Protecting Wildlife Includes Respect for Cambodia's Wonderful Plant Biodiversity

Phnom Penh: A senior official of the Ministry of Environment has called on tourists to take care of biodiversity and not to pick wild flowers and plants in order to preserve biodiversity and preserve the beauty of the national parks.

As more and more Cambodians travel to protected areas for both leisure and adventure, senior officials of the Ministry of Environment call on tourists to take care of the environment by packing and taking away their solid waste. Tourists should especially not pick the flowers of wild plants that are endangered to keep the seeds and the beauty of the resort for the visit of other tourists who like and love nature.

The appeal of Mr. Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Environment, was made after observing that a small number of tourists still did not properly respect the rules of environmental hygiene and sometimes picked some flowers to take pictures to show their love of nature. A senior official of the Ministry of Environment said that if you love and admire these beautiful plants, you should leave them on the trees or in the ground so that other tourists can also see their beauty.


According to the study of experts,Nepenthes are carnivorous plants, but little is known about them in Cambodia. It is called a carnivorous plant because it can kill and digest animals that go into its special leaf trap.
This plant grows in protected areas in Cambodia, and well-known locations are on the Bokor National Park and in the Central Cardamoms National Park. They are a tube-like plant that contains a substance that can attract insects into its tubing and drown it to death. When the insect dies, the plant's special organs begin to break down the insect carcass into nutrients, allowing the plant to thrive.

The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Environment said that there are 129 species of Nepenthes in the world, five of which are found growing in Cambodia, including:
First: Nepenthes bokorensis, a species that is present in the mountains of Monivong National Park "Bokor".
Second, Nepenthes holdenii grows in the mountains of southwestern Cambodia, such as in the Cardamom Mountains.
Third: Nepenthes kampotiana Lecomte grows in Kampot, Phnom Samkos wildlife sanctuary and in the Cardamom Mountains.
Fourth: Nepenthes mirabilis (Loureiro) Druce grows in Kampot, Kep and Sihanoukville.
Fifth: Nepenthes smilesii Hemsley is found in Kampot province and Preah Suramarit Kosomak National Park "Kirirom" of Kampong Speu province.


According to Secretary of State, Net Pheaktra, all of these rare plants are included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and he called on people and tourists to take care of biodiversity, including flowers and all plants to allow the rare species to survive and to participate in maintaining the beauty of eco-tourism resorts to attract other tourists, thus creating jobs for the community and providing income for the local people.
Source and photos : nkdnews