The Areng Valley in the Cardamom Mountains of south-west Cambodia is threatened with flooding by a Chinese hydropower dam.
If the dam proceeds it will;
- wipe out the world’s largest remaining wild population of Siamese crocodiles.
- increase access for illegal loggers and poachers who are already decimating Cambodia's forests.
- flood nine traditional Khmer Daeum villages and their ancestral farmlands and spirit forests.
- produce only 60 MW of dry-season electricity at very high cost, a poor return on investment on money loaned from China.
With the eyes of the world on Cambodia, as they host the 21st ASEAN summit, let's ask Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen to Save Areng Valley and the siamese crocodile, before it is too late!
Dear Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen,
Re: Areng Valley hydropower dam
Before giving any approval to the Areng Valley hydrpower dam, please carefully consider its negative impacts.
If it proceeds, the dam will wipe out the world’s largest remaining wild population of Siamese crocodiles. It will destroy 10.000ha of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF), which is critical habitat for 31 endangered animal species including the Asian Elephant and the Arowana or Dragon Fish. Access roads and electricity transmission lines for the dam will cut through the CCPF, increasing access for illegal loggers and poachers. The dam will flood nine Khmer Daeum villages and their ancestral farmlands and sacred 'spirit forests'. Local people who will be forcibly relocated to a known elephant migration route, without adequate consultation or compensation. It will be a poor return on investment, producing limited dry-season electricity (only 60 megawatts) at very high cost.
Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen you have a unique opportunity to safeguard the natural and cultural heritage of the Cardamom Mountains from this destructive dam.
Please protect the Areng Valley as a source of Khmer national pride, for all Cambodians, before it is too late.
