arch12

Local Buddhist monks walk through the countryside in the Areng Valley. This whole valley is at risk of being totally submerged because of the 108 megawatt Cheay Areng Dam. The project will wipe out the world's largest remaining wild population of Siamese crocodiles and destroy more than 20,000 hectares of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF), which is critical habitat for 31 endangered animal species including the Asian Elephant. Several Chinese companies have looked in to this particular project but all have pulled out citing feasibility issues. The most recent company however, Sinohydro, a state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company who built the Three Gorges Dam in China and is one of the world's largest dam builders is now in control of the project. Access roads and electricity transmission lines for the dam will cut through the CCPF and nearby forests, increasing access for illegal loggers and poachers. Large, connected and ecologically intact old-growth forests such as found in the CCPF are critical for local and global ecological sustainability and well-being. The dam will flood nine Khmer Daeum villages and their ancestral farmlands and 'spirit forests' and forcibly displace more than 1500 villagers. These people will be forcibly relocated to a known elephant migration route and have yet to be adequately consulted about the project. The project's economic feasibility is also highly questionable, due to its high costs and limited dry-season output. Investing in more sustainable alternative energy options would better meet Cambodia's energy needs, while protecting the Areng Valley.