Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 7:43 pm Ah ok, I did find it weird that you mentioned it in relation to Bokor (and didn't remember any Sokha projects in the region). Why not call it Bokor lake? Do others also call it secret lake now? Things are gonna get complicated soon...

They promoted it thus when they had plans for glamping and concerts and it is sort of secret in that you would only stumble upon it if you were being in explorer mode. Now they promote it more of the main road but the 'feed the fish' and 'ride the paddle boats in animal shapes' seem to have ceased. Whilst it seems there are several roads in the reality there is only one accessible. They have a sign on the main road to the hydro farm but it is easy to get lost as the only signs say 'water dam' and there are many road turns.

‘A disgrace’: Luxury housing plans threaten Cambodia’s Bokor National Park
by Chris Humphrey on 25 February 2021
Mongabay Series: Forest Trackers

Satellite data from the University of Maryland show large areas of deforestation in Bokor National Park in 2020 and 2021. (Mongabay has not confirmed all areas of forest loss are attributable to the residential development.)

Bokor National Park, also known as Preah Monivong Bokor National Park, sits on the southern coast of Cambodia and is a refuge for many threatened plants and animals, as well as a popular tourist site.
But conservationists warn Bokor’s habitat is under threat from the development of luxury residential estates that are planned to occupy 19,000 hectares inside the park.
The park gained official protected status in 1993, yet was awarded to Cambodian tycoon Sok Kong in 2007 as a 99-year concession for $1 billion. In the intervening years, Kong’s company has developed an access road, luxury hotels and condominiums in Bokor.
Meanwhile sources say international and local NGOs, which ordinarily play a meaningful role in preventing widespread forest loss in Cambodia, have been muzzled in the country.

The planned construction of three luxury residential estates in vital wildlife refuge and popular tourist site Bokor National Park marks the latest update in a wider tale of loss for Cambodia’s native forests.

Also known as Preah Monivong Bokor National Park, the protected area in south-west Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains region offers a refreshingly cool climate, spectacular ocean views, boulder-strewn waterfalls and poignant decay in a haunting, 1920s French hill station. In pre-pandemic times, these attractions brought in thousands of tourists each year to an area known for its abundant forests and varied wildlife.

Environmental activist group Mother Nature Cambodia says Bokor’s forests are already being destroyed. In a video shared on their Facebook page, an activist – their identity hidden by a large black coat, sunglasses and mask to avoid detection and possible harassment – describes the project and its expected harm to the park’s primary forests before the video cuts away to clips of areas that have already been heavily deforested.

A master plan released by Cambodia’s Ministry of Land Management details how the development will cover just under 19,000 hectares – equivalent to around 35,000 football fields – of the entire 154,000-hectare park.

Once occupied by the Khmer Rouge, the park gained official protected status in 1993, yet was awarded to Cambodian tycoon Sok Kong in 2007 as a 99-year concession for $1 billion. In the intervening years, Kong’s company has developed an access road, luxury hotels and condominiums in Bokor.

According to the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, Preah Monivong National Park harbors virgin lowland forest including dry dipterocarp, mixed deciduous and moist tropical evergreen tree species, while mangrove forests line its southern stretches. And within the park’s entrancing mix of tumbling hills and sweeping plateaus, unique flora, such as Burretiodendron hsienmu, a valuable flowering plant threatened by habitat loss, finds a home.

An abundance of wildlife also relies on the forest to survive. Pileated gibbons (Hylobates pileatus), green peafowls (Pavo muticus), chestnut-headed partridges (Arborophila cambodiana), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), gaurs (Bos gaurus), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), dhole (Cuon alpinus), large Indian civets (Viverra zibetha), and banteng (Bos javanicus) have all been sighted within the park. Bokor is also a catchment area for Touk Chhou, a major river flowing to Kampot.

The wider Cardamom Mountains region encompasses several protected areas, including four national parks (Central Cardamom, Southern Cardamom, Botum Sakor and Preah Monivong Bokor) and four wildlife sanctuaries (Phnom Samkos, Phnom Aural, Peam Krasaep and Tatai). Yet these official designations apparently offer little protection. Satellite data from the University of Maryland (UMD) visualized on Global Forest Watch show the Cardamoms’ national parks and wildlife sanctuaries together lost some 148,000 hectares – more than 8.6% – of their tree cover between 2001 and 2019.

