Ministry of Environment officials organised their last consultation meeting on the final version of a draft management plan for Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary on March 31.

The meeting was led by ministry deputy director-general of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection, Hem Sochet, and attended by Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang and Pursat provincial environment department directors Om Maktheary, Morn Phalla and Kong Puthira, respectively, and many other officials.

At the meeting, the ministry allowed two weeks for participants to provide additional feedback for the draft plan before the associated working group proceeds to obtain approval with immediate effect.

According to the ministry, Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary covers more than 2,544sq km, and was established by Royal Decree in 1993.

It said Cambodia has a total 73 natural protected areas that cover more than 7.29 million hectares – of which wildlife sanctuaries account for 3.43 million – or about 41 per cent of the Kingdom’s surface area.

Rich in biodiversity and other natural resources, these protected areas are home to lush jungles as well as fish and wildlife species at varying levels of extinction risk.