The Ministry of Environment is currently establishing a regional tree nursery at the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary Office in Mondulkiri Province. Once completed, it will produce more than half a million saplings, which will be distributed to citizens for planting, with the goal of restoring forest cover.

Sin Sattha, head of the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary administration, explained that the nursery project spans over a hectare and will supply more than 500,000 saplings for planting in 2025.

“The new nursery is part of Cambodia’s long-term commitment to restore its lush forests and distribute tree saplings to the public for planting. We are working diligently to establish this nursery, which will be fully operational by 2025," he said.

“Our goal is to provide saplings for reforestation efforts, especially in Mondulkiri and neighboring provinces,” he added.

He noted that the species that will be grown include rosewood, ironwood, beng, kokoh, teaks and a number of sugar palm seedlings.

In 2024, over 20,000 saplings were planted to restore over 70 hectares of forest in the sanctuary. 

Sattha said the sanctuary team is actively protecting the reforested area, and added that to date, over 1 million saplings have been provided to the public and other stakeholders to support replanting efforts in the province.

He noted that over the past two or three months, the latest seedlings have grown well.

“Tree nurseries in various regions, especially in Mondulkiri, are of great importance. We are committed to growing more saplings and distributing them. In 2025, we aim to have 500,000 saplings available for public distribution and reforestation. We are hopeful and determined to achieve this goal,” he underlined.

Ministry of Environment secretary of state Chuop Paris explained that establishing nurseries is a priority for the ministry, in order to prepare more saplings for next year's National Environment Day.

"We need to ensure that we have a regional nursery ready. We must have saplings ready to plant to plant by June 5, 2025, National Environment Day. In Mondulkiri, there may be limited planting areas, so we might need to send them elsewhere. We will focus on fruit trees and at least 500,000 saplings,” he said.

Paris also noted that the nursery could potentially attract tourists to the area to observe its operations. 

“We are creating five new regional nurseries, including the one in Keo Seima. They are designed to grow large numbers of saplings and provide them to the public for free, and also focus on fruit-bearing trees," he said.

With the participation of the public, the regional nurseries are intended to contribute to expanding Cambodia's forest cover, to meet the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral country and increasing forest cover to more than 60 per cent by 2050. This aligns with the government’s 2023-2028 Environmental Strategic Plan, which ensures the protection, maintenance and conservation of natural resources within Cambodia's 73 protected areas. 

The protected areas cover more than 7 million hectares, equivalent to 40 per cent of the Kingdom’s total land area.

The remaining four planned nurseries include the first, located in Tbong Khmum province. It covers over 3 hectares and will be able to produce over 1 million saplings annually. It was the first regional nursery established, with construction starting on 8 September. Around 20 per cent of the work is completed so far.

Additional nurseries are being established in Siem Reap, Koh Kong, and Kampong Speu provinces. 

The nursery in Kampong Speu will span 200 to 300 hectares and be capable of producing saplings for planting in Phnom Penh and other provinces.

Environment minister Eang Sophalleth inspected the Tbong Khmum site on Tuesday, 8 October. 

He explained that the large-scale nursery will be equipped with automatic irrigation systems powered by solar energy and other infrastructure, and will serve as a model nursery in Cambodia.

“Construction is expected to be completed soon, with over 1 million saplings to be grown here, contributing to the Royal Government’s vision of transforming Cambodia into a carbon-neutral country by 2050,” he said.