This is the second article in our five-part series on forest carbon credits and the voluntary market. Read Part One. Part Three, Part Four and Part Five will be published later this month. SEN MONOROM, Cambodia — Tucked away in a little-visited corner of eastern Cambodia is a tiny “sea of forest” that undulates near Roeung Haeng’s home. Here, the songs of yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus gabriellae) pierce the quiet canopy in the early mornings. Later in the day, the rising hum of male cicadas contorting their ribs and females snapping their wings in response erupts in a deafening cacophony that’s absent from lands stripped bare of their forest habitat. For Roeung’s community, members of the Bunong Indigenous group, the forest is also a source of fruit, honey and mushrooms, as well as medicine and resin, which brings in some cash. The forest also houses sacred areas for the Bunong. Roeung and other residents of Pulung village worked for years to secure its official recognition as the Ngleav Krach Community Forest in 2016. Along a road built in 2012 that cuts through the forest, she points with pride to the topographical map sketching out the boundaries of its 2,282 hectares (5,639 acres). The sign suggests a permanence to the forest’s protection, and that the boundaries outlined on the map have the official backing of the Cambodian government. But tears run down Roeung’s face when she talks about what’s facing her beloved forest now. For several years, rumors have swirled around…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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