Almost every morning Ven Saluth and his fellow monks set out from their pagoda soon after dawn on motorbikes to patrol the forest and protect it from illegal logging and land incursion. They have been doing so since 2001, when Ven Saluth, seeing the extent of Cambodia’s ongoing forest destruction, sought official approval to protect 18,261 hectares of rare lowland evergreen forest in his local region. This “Monks Community Forest” is now one of the largest and best-protected community managed forests in Cambodia.
Armed with this belief, but little else, and in the face of often dangerous forces, these monks have proven themselves to be powerful conservationists.
After acquiring legal protection of the forest, step by step over the last decade, they have successfully demarcated forest boundaries, raised environmental awareness among local communities, developed co-management committees with local villagers, linked with government authorities and non governmental organizations (NGOs. They have also significantly reduced forest crime in the Monks Community Forest through the development of unique approaches to law enforcement based on Buddhist principles.
According to Ven Saluth: “The tree is a symbol of life, and sacred to Buddhists: The Buddha was born under the tree, attained enlightenment under the tree, and died under the tree.“