Meet the ‘vigilante’ grandfathers protecting indigenous forest life in Cambodia
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Meet the ‘vigilante’ grandfathers protecting indigenous forest life in Cambodia
Meet the ‘vigilante’ grandfathers protecting indigenous forest life in Cambodia
By Matt Blomberg
November 22, 2018
At the edge of a forest on the northern plains of Cambodia, an indigenous community is building its own security system.
It comprises a small outpost made of timber confiscated from illegal loggers at the main access point looters use as they look to rob the forest of its riches.
For the community’s self-appointed forest patrol, it is a key line of defence when most indigenous people have been reduced to bystanders as their ancestral forests are felled.
“We can’t depend on the law, it’s too slow,” says Ruos Lim, the 67-year-old patrol leader.
A group of mostly tribal elders, they see themselves as vigilantes, tasked with defending the forests that provide them with food and income.
“Day and night, we will lead our children and grandchildren to protect our livelihoods from all intruders,” says Lim, who believes that if the forests are destroyed, next goes the community, its traditions, its language, and potentially an entire way of life.
https://www.mekongeye.com/2018/11/22/me ... -cambodia/
By Matt Blomberg
November 22, 2018
At the edge of a forest on the northern plains of Cambodia, an indigenous community is building its own security system.
It comprises a small outpost made of timber confiscated from illegal loggers at the main access point looters use as they look to rob the forest of its riches.
For the community’s self-appointed forest patrol, it is a key line of defence when most indigenous people have been reduced to bystanders as their ancestral forests are felled.
“We can’t depend on the law, it’s too slow,” says Ruos Lim, the 67-year-old patrol leader.
A group of mostly tribal elders, they see themselves as vigilantes, tasked with defending the forests that provide them with food and income.
“Day and night, we will lead our children and grandchildren to protect our livelihoods from all intruders,” says Lim, who believes that if the forests are destroyed, next goes the community, its traditions, its language, and potentially an entire way of life.
https://www.mekongeye.com/2018/11/22/me ... -cambodia/
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