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.

Phnom Ta Mao Zoo

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre is home to a huge variety of animals, but unfortunately many species

Phnom Tamao Zoo

are endangered due to the illegal wildlife trade and loss of habitat. The largest animal park in Cambodia, Phnom Tamao was established in 1995 to provide a safe haven for 1,200 rescued animals and 102 species including Asian elephants, tigers, gibbons, macaques, leopards, and many others who are now cared for by the Cambodian Forestry Administration and a non-profit organization called Wildlife Alliance. Over 50,000 live wild animals have been rescued by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team. Those that are healthy and suited for return to the wild are released into appropriate habitat in protected forest and other areas. The others receive a home at Phnom Tamao for as long as needed.

Phnom Tamao can be accessible as a day trip from Phnom Penh via National Road No 2 and takes about an hour and a half by car.

The largest animal park in Cambodia, Phnom Tamao was established in 1995 to provide a save haven for rescued animals, including elephants, tigers, gibbons, macaques, leopards, crocodiles, and many others who are now cared for by the Cambodian Forestry Administration and a non-profit organization called Wildlife Alliance. Since 2001, over 50,000 live animals have been rescued, most of them by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, an authority created by Wildlife Alliance and the Forestry Administration. Healthy animals are immediately released into a safe habitat, and animals needing rehabilitation or special care are brought to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center for as long as needed.

Over 200,000 people visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center every year. It is a great attraction for both local people and tourists, easily visited as a day trip from Phnom Penh.

If you didn’t know that Asiatic Black bears are primarily nocturnal, or that the Sun bear’s unusually long

Black bear

tongue comes in handy for slurping up termites, then a trip to the new Bear Discovery Centre might be for you. The recently opened centre was funded in part by the Australian Government and Free the Bears Fund, an Australian NGO working on bear preservation in South East Asia. ‘The hope is to inspire Cambodians to learn more about bears in the wild for future generations’, said Matt Hunt, FTB South East Asia program manager. The centre complements an existing bear sanctuary at Phnom Tamao currently home to 88 bears rescused from the illegal wildlife trade, which is largely driven by overseas bile farms in Vietnam and China.