Forest island

Visiting project partners, my colleague Rithy described remaining tracts of forest as islands surrounded by rice cultivation. Battambang Province where we are today is Cambodia's rice bowl, recognised across the country for its good tasting rice and good soils. But cultivation here is pretty intensive so remaining forests in the lowlands are hard to find in big patches.

Here the farmer has diversified impressively into chilli, papaya, cassava, bamboo and probably more, which is good for his income and good for the environment. The Community Forest rises to the right, and the community have ideas and desires for it to be better managed, so non-timber forest products such as mushrooms and wild bamboo can be harvested sustainably.