Chhun Delux
Chhun Delux recently graduated from university with a degree in forestry. He is currently volunteering without pay with the Srepok Wilderness Area Project, collecting data, serving as an interpreter and training rangers.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Kandal Province in Cambodia, which is about 50km from the capital Phnom Penh.
What did you study at university?
It wasn't my first choice to study forestry. I really wanted to be a chemistry teacher or to study agronomy, but I got a four-year scholarship to study forestry so I did. Before I didn't know anything about forests, but since then I have been in the forest lots of times to study or on holidays. So I know lots about wildlife.
How did you come to volunteer with WWF?
When I was writing my thesis for my B.Sc. a foreign friend told me WWF was looking for a volunteer to enter data. But I told the Srepok project advisor that I wanted to go to the field to meet the rangers to learn how they work. I also wanted to go to forest to see many species of wildlife. I like it, so I have come to the forest many times.
Has it been hard for you to get a job in conservation?
Most NGO's don't want a graduate. They have to employ government staff because they have to have a government counterpart. I hope to get a job eventually with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, but sometimes it costs money to get a job which I don't have. I may have to take a job as an accountant although for me the most important thing is to use my skills in forestry, especially wildlife.
How do you like working in the forest?
I like being in the forest and I especially like the wild animals. I don't like being in the city though. I lived there a long time and the air is poison and it is too dusty. People in Cambodia don't like to be in the forest. They want to be in business and work in an air conditioned office. It is also better paid. In the 1990's when Cambodia had many logging concessions, everybody wanted to study forestry because it was easy to get work with a concession.
What wildlife have you seen here in the Srepok wilderness?
I have seen tiger tracks and tracks of banteng. I've seen lots of red muntjac, civets and many species of birds, such as hornbills and especially vultures, which we are surveying. We have what we call vulture restaurants. We put out carcasses and count how many vultures come to feed off it.
What do you like most about the work you are doing?
First of all I like to collect and record the data. The second thing is I like to go to the field where I like to use the global positioning system.
What is the worst thing about your job?
I hate the driving the road from the provincial capital to headquarters. I don't like to be in a car a long time.
What are your ambitions for the future?
I want to be the manager of a protected forest or national park and earn enough money to support my family.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to work in conservation?
I would tell them to also study the communities located near the forests because many NGOs like this. I don't think government employees learn enough to find a good job in conservation. Also no girls study forestry because they think if they study forestry they will end up living in the forest. But they don't have to. They could work in an office but I don't like staying in the office. I like to get back to the field. I could live in the forest.
