Decision Support Tools

Cambodia Protected Area Alerts System

Cambodia Protected Area Alerts System monitors near real-time forest changes and external threats including deforestation, forest fires and floods within the PreyLang Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Cambodia. is a key component of the Protected Area Monitoring Platform, launched recently by Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, which integrates ground-based and remotely sensed data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement and conservation activities.

Illegal Deforestation Cambodia

Application Purpose

Cambodia’s protected areas contribute to the country’s economy through the sustainable use of its biological and natural resources. However, this network of protected areas is under threat. In recent years, there has been accelerated deforestation due to the rapid increase in demand for agricultural land, fuel wood, and non-timber forest products. Additionally, hydropower, urban and industrial development have exerted great pressure on these protected ecosystems. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) in Cambodia is developing the Cambodia Environment Management Information System (CEMIS) to collect, integrate and display environmental data including historical and near real-time data from the Cambodian protected areas system. The near real-time forest monitoring provided by this service will enable the MOE, Provincial Department of Environment (PDoE), civil society and the private sector to take immediate action to protect and ensure effective management of Cambodia’s protected areas.

Application Uses

Cambodia Protected Area Alerts System empowers forest officials, civil society and the private sector to make data-driven decisions to promote forest conservation. This tool enables them to prioritize scarce resources for more efficient patrol planning and better protection of the 6.2-million-hectares Prey Lang protected area.  It can be replicated for other USAID Missions as well as other development partners.

Geographic Region
Cambodia
Developer(s)
ADPC/SERVIR-Mekong
Contributors/Partners
  • USAID Greening Prey Lang project 
  • Oregon State University
  • Cambodia Ministry of Environment (MOE) departments:
    • General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection (GDANCP)
    • Department of Geospatial Information Service (DGIS) 

    • General Directorate of Environmental Knowledge and Information
Users
  • USAID, Cambodia
  • Ministry of Environment (MOE), Cambodia
  • Provincial Department of Environment Protection Area Management Board, Cambodia
  • International and Local NGOs : Conservation International (CI), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), BirdLife  International, Wild Earth Allies (WEA), Our Future Organization (OFO), Rising Phoenix Co., Ltd, Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP)
Earth Observations and NASA Products Used
  • Sentinel 1