The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) awarded the Royal Order of Sahametrei to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Cambodia for outstanding services to the King and the people of Cambodia. The award, signed by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, is given in recognition of FAO’s major contribution to the protection and conservation of the country’s natural resources.

The Royal Order of Sahametrei, conferred by the government of the Kingdom of Cambodia under Royal Decree, is the highest award given to foreigners in Cambodia. Sahametrei is an ancient word, which refers to peace and mercy.

“One of our prominent goals in Cambodia is to contribute to the sustainable management and use of the country’s natural resources, for the benefit of the population and the generations to come. This award really reflects FAO’s efforts in the country and encourages us to follow the same path with a renewed energy. We are very grateful for such an honor. It truly means a lot to our team as it shows the quality of the collaboration with colleagues from the government and our common striving for concrete results”, said Alexandre Huynh, the FAO Representative in Cambodia. He also thanked all national counterparts and FAO colleagues whose efforts and initiatives contributed to bring FAO the award.      

FAO has been working in close partnership with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Development Partners (DPs), civil society stakeholders and the private sector in addressing climate change and natural resource management. In order to contribute to the sustainable and gender equitable management of natural resource in Cambodia, including tenure, FAO provides capacity development, qualified science-based technical advice and policy support to cope with climate change and to strengthen the regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity for sustainable management of natural resources. In actuality, in close collaboration with national authorities, FAO strives to promote adapted ways for Cambodians, particularly the poor and the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, to improve their lives in a sustainable manner.

FAO has been active in natural resource management and protection in Cambodia for a long time, and a number of projects are currently ongoing, including:

• The establishment of a national forest monitoring system for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation-plus (REDD+) readiness in Cambodia;
• Strengthening the adaptive capacity and resilience of rural communities using micro watershed approaches to climate change and variability to attain sustainable food security in Cambodia, including Climate Smart Agriculture practices;
• Strengthening forest tenure for sustaining livelihoods and generating income;
• The Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism, to restore degraded landscapes by identifying and implementing practices that restore a balance of the ecological, social and economic benefits of forests and trees within a broader pattern of land use;
• The UN-REDD Programme.

Equitable and sustainable management of natural resource is one of the three priorities areas of the Country Programming Framework 2016-2018, intended to guide FAO Cambodia partnership with and in support to the Royal Government of Cambodia.