Rebecca has been working at FFI since September 2007. Though she studied conservation in her BA and MSc, she decided that the life in the jungle just wasn't for her. Having grown up in New York City, she has experienced more pigeons and squirrels than parrots and spider monkeys. So she decided to write about the impact that FFI's projects have on the ground.
Her current role as Communications Officer (Business & Biodiversity) has allowed her to focus her energy towards FFI's innovative Business & Biodiversity Programme. Rebecca helps to get the message out about FFI's strategic corporate partnerships and what they have helped to achieve for global biodiversity.
In a strong display of zero tolerance towards illegal activities in Cambodia’s wildlife reserves, FFI and the Cambodian Ministry of Environment held a joint decommissioning ceremony at Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary where they destroyed 263 chainsaws confiscated by park rangers and FFI field teams, used for illegal logging and timber trade.
Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Cardamom Mountains, in the south-west of the country. It contains Cambodia’s tallest peak and a dazzling array of wildlife.
The ceremony took place on 16 June 2009 at the Sanctuary’s Headquarters and was attended by senior level ministers as well as over a thousand local residents. As part of the ceremony, a selection of rangers received special awards for outstanding service within the Wildlife Sanctuaries.
FFI’s Country Director, Emily Woodfield said “These areas support more than 80 globally threatened species including some of the last known wild populations in the world of Siamese crocodile, Asian elephant and tigers. They are a significant watershed that provides water to very many people.”
She summed up the results of FFI’s and Ministry of Environment’s cooperation in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, by stating that since 2005, the work has confiscated over 584 cubic meters of luxury timber, more than 10,000 wildlife snares and numerous examples of poached wildlife. They have also seized 5.7 tonnes of sassafras oil (made from the rare Mreah Prow tree),which can be used to make the drug ecstasy.
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