Welcome to Bunong Community elephants at the Mondulkiri Ethnic Project
In April 2013 the Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project signed
an agreement with my Bunong indigenous
elders from the Putang Village and the Community authorities. This
agreement to increase the elephant’s numbers and protected forest for
elephant’s foods in a large area of pristine Community forest use near Sen
Monorom. The Community forest use borders the Sima Protected forest so
there is a lot of wildlife, from birds, to deer, wild pigs, monkey and gibbons.
There are many beautiful waterfalls, swimming holes, valleys…..it is a very
special place.
Mr.Vanny(
Bunong guide the project manager ), the Cambodian founder of
the Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project, explains
why the Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project is very
important to them:
Protected the forest from logging in community forest uses and cultures
The Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project is very
important to me because I would really like to take care of the forest. It is
difficult.
The
local indigenous (Bunong community
needs to
have an income. To make money they
are cutting down the forest to sell the timber to Vietnam or to clear the
forest to make small farms to grow rice. As the population is growing,
the need for more rice is also growing. So more and more forest is being
cut down. I am really worried that before long all the forest in Mondulkiri
Province will
have been cut down. The thought of losing this special jungle area makes
me very sad.
Our idea is to protect
the forest so it can be used in ways that will still provide the communities
with an income, without losing the jungle itself. Providing jungle
trek experience for tourists and developing traditional way to collect the wild
foods, vegetable from the jungle will earn income for
the Bunong indigenous people. We will also be saving habitats for elephants and other endangered
wildlife.
Supported the indigenous called (Bunong people) and
preserving their culture
Life
is very hard for the indigenous called ( Bunong people) of this area, and even harder
for the older people. They must keep doing
hard laboring work even when they are old and sick to provide food and money
for themselves and their families. In Europe and other rich countries,
governments provide aged care housing and
money for old people so that they do not have to work anymore. In Cambodia
families try to look after all their relatives. But the indigenous called
( Bunong people) are so poor that the
whole family struggles to survive. Both young and old people have to work
just to have foods. Old people still have to farm the land, collect wild
food and vegetable from the deep forest and sometimes walk more than 30
kilometers or more than, every day, just so that they do not starve.
The Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project wants to improve the lives of the poor. The plan
is to do this and to also preserve the special culture of the Bunong people.
This is under threat as Mondulkiri Province becomes more connected with the wider
world. The aim of the Project is to bring life to our indigenous called
(Bunong people). We plan to do this by developing housing, farming and (job
opportunities) which will also preserve our culture and our beautiful jungle region.
The Mondulkiri Ethnic Project
wants to encourage tourists to experience life in these indigenous communities
through jungle trek and spending
time with Bunong at
our Bunong homestay at the village.
The Project will thus create jobs in the community and allow whole Bunong
families to improve their living standards. We already have a small clearing of
land near a river that has previously been cleared for farming. We want
Bunong people to use this land to grow food for them and for markets to earn
extra money. We plan to provide housing so that life is more comfortable
for the Bunong families. Families will be able to stay together and the
older people will not have to work so hard.
The lady in the photo below
is of a sick Bunong people from the Putang Village near Sen Monorom,
Mondulkiri. Meeting them inspired Mr.Vanny( Bunong guide the project manager ), to start the Mondulkiri Ethnic Project to assist the older , children cannot
going to school and Poor Bunong without parent.
Elephant
Breeding Project in community
When I was young we had 20 elephants in our village, but these days there are very few domestic elephants left in Putang village of Mondulkiri Province. There are few wild elephants left in the jungles, because of land clearing for rubber plantations and other uses. A single elephant is owned by between 5 and 12 families so they are a valuable resource for the families and the whole community.
The Mondulkiri
Ethnic Project aims to support some young elephants in the
communities so that they can be part of a breeding program. The elephants will
be very well cared for as they are part of the vision for a better life for all
of the communities. Just as we hope to provide better living conditions for the
older people through our project, we hope that our preserved forest will be a
place where older elephants can have access to the natural foods and
traditional medicines of the jungle.
Thank you for reading about
the Mondulkiri Ethnic
Project. I hope you will visit us soon.
Contact
Mr.Vanny( Bunong guide the project manager ) Tel: +855 (0)97 82 69 741,011 35 18 41 or send the Mondulkiri Ethnic Project
Email: mondulkiriethnicproject@gmail.com , tuonvanny@gmail.com
