Cambodia Project Information

Here you will find detailed information about the different areas in which you can get involved on this Conservation & Environment project.

Diving Related Projects

The diving related conservation work focuses on both marine surveys and salvage diving. The survey projects include video and photographic behavioural and ID studies of seahorses, coral & fish biodiversity surveys, and habitat and mapping surveys.

Volunteers will be taught to understand the terminology, procedures and methodology of reef and coral surveys. You will conduct studies on several active research projects alongside our scientifically trained staff. The seahorse survey results are sent regularly to Project Seahorse and all the survey information is presented each month to the Fisheries Department. This is important to conserve the status of the protected marine conservation area. New projects are constantly being developed and new ideas are always welcome. This is ideal for any volunteers who are studying marine biology or those who may have a specific plan of research that they wish to pursue.

The salvage dives involve collecting debris and rubbish from the reef. This may involve cutting free a snagged fishing net or simply bringing discarded items to the surface, from old clothing to a wellington boot!

Community Projects

We work in close cooperation with the local village on the island and volunteers can get involved in important community work. This includes environmental awareness activities with local children such as beach clean-ups and education classes. There is also the opportunity to help teach English classes at the village school and you could combine the Teaching and Conservation projects if you wished. We also run extra English lessons most evenings for the local children. We may sometimes be asked by the villagers to help with practical tasks like clearing the school grounds, building a path or helping with the vegetable plots.

Since May 2010 volunteers have also been working on two specific programmes with the villagers; Waste Management and Coastal Management. The waste management scheme involves forming specific plans for the community, including research into what waste is produced and how it is disposed of. There are also plans to create a landfill site and build a new incinerator. The Coastal Management programme is looking at how the villagers use the coastal resources around them. It involves the community in workshops and meetings to discuss how best to conserve these resources.

A health clinic has also been set up on the island and is sometimes run by a volunteer doctor or healthcare specialist. Any volunteers with medical experience or first aid skills can help with this work.

Beach clean-ups

Beach clean-ups are regularly carried out, often with the help of the local community. Much of the rubbish is dropped from passing fishing boats.

Fisheries Projects

Volunteers are involved in fishing surveys and catch monitoring with the local M'Pai Bei fishing community. Volunteers are also involved in helping to run training programmes about the importance of fisheries resource management. The hands-on training courses are offered to representatives from Cambodia coastal provinces, the fisheries inspectorates, the central Fisheries Administration, the Marine Police and the Royal Cambodian Navy. The courses give an introduction to marine biology and marine ecology. They aim to increase knowledge of key resource management issues and the importance of protecting the marine environment.

Additional Projects

Volunteers have recently been building anti-trawling devices which are dropped onto the reefs to stop small trawlers collecting up everything from the seabed. The anti-trawling devices are made from a concrete mix in a large sack with wire poles stuck through the sides.

Volunteers occasionally carry out jungle surveys which have recently focused on orchid research. We have been working with the Royal University of Phnom Penh to help protect rare and endangered orchid species. Volunteers walk the jungle trails with a local guide looking for the orchids, which are generally found growing on tree trunks and branches. When an orchid is found it is photographed and measured. The information collected is entered into the national data base, and provides data to help protect and manage any future development of the island. The orchids have created significant international interest.

We are also occasionally involved in monitoring both a sea grass site and an artificial reef.