Our Partners

Angkor Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity

Angkor Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity is a non-governmental organisation managing a conservation and endangered wildlife rescue and breeding centre near Siem Reap. It works towards the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity in Cambodia with a specialisation in chelonians and large waterbirds. Rising Phoenix collaborates with ACCB closely on rescue and release of wildlife, especially large waterbirds, and in 2023 will instigate a project to restore the elongated tortoise.

Cartier Philanthropies

Cartier for Nature was founded in Geneva in 2020 to strengthen Cartier’s commitments to protect the environment. Its approach is grounded in scientific data and driven by the effective impact of its actions. It has a clear mission to preserve biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. Cartier for Nature reinforces the Maison’s long-time engagement towards social and environmental initiatives and partners with non-profit organisations to accelerate nature conservation efforts. Cartier for Nature advocates for the principle of nature-based solutions, actions that help sustainably protect, manage, and restore ecosystems for the benefits of human well-being and biodiversity.

Birdlife International

BirdLife International began working at SPWS in 2005 and was responsible for identifying the site and having it nominated as a protected area. In 2019, BirdLife transferred its Siem Pang staff, assets and projects to Rising Phoenix. BirdLife continues to support Rising Phoenix, but no longer implements a programme in Cambodia.

International Union of the Conservation of Nature

The International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organizations. By harnessing the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organizations and the input of some 17,000 experts, IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

The Animal Research Conservation in Action Foundation was born in 2012 as a natural expansion of the biodiversity protection work of Parco Natura Viva in Italy. The ARCA Foundation supports activities in the field of protection of endangered species and enhancement of nature, from single species to entire ecosystems, in harmony with local communities. In 2023, the ARCA foundation worked on a project to better understand the movements of the red-headed vulture.

Animal Research Conservation in Action Foundation

Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund

The UK government is committed to tackling the illegal wildlife trade. The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund provides financial support to practical projects around the world which are: reducing demand for IWT products, ensuring effective legal frameworks and deterrents, strengthening law enforcement and developing sustainable livelihoods to benefit people directly affected by IWT. The illegal wildlife trade is a criminal industry worth an estimated £17 billion each year and threatening both wildlife and people. To date, the IWT Challenge Fund has supported 136 projects in over 60 countries to a value of over £43 million. The IWT Challenge Fund's collaborative project is entitled "Reduced Illegal Wildlife Trade and Strengthened Rural Communities". Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary is a trans-frontier protected area contiguous with Xe Pian National Park in Laos, with a shared 120 km porous border, across which there is unregulated trafficking of wildlife, timber, drugs, and people. These activities weaken social cohesion, undermine governance structures and contribute to poverty. The project aims to reduce poverty and illegal wildlife poaching and trade through a scalable programme in sustainable livelihoods, increased gender-neutral career opportunities and strengthened law enforcement.

FISHBIO is a fisheries and environmental consulting company dedicated to advancing the research, monitoring, and conservation of fishes around the world and addressing challenges in natural resource management. Projects throughout the Lower Mekong Basin span freshwater fisheries monitoring, including the work at SPWS, community-based fisheries management and conservation, capacity building and communication.

FISHBIO

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint biodiversity conservation initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, European Union, Global Environment Facility, Government of Japan, and World Bank. CEPF works to protect ecosystems and the species within them by awarding grants to local and international civil society organisations working in biodiversity hotspots around the world. Grant recipients include non-profit organisations, indigenous peoples groups and small businesses, among others. Since its inception, CEPF has funded conservation projects in 25 biodiversity hotspots across 98 countries and territories. The fund has committed a total of US$244 million to more than 2,300 civil society organisations. At SPWS CEPF funds livelihoods and species monitoring programmes including the initiative to reintroduce the Siamese crocodile.

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

The mission of IBIS Rice is to grow great-tasting rice that protects endangered species, preserves vulnerable forests and supports wildlife-friendly farmers to save Earth’s most precious resources. IBIS Rice envisions a world where people, wildlife and nature can coexist. Certified organic, IBIS Rice is grown by hand in Cambodia. The farmers plant just one crop per year, allowing it to mature slowly into the finest quality, fragrant, long-grain jasmine rice—a Cambodian variety known locally as phkar romduol. IBIS Rice is dedicated to empowering sustainable farmers who are passionate about safeguarding the environment. IBIS Rice partners work exclusively with forest farmers who are committed to preserving the environment through a shared commitment of zero deforestation, zero poaching and zero chemicals.

IBIS Rice Conservation Co. Ltd

The Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is an endowment that promotes species conservation worldwide, headed by Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The fund was established in October 2008 and became active in January 2009. It had an initial endowment of €25 million. MbZ currently supports research on giant ibis at SPWS.

Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund

The Wildlife Alliance is a team of 220 experts with a mission to keep global temperature increase below 2°C by the year 2030. The Wildlife Alliance increases vegetation cover by planting new forests and assists in the management of protected areas on land and sea. The organisation protects the world’s endangered wildlife species. Currently, they have an intervention in the forests of the tropical belt due to their vital importance in regulating the global climate. In 2022, the Rising Phoenix worked with Wildlife Alliance to produce 20 large signboards to advertise the wildlife crime hotline.

Wildlife Alliance

Global Birdfair is a totally new enterprise arising from the ashes of the Birdfair which was discontinued in 2021. Global Birdfair is once again the brainchild of Tim Appleton, together with Penny Robinson, raising money to conserve nature worldwide. Rising Phoenix was the first conservation sponsor for this new event.

