Place
Koh Rong
Koh Rong is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, a few hours by boat from the shore of Sihanoukville.[1] Its neighboring island is Koh Rong Sanloem.[1][2] Both islands lie in Koh Rong Marine National Park, set up in 2018.[3]
Geography
The travel guide Move to Cambodia counts 43 kilometers (27 miles) of beaches on the island, with white sand and calm turquoise water. Away from the main beach areas, the interior is uninhabited, dense tropical jungle, crossed by marked walking trails. Most local people travel around the island by boat.[1] On the quieter shores, when the moon is waning, plankton in the water give off light at night.[1]
Koh Toch village and Koh Toch beach lie at the island's southwestern tip. The guide describes a boom in building there, with speedboats coming and going from the pier all day.[1]
Tourism
The guide says the island has no roads or cash machines, and that many businesses have power only after dark. New guesthouses began to go up in late 2010, and daily speedboats then started to run to the island.[1] The guide adds that the government granted a 99-year lease of large parts of Koh Rong to the investment group Royal Group, which planned an airport and an ecological resort.[1] Business owners on the island have worked together on litter, with reusable cups shared among businesses, and on care for the island's dogs, a small medical center and an education center for local people.[1]
Protected waters
In June 2016 Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries approved a 405-square-kilometer (156-square-mile) Marine Fisheries Management Area around Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, the country's first marine protected area. It protects sea turtles, seahorses and nursery and breeding sites, while fishing, research and tourism continue.[2] Fauna & Flora International, which has worked in the Koh Rong Archipelago since 2012, put the share of people in nearby communities who live by fishing or related work such as tourism at 60 to 80 percent.[2]
On February 8, 2018, the government set up Koh Rong Marine National Park by Sub-decree No. 14, the first national marine park in Cambodia, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes.[3][4] The park covers 52,498 hectares in Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong provinces, of which 5,361 hectares are land and 47,137 hectares are sea. Its islands include Koh Rong, Koh Rong Samloem, Koh Koun, Koh Touch, Koh Tatiem, Koh Mnoas Krav and Koh Mnoas Knong.[3] IUCN writes that the park protects coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove forests, and is home to Irrawaddy dolphins, dugongs and sea turtles.[4] In the park's design, the islands' land forests were placed in the park together with the sea, so that both are managed as one system.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Move to Cambodia, About Koh Rong: Cambodia's island paradise (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mongabay, Mike Gaworecki, Cambodia declares first-ever marine protected area (June 24, 2016)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 UNEP Law and Environment Assistance Platform, Sub-decree No. 14 on the establishment of Koh Rong Marine National Park (February 8, 2018)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 IUCN, Koh Rong National Marine Park: A first for Cambodia (May 14, 2018)