Representatives of 34 villages across Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear provinces have signed small-grant agreements with Conservation International Cambodia (CI) to strengthen community cooperation in forest conservation under the Prey Lang REDD+ project.
The agreements were signed on October 23, in the presence of representatives from the administrations of all four provinces, the Ministry of Environment announced in an October 24 statement.
The event also provided an opportunity to share the results of consultations with stakeholders on the village-level benefit-sharing mechanism under the Prey Lang REDD+ project.
Working closely with the ministry and other stakeholders, CI began implementing the project’s first phase in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Stung Treng province in 2018. The second phase, launched in 2022, expanded the project to cover Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear provinces.
Following a review and update process that began in 2025, a total of 34 target villages were selected to continue participating in the project.
To encourage community participation and strengthen the capacity of village-level coordination groups, the project has provided funding to each of the villages, to support local development activities and sustainable forest resource management.
The ministry noted that the grants came from the project’s operational budget, not from the sale of carbon credits. The funding forms part of the project’s benefits and is intended to help make efforts to reduce forest loss more effective.
The ceremony was presided over by ministry secretary of state Chuop Paris, with Kampong Thom deputy governor Chea Vannchan, CI director Oum Sony, environment department chiefs from all four provinces and more than 100 community members in attendance.