ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Financed by the European Union (EU) and managed by the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines (EUD), the Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN Project (BCAMP) aims to enhance environmental, social and economic well-being through better biodiversity conservation, effective management of protected areas, and reduction of biodiversity loss. The Project has three main components to achieve its overall and specific objectives that address the local, the national, and the regional levels. Virachey National Park is located in North-east Cambodia, in two provinces, Rattanakiri and Steung Treng. Virachey National Park is one of only two Cambodian ASEAN Heritage Parks and one of the largest protected areas in Cambodia (3,380 km2). Together with Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary, Veun Sai Siem Pang National Park, Part of the Eastern Biodiversity Conservation Corridors and adjacent protected areas in Lao PDR and Vietnam, Virachey National Park forms one of the largest areas of contiguous protected forest in Asia that globally supports habitats of Critically Endangered and Endangered mammals and birds including Asian Elephant, yellow check-crested gibbon, red shack doc langur, silver langur, dhole, green peafowl, white shouldered ibis, and giant ibis. However, current status of the wildlife in this national park is not been well known. The Law on Nature Protection Areas (Protected Area Law), (2008) provides the legal foundation for the management, conservation and development of the country’s PAs. Specifically, the Protected Area Law promotes the use of global IUCN categories for designating protected areas and stipulates the use of zoning management systems for each protected area in order to ensure: proper protection of areas with high conservation values; sustainable development of areas with high economic value; and inclusive participation and equitable benefit-sharing for local communities and indigenous and ethnic minorities.