The Ministry of Environment and Kampot Provincial Administration have inaugurated a bird-watching tower at the province’s AnlongPring protected area.

Environment Secretary of State NethPheaktra and Kampot Deputy Provincial Governor Ney Kong chaired the inaugural ceremony of the 16-meter-tall tower on April 11.

According to Pheaktra, the bird-watching tower was built using the income from Cambodia’s carbon credit sale and aims to further promote the natural resource protection in the area.

It is also expected that the tower can attract local and international tourists, thus boosting livelihood opportunities for the locals.

The secretary of state thanked the provincial and local authorities, the community, and development partners especially Nature Life Cambodia and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for their active support in the conservation of the area.

AnlongPring protection area is one of the four protected areas in Kampot province with a total land surface of 217 hectares in Chres, Koh Chamkar and Koh Tnaot villages of South Boeung Sala and PrekKreus communes in Kampong Trach district.

Kong said that AnlongPring protected area is home to at least 93 kinds of birds, especially cranes and some other endangered bird species that settle there from December to May.

The Ministry of Environment has been building ten bird-watching towers in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Prey Veng, Takeo, Kampot, Kep and Kampong Cham.

Seven of them, including the one in Kampot, have been completed and put into use. Lim Nary – AKP