Cardamom Mountains

Template:Geobox Not to be confused with Cardamom Hills in Tamil Nadu, India. For other uses, see Cardamom (disambiguation).

The Krâvanh Mountains, literally the "Cardamom Mountains" (Khmer regular script: , Chuor Phnom Krâvanh; Thai: เขาบรรทัด, Khao Banthat), is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia.

Geography

The highest elevation of the Cardamom Mountains is Phnom Aural at 1,813 metres (5,948 ft) high. This is also Cambodia's highest peak.

The mountain range extends along a southeast-northwest axis, and is continued to the southeast by the Dâmrei Mountains and to the northwest by an extension into Thailand territory known as the Soi Dao Mountains (Khao Soi Dao) in Chanthaburi Province, therefore also mentioned as Chanthaburi mountain range in some maps.

The southern boundary of the Cardamoms is in the Koh Kong Province and the northern boundary is in Veal Veang District in Pursat Province, both within Cambodia.

Ecology

Indochinese Tiger

This range of mountains formed one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge, and many parts are largely inaccessible. The inaccessibility of the hills, however, helped to preserve the area; the mountains now form an endangered ecoregion. The mountains contain many Neolithic "jar sites" scattered around the mountains. The jars are a unique feature of the mountain. They are 60 cm high and carry the bones of deceased Cambodians. Local legends suggest the bones are the remains of Cambodian royalty.

One of the largest and still mostly unexplored forest regions in southeast Asia, the Cardamom Mountains are thought to shelter at least 62 globally threatened animal species and 17 globally threatened trees, many of them endemic to Cambodia. Among the animals are fourteen endangered and threatened mammal species, including the Asian elephant, Indochinese Tiger, Malayan sun bear and Pileated gibbon, Irrawaddy and humpback dolphins, and half of Cambodia’s bird species. It is the last place on earth with Siamese crocodiles and is the only habitat remaining in Cambodia for the nearly extinct batagur baska, or "Royal turtle". A reptile and amphibian survey led in June 2007 by Dr Lee Grismer of La Sierra University in Riverside, California, US and the conservation organisation Fauna and Flora International uncovered new species, such as a new Cnemaspis gecko, C. neangthyi.

The human population of the Cardamom Mountain Range is extremely poor, and threats to the biological diversity of the region include habitat loss due to illegal logging, wildlife poaching, and forest fires caused by slash-and-burn agriculture. Among the international conservation organizations working in the area are Wildlife Alliance, Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International and WWF (conservation organization).

Dense tropical rain forest prevails on their western slopes, which annually receive from 150 to 200 inches (3,800–5,000 mm) of rainfall. By contrast only 40 to 60 inches (1,000 to 1,500 mm) fall on the wooded eastern slopes in the rain shadow facing the interior Cambodian plain. On their slopes cardamom and pepper are still grown commercially.

Tourism is relatively new to the area. In 2008, Wildlife Alliance launched a community-based ecotourism program in the village of Chi Phat, marketed as the "gateway to the Cardamoms". However the number of international visitors remains very small in comparison to the tourism development of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, or Phnom Penh.

See also

• K5 Plan

External links

• World Wildlife Fund Cambodia Program
• Wildlife Alliance Cambodia Conservation Program
• Conservation International Cambodia Program
• Fauna & Flora International Cardamoms Mountain Program
• Cambodian Scene Magazine
• Lonely Planet Chi Phat