Sequoia National Park Superintendent Craig Axtell and Cambodian Minister of Environment, His Excellency Mok Mareth, signed the sister park agreement, which calls for the sharing of management methods and philosophies, experiences, skills, technical knowledge, and professional abilities. U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph A. Mussomeli, and Stephan Bognar, the Executive Director of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s Maddox Jolie Pitt Project (MJP) acted as witnesses. Also in attendance were Chay Samith, Director, Department of Nature Conservation and Parks for Cambodia, and Samlaut Project Manager Auv Phiak.
“We are entering into this five-year partnership with Samlaut to find and develop best park practices at Samlaut and Sequoia, share what we have learned in over 100 years of park management in Sequoia, and to encourage our local Cambodia residents to discover their park in the Sierra,” said Axtell.
The signing ceremony blended the cultures of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and Cambodia. Rangers in the classic spit and polish grey and green uniform with the recognizable flat hat--some on mounted horse patrol, others lining the walkway to the amphitheatre in front of the Giant Forest Museum beneath the sequoias--watched dancers from the Cambodia Opera Dance Troupe from Fresno, CA. A Khmer Buddhist monk provided a blessing.
In his remarks, Ambassador Mussomeli stated, "Our great sequoias are not just known for their size and age—but also for their resilience. Indeed, these trees thrive upon adversity. They have weathered dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fires and endured much other hardship that would have devastated lesser forests. The Cambodians themselves share this resilience, having borne the burden of one of history’s worst genocides, and decades of one of history’s most brutal civil wars....But through it all, the Cambodian people never broke, never gave up, and are once again—like these trees—beginning their own rebirth."
The agreement took 10 months to develop after Stephan Bognar approached the NPS about a sister park relationship. “This relationship goes into effect immediately,” said Bognar. “Two Samlaut Rangers will be shadowing their counterparts in Sequoia after the first of the year.”
MJP supports a 30-unit ranger team in the recovering war torn Khmer Rouge Region where Samlaut is located. It works in partnership with the Royal Cambodian Government. Samlaut hosts an important watershed in the rich mountain streams, rare wildlife, and some of Southeast Asia’s forgotten treasures. It also borders the first Millennium Village outside of Africa. Angelina Jolie and Stephan Bognar are working closely with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and his team of advisors on the Millennium Development Goals in (Samlaut) Cambodia.
Sequoia National Park, the second oldest park in the U.S. national park system, protects an important watershed in the rich mountain streams of the Sierra Nevada as well as the over 1,000 year old sequoias, rare and endangered wildlife, and the highest peak in the lower 48 states of the U.S.
Released October 4, 2006.
http://phnompenh.usembassy.gov/pr_100406.html
