Koh Kong Province
Border province shifted from logging/hunting to ecotourism after 2002 highway fragmented habitats. $55M World Bank investment. By 2026: testing if conservation economics can outcompete extraction.
Koh Kong Province illustrates how geographic position creates fundamentally different evolutionary trajectories than internal regions. Bordering Thailand by land and the Gulf of Thailand by sea, with the Cardamom Mountains forming its interior spine, Koh Kong developed as an edge ecosystem where multiple selective pressures—Thai commerce, Cambodian sovereignty, conservation imperatives, and coastal resources—compete and combine.
The 2002 transborder highway to Thailand transformed Koh Kong from isolated frontier to regional corridor, but with ecological costs that now drive its economic pivot. The highway fragmented habitats for elephants, tigers, and primates while enabling agricultural slash-and-burn expansion. This habitat degradation created the paradox underlying current strategy: conservation became economically necessary precisely because exploitation damaged the resource base.
The Chi Phat community exemplifies this evolutionary transition. Previously dependent on logging and hunting, villagers partnered with Wildlife Alliance to develop community-based ecotourism. Approximately 3,000 annual visitors now generate $150,000+ for the community—a complete metabolic shift from extraction to stewardship within fifteen years. The model demonstrates how economic incentive alignment can redirect behavior faster than regulation alone.
The World Bank's $55 million Cambodia Sustainable Landscape and Ecotourism Project (CSLEP) institutionalizes this trajectory across 3.8 million hectares spanning seven provinces. Koh Kong serves as western anchor for ecotourism corridors linking Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and the Cardamom-Tonle Sap landscape. Shinta Mani Wild demonstrates the premium end: luxury jungle retreat protecting 300 hectares through ranger patrols funded by guest revenues.
With 300,000 annual visitors and 70% of population engaged in primary production (farming, fishing, forestry), Koh Kong's 2026 trajectory depends on balance between Thai commercial pressure, conservation investment, and community benefit distribution. The province functions as experiment in whether edge position enables unique development paths or simply accelerates external exploitation.