Sunda Pangolin (Manis Javanica)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 11251741

Wildlife Alliance, founded in 1994 originally as the Global Survival Network, is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with country programs and partnerships in Cambodia, Thailand, and Russia. The organization’s mission is to provide direct protection to forests and wildlife for future generations. Wildlife Alliance has been working in Cambodia’s Southern Cardamom Mountains since 2000, assisting the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) in managing its tropical forests, protecting its wildlife, and helping poor communities develop alternative livelihoods. We focus on the Southern Cardamom Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot that is home to the second-largest intact forest in mainland Southeast Asia and a refuge for fourteen globally endangered and threatened species. Our comprehensive program addresses both the short and long term threats to the Cardamom Mountains in Southwest Cambodia, combining the strengthening of law enforcement and good governance; developing long-term management capacity; facilitating community-based agriculture and ecotourism; planning sustainable financing solutions that benefit both the community and government; rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing wildlife victimized by the illegal wildlife trade; and delivering environmental education and community outreach to schools and communities in protected areas. As a result of our 10 years of hard work, Wildlife Alliance has successfully provided sustainable livelihoods to over 700 families in Koh Kong, delivered our environmental education program to 50,000 students and community members, rescued over 40,000 live animals, and preserved 714,024 hectares (1.76 million acres) of continuous rainforest in a landscape of 880,000 hectares in Cambodia alone. With support from the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, our project will focus on the conservation and protection of the endangered Sunda Pangolin (M. javanica), one of the most widely traded mammals in Southeast Asia (Reference: TRAFFIC, ―Singaporeans tip the scales for pangolins‖, April 21, 2010). Wildlife Alliance strives to increase enforcement of pangolin protection across the key Cambodia-Vietnam border trade route, and improve public education about pangolin conservation in their stronghold in the Cardamom Mountains.