Carving up the Cardamoms

The Cardamom Mountains sprawl across southwestern Cambodia and are among the best-preserved rainforests in the country. Protected by rugged terrain, heavy rains and a low population density, the Cardamoms remain a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for threatened elephants, pangolins and the region’s last viable fishing cat population. This Special Issues documents the myriad threats facing one of Cambodia’s last, best rainforests. Since 2021, Mongabay has uncovered illegal loggers operating out of prisons, revealed how dam building gives cover to timber traffickers, and investigated where conservationists clash with Indigenous communities while land grabbers rush in, carving up the Cardamoms.