species including the Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis. The use of veterinary drug diclofenac has reduced the vulture population by more than 97% in South Asia. The only remaining breeding populations outside of South Asia are in Cambodia and Myanmar.

• Sam Veasna Center is centrally located in Siem Reap, at #0552, Group 12, Wat Bo (100 meters past Angkor Village Hotel). Tours can be booked at our office, via email or through our website. A calendar of booked trips can be found on our website.