Here at Emerald Eco Products we are passionate about doing our part to help save the forests of the world. However, our work pales in comparison to the work of the dedicated conservationists on the ground. In this blog post Emerald Eco Products would like to give praise to a true forest hero.

Suwanna Guantlett has had a tremendous impact on several extraordinary wild places and the species that live in them. She has designed, implemented, and supported innovative, on the ground conservation programs to save endangered wildlife populations from the brink of extinction. These triumphs have included saving the Amur Tiger, or the Siberian Tiger, from extinction in the 1990s in the Russian Far East, when only about 80 individuals remained, as well as, reversing the steep decline of Olive Ridley sea turtles along the coast of Orissa.

Today Suwanna is spearheading a conservation initiative in Cambodia, specifically the Cardamoms region. This region is unique because it is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots on the planet and is the only unfragmented forest left in Southeast Asia. The region is home to keynote species such as elephants and tigers, as well as a plethora of monkeys, reptiles and other species.  However, this area is under serious threat from clear cutting and the wildlife trade. Cambodia is one of Asia’s five main source countries for exporting wildlife. The drivers of wildlife trade are traditional Asia medicine, exotic pet trade, and bush meat.

Suwanna’s methodology has proven to be extremely effective. Her organization, the Wildlife Alliance, has saved over 2 million acres of forest and helped reduce elephant poaching by 95 percent, tiger poaching by 50 percent, forest fires by 80 percent and repressed the wildlife trade by 70 percent.  So how has she been so successful? Well, the key to her success is alternative livelihood development. She works with local people and the Cambodian government to help provide a sustainable means of earning a living for the communities located around the forest. The Wildlife Alliance has created alternative livelihood programs for three communes. These programs have been built on sustainable agriculture and ecotourism.

In addition to the sustainable development programs which the Wildlife Alliance has built, they have also established the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team. This group enforces the Cambodian wildlife laws with the help of the Forestry Administration and military police. This team travels the country to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade through exports, restaurants and markets. Over the last nine years the team has confiscated 40,000 live animals, 5 tons of bush meat, and 7 tons of body parts, as well as, arresting 637 poachers.

We salute Suwanna Guantlett’s work and are proud to pay her tribute in this blog post. If you would like to support Suwanna’s and the Wildlife Alliance’s work please visit their website at http://www.wildlifealliance.org/. Also, from a broader prospective, it is imperative that we help stop the wildlife trade. In order to do this it is of the utmost importance that you only buy exotic pets from breeders, otherwise you run the risk of buying an animal taken from the wild.