Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary is located in southwestern Cambodia.

The area is known for its mangroves and numerous islands separated by a maze of bays and channels.

Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary is protected by the Cambodian government. It boasts a unique mangrove ecosystem consisting of 23,750 hectares and has around 10,000 people living within its borders. The area is influenced by inter-tidal levels and water from highland areas. Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary provides favorable conditions for fishery and other resources. Many people have resided on and done various occupations for their livelihoods and are dependent upon the natural resources in the area, including intensive shrimp aquaculture, large-scale charcoal production, and other purposes.

Although the main raised walkway is made from concrete blocks, there are various wooden paths that shoot off from the main trail. Travellers with little ones in tow should keep a vigilant eye on children as the walkway (particularly on the wooden sections) is not maintained well. If you're lucky, you'll come across cavorting monkeys with a fondness for fizzy drinks.

You can also hire a motorboat to take you through the sanctuary; wooden boats are available for hire from the dock at the sanctuary entrance (short tours US$5, long tours US$10), but a better plan is to head into the park’s interior on a boat tour out of Koh Kong.

On a boat tour you’ll have a chance to visit fishing hamlets where residents use spindly traps to catch fish, which they keep alive till market time in partly submerged nets attached to floating wooden frames. Further out, on some of the more remote mangrove islands, you pass isolated little beaches where you can land and lounge alongside ambling hermit crabs.

Much of Peam Krasaop is on the prestigious Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance (www.ramsar.org). The area, which is part of the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor, is all the more valuable from an ecological standpoint because similar forests in Thailand have been trashed by short-sighted development. Today Peam Krasaop's habitats and fisheries are threatened by the large-scale dredging of sand for Singapore.

Boeng Kayak Settlement

The main gateway to Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary is the settlement of Boeng Kayak (Bankayak), where the local community has built a one-kilometer mangrove walk that consists of a series of elevated walkways, picnic platforms, a suspension bridge and a 15-meter-high observation tower offering panoramic views.

An entry fee is required for access into Boeng Kayak: foreigners pay 5000 riel (US$1.25) while Cambodians pay 3000 riel (US$0.75).

Environmental Concerns

Although Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary is protected under the Ramsar Convention there are concerns about the destruction of mangrove forests and the clearing of coastal swamp forest for shrimp farming. These activities are having severe negative influence on wildlife habitat. Although the Cambodian legislative framework relating to environmental protection and biodiversity conservation continues to strengthen, law enforcement and effective implementation of national action plans remains a concern. However, with political stability and increasing government willingness to enforce the laws, the situation is improving.

• Area: 237.5 km²
• Phone: 015 688 183

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