During that time, UMD data show Bokor National Park lost nearly 9% of its primary forest cover. Preliminary 2020 data from UMD show deforestation may have jumped further last year, with clearing expanding along the southern, northern, and western boundaries of the park as well as invading deeper inside. This trend appears to be continuing; so far in 2021, the dataset has registered three weeks of higher-than-average deforestation activity.


Satellite imagery shows rapid, recent clearing in the northern portion of Bokor National Park.

An activist working with Mother Nature Cambodia, who asked to remain anonymous citing the sensitivity of the issue, told Mongabay that vast swathes of Bokor have been earmarked for construction and that developers have already begun clearing the forest, with a vision to complete the new residential areas by 2030.

“This plan provides almost 20,000 hectares of land concessions, where almost all of the land is forest, to Sokha Real Estate company, which belongs to Sok Kong, a tycoon close to HE,” the activist said.

The source added, however, that there’s another section of the plan that covers almost 9,000 hectares. Thus, the total amount of land that is earmarked for the plush residential estates encompasses just under 28,000 hectares.

“Though the plan was signed by the Prime Minister in 2019, Bokor Mountain’s forest has been cut down for years before that,” the activist said. “Therefore, it looks like the master plan is just something to legalize their acts.”

“The land concessions approved by this plan are mostly covered in forest, “the activist continued. “Although the trees are not that big compared to other forests, it is a significant shelter to wild animals, an oxygen tank to produce fresh air and a picturesque natural landscape for tourists.”
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/a-dis ... onal-park/

March 30, 2021
New “Bokor City“ to be created in Kampot
Cambodian government has announced today that it will create another city in the coastal province of Kampot.

According to a sub-decree signed by Prime Minister HE and obtained by Khmer Times yesterday, the new city will be named Bokor City, after the well-known Bokor Mountain in Kampot.

The new city will occupy three communes separated from Teuk Chhou district, including Beung Touk commune, Koh Toch commune and Prek Tnout commune.

According the premier, the city administration will be stationed in Bueng Touk commune. The relevant ministries are now working to select officials to govern and manage the new city.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50832064/n ... in-kampot/

More on the Bokor town development:

Bokor National Park has a total area of ​​154,458 hectares, of which 27,943 hectares is designated as construction land, equivalent to 18% of the total park area.

Eighteen percent of Bokor Park is planned for construction or urbanization as the Bokor Development Project, and the more than 27,000 hectares of land will be divided into eight major zones ; the base plan below is focused on these 8 zones.

These 8 development projects include:
1. Residential area of ​​3390 hectares
2. Commercial area 821 hectares
3. Mixed area 380 hectares with many functions such as handicrafts, hotels, restaurants and other services
4. Transportation area 644 hectares
5. Tourist area 856 hectares
6. Administrative area and public service 995 hectares
7. Area of public green park of 1102 hectares
8. Technical infrastructure area of 637 hectares aimed at the construction of wastewater pools and storage areas for trash.

According to the master plan book prepared by the Ministry of Land Management, the tourist areas in the Bokor development project will be diverse and will include: Mountain-type tourism, cable-stayed bridges, stargazing, flowers, bungalows, bungalows, recreation parks, theme parks, swings in the air, culture, religion, hotels, restaurants, etc.

Rights groups worried about Bokor city demarcation, land clearings
31 March 2021 6:54 PM
Khuon Narim

Screenshots from the Mother Nature video reveal large tracts of land cleared within the Bokor National Park in Kampot province.

The government has created a new Bokor city within the Preah Monivong Bokor National Park, which is the location of local tycoon Sok Kong’s mega-development projects, resulting in an outcry from environmental rights groups.

A sub-decree signed by Prime Minister HE on March 16 created the new city by creating three new communes in the existing Chhuk district: Boeung Tuok, Koh Touch and Prek Tnoat.

Influential tycoon Sok Kong is currently developing a mega housing project, called the Bokor City Development Project, within the Bokor National Park. The businessperson was given 20,000 hectares in the 150,000-hectare park and is slated to be valued at $1 billion.

The national park currently houses the Sokha Hotel and Casino and renovated buildings and relics from when the mountain was a French colonial retreat in the 1920s, which was later then revived by then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk in the 1960s as a summer palace.

Say Sinol, director of the Department of Tourism in Kampot, supported the creation of the new city and said the development would slightly affect the area but bring a lot more tourists to the province.

“It has some impacts but is not serious,” he said.
Full article: https://cambojanews.com/rights-groups-w ... clearings/