Global Birdfair

Navigator Communications is a Cambodian company fronted by British documentary filmmaker and long-time Cambodia resident Nick Wood. Nick has a long career in the film and media. In his formative years he worked for David Bailey and Ridley Scott, and has been a regular contributor to the BBC. Nick specialises in documentary features and recently covered the unsuccessful appeal filed by former head of state for the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan. Nick’s covered vulture conservation activities in Siem Pang, which was screened on BBC News. In 2022, Nick produced a series of shorts for Rising Phoenix covering various aspects of our work including the Siamese crocodile re-introduction. In 2023 Nick produced a follow-up and new vulture film.

Navigator Communications

Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium is located 26 km east of Siem Reap on National Road 6, the new Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium opened in 2022. At its centre is 500 m3 aquarium featuring Mekong River freshwater species as well as a 600m3 saltwater aquarium with reef fish from the Indian Ocean. This is the first aquarium in the Kingdom that houses freshwater species endemic to Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are also 10 ha of outdoor animal exhibits with Cambodian species including tigers, smooth-coated otters, sun bears, and more. The project emphasizes education as well as providing an entertainment venue catering to international tourists visiting Angkor Wat and the Siem Reap area. The company is co-owned by Meng Hieng, President of Siem Pang Conservation. AWA provides quarantine facilities for Siamese crocodiles before they are transferred to SPWS.

Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium

The main goal of Ministry of Environment is to protect the environment and conserve natural resources in such a way as to ensure sustainable development, environmental quality and human health through the integration of an environmental strategic plan and vision that contributes to socio-economic development and reduces poverty. In 1993, the General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection (GDANCP), Ministry of Environment, was established. The GDANCP is a major contributor to the country’s economy and sustainable development, including poverty reduction through the conservation and sustainable use of its biological, natural and cultural resources and other ecosystem services. It is responsible for the management, conservation and development of protected areas in line with policy of the Royal Government of Cambodia to ensure the conservation of natural resources, biodiversity and sustainable harvest of natural resources inside protected areas. The Rising Phoenix works closely with Mr Kim Nong, the head of the ministry’s General Department for Natural Conservation.

Ministry of Environment

Sansom Mlup Prey is a Cambodian non-governmental organisation that focuses on developing sustainable, organic, and wildlife-friendly agricultural systems in rural communities in Cambodia. They envision a Cambodia where rural communities earn decent, living incomes while actively preserving their biocultural heritage, protecting the integrity and composition of surrounding ecosystems, and sustainably managing natural resource use. The IBIS Rice scheme involves an innovative partnership between SMP and our market-facing partner, the IBIS Rice Conservation Company.

Sansom Mlup Prey

Agri House firmly believes that food can be a powerful driver of sustainable development and a means to support disadvantaged communities. Their mission is to create high-quality, nutritious cricket-based products that respect the environment while providing economic opportunities for the most vulnerable. By supporting local agriculture, together with social procurement strategies and promoting eco-friendly practices, Agri House is committed to transforming nutrition into a force for positive change. Agri House core values guide every step of work. They reflect a commitment to health, the environment, the community, and the local economy.

Agri House

USAID – Morodok Baitang Tetra Tech Inc. a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services, has been awarded a five year, US$24 million contract by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote biodiversity conservation in Cambodia. Through the USAID Morodok Baitang (or “Green Heritage” in Khmer) activity, Tetra Tech is working with natural resource-dependent communities, the private sector, civil society, and other development partners to mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity, increase economic development, and strengthen natural resource governance in a geography that includes SPWS. In addition, Tetra Tech’s climate change and economic growth experts are leveraging private sector partnerships with communities to support conservation, promote climate-sensitive development, and enhance economic opportunities for communities whose livelihoods depend on forests. We will work with USAID Morodok Baitang on a range of activities including trapeang restoration, supporting our Scouts, expanding the IBIS Rice scheme to 23 villages in the district and initiating REDD+ activities.

USAID – Morodok Baitang

Darwin Initiative is a UK Government funding programme that aims to assist countries with rich biodiversity but poor financial resources to meet their objectives under the Convention on Biological Diversity; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The Darwin Initiative currently funds the IBIS Rice programme in ten villages surrounding SPWS. The current Darwin project, via BirdLife will cease in March 2023 and a new project will take its place. This will be our first contract with the Darwin Initiative. Entitled Increasing climate resilience for communities and wildlife in Siem-Pang, Cambodia the project recognizes that rural communities and globally threatened wildlife are both at risk from extreme climatic events. The project will build community irrigation ponds and restore natural wetlands to increase climate resilience, enhanced livelihoods for communities, and reduce hunting and disturbance pressures for globally threatened wildlife, including the Endangered Eld’s deer and two Critically Endangered ibis species.

Darwin Initiative

Fauna & Flora is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organisation dedicated to protecting the planet’s threatened wildlife and habitats. Founded in 1903, it is the world’s oldest international conservation organisation. The logo of the society is the Arabian oryx, after the very successful Operation Oryx, a flagship Arabian oryx captive breeding project undertaken by the society. In 2021 Rising Phoenix worked with FFI on Siamese crocodile survey and the development of a feasibility study for its reintroduction.

Fauna and Flora