Embassy of the United States

Speech

Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, Signing Ceremony Establishing a Sister Park Relationship between Sequoia National Park and Samlaut Protected Area

Sequoia National Park, California
October 2, 2006

On February 8, 1999, nearly 1,800 fighters -- the last of the Khmer Rouge soldiers -- were inducted into the Cambodian Army in a forest clearing in Samlaut district, Cambodia. This ceremony brought to an end nearly 30 years of bloodshed and civil war, during which the Khmer Rouge plundered Cambodia's forests to support its reign of terror and took refuge in the deepest parts of the country's majestic woodlands - particularly the forests of Samlaut.

So for me – and certainly more so for all Cambodians -- it is enormously gratifying that Samlaut, which made history as the setting for the final chapter in the saddest epoch of Cambodia's history, will today make a different kind of history, becoming the first Cambodian protected area to have a sister relationship with a foreign national park.  And I cannot think of a better sister park for Samlaut than our own Sequoia National Park.  Although on opposite sides of the world, both Samlaut and Sequoia share many similarities: rich mountain streams, rare wildlife, and prominent mountain landscapes, making the two parks a particularly appropriate pairing.

But they are also joined more profoundly on a symbolic level.  Our great Sequoias are not just known for their size and age—but also for their resilience.  Indeed, these trees thrive upon adversity.  They have weathered dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fires and endured much other hardship that would have devastated lesser forests.  The Cambodians themselves share this resilience, having borne the burden of one of history’s worst genocides, and decades of one of history’s most brutal civil wars.  But still they too stand.  The Khmer Rouge and the years of war and neglect broke Cambodia’s institutions, its infrastructure, its educational system, its cultural customs, even its religious traditions.  But through it all, the Cambodian people never broke, never gave up, and are once again—like these trees—beginning their own rebirth.

Although the re-establishment of protected areas has become an integral part of Cambodia’s national rehabilitation since the beginning of the post-war period, the vestiges of 30 years of civil war remain in Samlaut, with many areas still heavily mined and much former agricultural land out of production.  For this reason, despite its fertile soil and potential for high-yielding agriculture, many residents resort to illegal logging and hunting in the Samlaut Protected Area in order to eke out an existence.  Moreover, Samlaut is an enormous watershed for northwest Cambodia, supplying water to nearly one million people, but this water is threatened with contamination from illegal mining operations and unsustainable agricultural practices.

It is difficult for the Cambodian government to actively manage this area due to a lack of resources and technical capacity, and rangers are constrained in what they can achieve by their lack of technical knowledge regarding wildlife conservation.  Therefore, developing international relationships like this one will be vital in assisting the Cambodian government in its efforts to provide for nature conservation and wildlife protection.

The MJP project, the first and only group working in Samlaut Protected Area since 2003, actively supports Cambodian rangers through resource and ranger training programs.  This project shows just what can be accomplished when the international community lends a hand.   MJP has also created an integrated rural community development program that helps to protect not only the park but also provides assistance to the local people. Only a few years ago, environmentalists feared that many endangered species had disappeared from Samlaut, but today we find Asian elephants, Asiatic black bears, Malayan sun bears, pig tailed macaques, pileated gibbons, hornbills, and pangolins living in Samlaut's forests.  And now, with our National Park Service professionals from Sequoia sharing their expertise in park management, law enforcement, environmental education and ecotourism opportunities, the Cambodian government is much closer to realizing its goals of protecting and rehabilitating the wildlife, eco-system and watershed of Samlaut.

To conclude, I would like to say "Bae Khmoch Srok Min Ouy Dai – Khmoch Prey Min Hean Chol". It is an old Khmer proverb, familiar to the people living in and near Samlaut. Literally translated, it means "If the spirit inside the house does not open the gate, the spirit outside cannot come in".  I am so pleased that the Cambodian government with the support of the MJP project has opened the gate to Samlaut, allowing the American people to bring in their spirit of conservation and love of nature.

Thank you.