Boeung Sneh Bird Sanctuary in Prey Veng province is home to 49 species of wild birds, and the birds are leaving their shelter en masse due to deforestation.

Raising concerns, Governor of Prey Veng province Chea Somethy, said yesterday that birds are finding it hard to survive in the Boeung Sneh community forest that shelters over 200,000 wild birds in the 3,557 hectares of Boeung Sneh Bird Sanctuary.

The forest cover in the Boeung Sneh community is decreasing and the birds are leaving the sanctuary on a daily basis, never to return.

Speaking at the Royal Government Spokesperson Unit in Phnom Penh, Chea Somethy said the Boeung Sneh community forest ecosystem cannot afford to see its wild bird population dwindling.

“As an immediate measure, authorities are trying to plant a lot of saplings to increase the forest area so that it could attract the wild birds and make them return to live in Boeung Sneh,” Somethy said.

Besides the disappearance of greenery, the birds were having a hard time to find enough food, such as seeds and fish, in the dry season.

“Once they find a better place it will be difficult to get them back,’Somethy added.

Boeung Sneh Community director Prum Sophat said that climate change is also causing the forest to become dilapidated like never before.  Hundreds of birds are leaving the community because the number of trees is also dwindling.

“Birds roosting on fresh saplings prevent them from growing up and that blocks the efforts to expand the forest area of Boeung Sneh,” Sophat added.

Doung Phea, 55, who is living near Boeung Sneh community forest, said yesterday that wild birds are leaving Boeung Sneh every day because the area in which they can find food is narrowing down making their survival difficult.

“People of three districts who are living around the Boeung Sneh sanctuary use the water from the area to irrigate their paddy fields during the dry season which decreases the number of fish. So, the birds are forced to leave for their survival, otherwise they will die of hunger. Expanding the forest area is the only solution now to get the birds back to the sanctuary,” Phea added.