Botum Sakor National Park
Botum Sakor National Park is the largest national park of Cambodia. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, Botum Sakor (or Botumsakor) is a peninsula projecting southwest from the Cardamom Mountains. The national park comprises an area of 1,825.85 km2 (704.96 sq mi) and spans three districts of Koh Kong Province: Kiri Sakor, Botum Sakor and Koh Kong. The park is under the administration of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment.
The park’s dense cover, which is 80 percent evergreen rainforest, reaches from the Cardamom Mountains to the coastal wetlands with its melaleuca and mangrove areas. It has been rated as one of the world’s 32 biodiversity hotspots.
The moist climate and the mainly undisturbed nature of the region has allowed a rich variety of wildlife to thrive, offering shelter to all of Cambodia’s endangered mammals, such as the clouded leopard, Asiatic black bear, Dhole, pileated gibbon and sun bear. Additionally, the area represents the southern section of the South-West Elephant Corridor, one of the last seven elephant corridors in Asia hosting the largest population of Asian elephants in Cambodia. The combination of this great variety of ecosystems and the general pristine conditions make Botum Sakor National Park one of the most diverse and densely forested areas in Southeast Asia.
Even though about a third of the eco-region has been designated as a Protected Area, external influences and increased accessibility have led to a critical depletion of the park’s natural resources in the last decade. The protection of Botum Sakor National Park is therefore of utmost