(as prepared for delivery)

• Your Excellency Say Samal
• Distinguished guests
• Ladies and gentlemen 

It is an honor for me to participate in today’s equipment handover ceremony.

USAID, through its Supporting Forests and Biodiversity project, is today providing 140 sets of forest ranger patrol equipment to rangers located in four significant forest landscapes. We will also provide training on how to use this equipment to forest rangers in Prey Lang, Tonle Srepok, Phnom Prich, and Chheab Wildlife Sanctuaries. We are confident that the Ministry of Environment and the Provincial Departments of Environment across the five provinces will use this equipment to protect these four wildlife sanctuaries.  

These four sanctuaries cover a variety of forest types ranging from hilly evergreen to open, dry forests and are the habitat for populations of several endangered species. These forests and the biodiversity they contain are vital to the country’s future and their protection is a priority for the Royal Government of Cambodia and to USAID.

Forest rangers are on the front lines of the battle to protect Cambodia’s forests and face many dangers – some of which are life-threatening. The packages we handoer today include backpacks, boots, tents, raincoats, hammocks, headlamps, compasses, and other essential gear. This equipment combined with improved patrol techniques will encourage more effective patrolling, wildlife monitoring, and management planning to prevent illegal logging and animal poaching.

Funding for this patrol equipment comes from the American people as part of the longstanding cooperation between USAID and the Ministry of Environment to improve biodiversity conservation and forest protection in the Prey Lang and Eastern Plains Landscapes.

I want to wish the forest rangers and the Ministry all the best as they continue their important efforts to protect Cambodia’s beautiful natural resources. Thank you!