About Us

Sam Veasna. Photo courtesy Eleanor Briggs

Sam Veasna died at the age of 33 of malaria during field work, his friends and colleagues decided to set up a centre dedicated to conservation in his memory. SVC opened in 2003 in close collaboration with Wildlife Conservation Society and local communities at our ecotourist sites.

The main objective of SVC is to provide an alternative sustainable livelihood from ecotourism for the local communities at the sites that WCS prioritises for conservation.

In return for income and employment from ecotourism WCS ensures no hunting and land use conversion agreements are honoured.

SVC and its clients benefit from our relationship with WCS and the local community guides, trained by SVC, who provide information on the distribution of key bird species at the sites we visit.

Sam Veasna Center in Siem Reap

SVC trains candidates to become professional bird guides, this has meant field trips with international bird experts to SVC destinations as well as customer service training back in Siem Reap. The guides themselves organise regular bird watching trips around Siem Reap which customers are welcome to join.

The SVC activities to promote wildlife conservation in Cambodia include:

• Facilitating and managing ecotourism to key birding sites in Cambodia
• Building capacity for local communities to generate income from ecotourism
• Rolling out environmental education in Siem Reap to schools and visitors and at site
• Developing interpretive material and a resource library on environmental issues

SVC Office Siem Reap

Address; #0552, Group 12, Wat Bo, Siem Reap. Cambodia. PO Box 93045

Mobile telephone; +855 12 52 08 28 (local 012 520828) week days and weekends

Office telephone; +855 63 96 37 10 (local 063 963710) weekdays 0800 - 1730

Directions in Siem Reap; Off Watbo Road by Angkor Village Hotel, 250 metres on RHS.

The Sam Veasna Fund

SVC Bird Guide Training

The aim of the fund, initially established with donations from friends and colleagues and intended to be supported with profit from ecotourism, is to perpetuate Veasna’s spirit and passion by supporting Cambodians working to conserve wildlife.

Cambodian students, scientists and those seeking seedbed finance to set up conservation initiatives will be able to apply to the fund to support conservation related fieldwork and projects, such as:

Income generated from ecotourism will also be used to support the WCS ranger programs that monitor and protect endangered species of birds and animals.

Support Sam Veasna Center

• Make a donation of cash or field equipment, we are always looking for binoculars or scopes to help train SVC and local guides, moving up the scale GPS equipment would be useful in survey work, laptops for the village communities to help manage the ecotourist facilities and top of the wish list is a 4WD vehicle which would be used for training, surveying and ecotourism.
• Buy publications or products, as well as providing additional income for the center this helps to support additional livelihoods for example the post cards you can buy in the center are designed by our artist. We intend to start selling rice on fair trade principles from the sites we visit linked to conservation agreements.
• Come birding in Cambodia, by choosing to travel with SVC you will be directly helping local communities in key conservation areas to realise the value of their local environment and help to conserve it

Sponsors

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to current and past supporters, including  Wildlife Conservation Society, IUCN NL, Oriental Bird Club - Smythie’s Fund, the Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences, and CRAVO. SVC also heartily thanks Eleanor Briggs, Colin Poole, Joe Walston and the countless individuals, birders and friends who have visited the center, taken birding trips with us and made generous donations.

Trip Report

• Cambodia - 7th February 2007