Posted on January, 28 2011

Sambor district, Kratie province, 28 January 2011 – At the launch of a Buddhist awareness project on environmental protection, His Holiness Mohasangharajah Bour Kry, Supreme Patriarch of the Thammayud Sect of Cambodia’s Buddhist Clergy, addresses a crowd of more than 250 people, including monks, local community leaders, authorities of Sambor district, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and members of the local press. His Holiness focuses on the urgent need to protect the Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River.

This sacred ceremony takes place at the province’s famous 100-pillar Pagoda and is organised by the Association of Buddhists for the Environment (ABE) to promote Buddhist efforts in raising people’s awareness about protecting the Mekong population of Irrawaddy dolphins, as well as preserving other natural resources for the benefit of local people.

“His Holiness will share ideas on the value of the environment to all human-beings and highlight the need of participation from local villagers in the protection of dolphins as well as other precious aquatic resources in the River” says Mr Hiek Sopheap, Executive Director of ABE.

According to Mr Sopheap, Samdach Mohasangharajah also encourages people to value the dolphin, which is a sacred and respected animal to Khmer Buddhists. Mekong dolphins are also an important source of income and jobs for communities involved in dolphin-watching ecotourism activities and for business owners in nearby Kratie.

Environmental awareness through Buddhism is a collaborative project between WWF and ABE that involves monks in increasing community awareness about dolphin conservation through threat reduction and promoting healthy environmental practices. Monks will be trained in key aspects of dolphin conservation so that they can encourage local people to participate in this important effort.

Mr Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF, says that in a Buddhist society like Cambodia where people strongly respect and follow Buddhist practices, monks have an important influence in guiding people to good behaviour and action.

“WWF supports this collaborative effort because the majority of Cambodian people living near dolphin habitat respect Buddhism. The teaching of His Holiness is therefore very influential in educating villagers to save dolphins as well as to appreciate nature,” he adds.

The project focuses on the eight most important pagodas in the communes of Sambor and Kampong Cham where activities from now until August will involve training monks, setting-up awareness displays, producing and distributing information materials for local communities, and strengthening the network of monks for environmental education.