A recent deep-dive biodiversity survey in Cambodia identified hundreds of unique species swimming, flying, crawling and prowling within one of mainland Southeast Asia’s largest mangrove forests.

The abundance of animals within the Kingdom’s Pream Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary and Koh Kapik Ramsar site ranged from endangered otters and rare cats to migratory birds and unique bats. The report by Fauna & Flora and the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise identified more than 700 unique species, spanning several taxonomic groups, with camera traps and rapid biodiversity surveys.

“Often, mangroves are seen as a swampy, dirty place. But this report shows that they are teeming with life,” said Stefanie Rog, co-author of the report. “Mangroves are a vibrant connection between different species that live in this harsh environment. It is a fascinating world of wonder that deserves to be protected.”

Mangrove forests form interweaved strips of dense, wooded semi-submerged land on coasts across Southeast Asia.

Pream Krasop and Koh Kapik’s extensive range, remote access, coastal tides and variety of microhabitats make this particular forest especially habitable, explained Vanessa Herranz Muñoz, who led several of the surveys and co-authored the report.

The ecosystem serves as both a marine and terrestrial habitat. This, Herranz Muñoz says, makes “it tricky when it comes to studying its biodiversity or even protecting it” because environmental laws and management “quite often makes a split between the land and the sea.”

While highlighting the mangrove’s abundance of life, the study also paints a sobering picture of what the mangrove forest has lost in recent years due to hunting, development-driven deforestation and over salinization — threats that persist today.

“Just because right now we are seeing a lot of biodiversity in the mangroves, it doesn’t mean it is complete. Decades ago in this same area, there would be tigers, two species of crocodile and more marine animals, like dugongs,” Herranz Muñoz said. “We’re lucky we found so many species. But, in the past, there would be a whole lot more.”

In the coming months, Herranz Muñoz plans to conduct a marine survey along the coast. She hopes to publish a second edition of the biodiversity report early next year, which will include conservation management recommendations and details on growing threats to this coastal forest.

From the canopy to the forest floor

For the first edition of the mangrove biodiversity survey, researchers spent several weeks of last year’s dry and wet season tucked within the mangrove forest, which spans a section of Koh Kong Province’s coast in southwestern Cambodia.

Data from 57 camera traps monitored for four months and from targeted rapid surveys identified an array of bats, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, juvenile fish and plants present in the mangroves.

The researchers recorded 62 plant species representing trees, vines, shrubs, and palms.

Flitting among those branches and leaves are at least 16 and possibly as many as 19 distinct bat species, representing approximately a fifth of the known bats in Cambodia, the report found.

Crawling far below the bats, the study captured more than 1,200 individual arthropods in Peam Krasop, comprising more than 350 species.

Sharing the forest floor with those insects are 12 amphibian and five reptile species that were identified over the course of a roughly week-long herpetological survey.

The study also identified more than 20 different types of migratory birds visiting the forest, which added to the year-round residents of the coastal forest. In total, 157 bird species have been recorded in recent years, the survey found. Fifteen of which are considered some form of threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Helping feed this flock of birds are nearly 75 species of fish larvae and juveniles. Over the course of five days, researchers captured nearly 3,800 individual fish, which included spotted seahorse.

Researchers also identified 23 mammal species, and Herranz Muñoz emphasized that nearly half of are considered threatened, such as the fishing cat, hairy-nosed otter, large-spotted civet and sunda pangolin.

Despite this flurry of new information on the dynamic inner workings of Pream Krasop and Koh Kapik, Rog noted that the survey is “not a perfect report. It’s not all encompassing.” She stressed the need for research to continue in joint-step with intentional conservation management.

“The risk with more research is that you just monitor things as they go downhill,” Rog said. We can do much more research and that would be very interesting from an ecological perspective, but then don’t use more research to delay protections.”

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  A black-and-red broadbill in the mangroves. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  A camera trap captures a mother and pup hairy-nosed otter, an endangered species, in Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  A camera trap captures an infant long-tailed macaque clinging on to its mother in Koh Kapik Ramsar site. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  Stilt roots of the mangrove trees in Koh Kapik Ramsar site. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  A family of smooth-coated otters is photographed by a camera trap sheltering in the shade of the mangroves in Koh Kapik. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  Vanessa Herranz Muñoz, founder and director of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise, and Men Bros, a ranger with the Ministry of Environment, conduct a biodiversity survey in Koh Kapik Ramsar site. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.
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  The mangrove forest of Cambodia’s Koh Kapik Ramsar site is “teaming with life” according to researchers who conducted a comprehensive biodiversity survey. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.

While the uptick of poaching and climate change-driven over salinization chip away at the overall health of Pream Krasop and Koh Kapik, habitat loss – driven by large-scale coastal developments — remains its largest threat.

Cambodia’s mangrove forests have declined by more than 40% in the decades between 1989 to 2017, the report noted, citing a separate study published five years ago.

“We see that Cambodia, as many countries in the world are, is developing,” Rog said. “We want to grow tourism, grow economically. There is a lot of population growth, we want to give people jobs. But we need to keep thinking about the natural values and that they are not lost in that momentum of economic growth.”

These concerns to Cambodia’s mangroves are relatively common across Southeast Asia, said Dominic Wodehouse, executive director of the Mangrove Action Project, during an interview with Mongabay.

“Each country needs to make a decision on what ecosystems to sacrifice in order to develop,” Wodehouse said. “Society by society makes appropriate choices about where development is essential and where ecosystems need to be protected.”

Banner image: A camera trap captures an infant long-tailed macaque clinging on to its mother in Koh Kapik Ramsar site. Image courtesy of the Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise.

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