Article·6 min read

The grave losses caused by mining the jewel of Cambodia’s mangrove forests

Kalyanee Mam

On her first trip to the mangrove forests near the island of Koh Sralau and along Cambodia’s coastline, filmmaker Kalyanee Mam gazed in awe at the grandeur and beauty of these forests. She was there to document the threat of sand dredging to an ecosystem and a communal way of life.

Kalyanee Mam
Mar 18, 2021

Image © Kalyanee Mam

Lost World

Video·16:08
A young Cambodian islander digs in the mud of mangroves to fish for clams · Kalyanee Mam
For the wildlife and people of Koh Sralau, the mangrove forests and the sand that roots and grounds these forests are jewels in and of themselves. They are valued for what they are and not for what they could be.
Koh Sralau’s people have for generations depended on the mangrove forests for their livelihood and way of life · Kalyanee Mam
Phalla Vy has dedicated herself to monitoring and speaking out against the sand dredging. In her documentary short film, Kalyanee evokes the pain of losing one’s land—and way of life—through Phalla’s eyes · Mona Simon
Since 2007, Singapore imported over 80 million tons of sand, worth more than $740 million, from Cambodia, threatening this delicate ecosystem with erasure · Ken Pelletier
By mining their mangrove forests for millions of metric tons of sand each year, Cambodia is destroying its only natural protection against erosion, rising sea levels, tsunamis, and hurricanes · Kalyanee Mam
Never before have I witnessed the mass movement of land from one country to another, not for farming, not for housing or economic development, but for pure unadulterated entertainment.
Gardens of the Bay—a billion-dollar garden theme park spanning 110 hectares within the Marina Bay district of the Central Region of Singapore and purporting to be grounded on “the principles of environmental sustainability”—is built on top of 250 acres of sand or reclaimed land · Mona Simon
What kind of world can be built from sterile and lifeless sand and land that has no roots, no history, and no memory, except for the violent extraction from its homeland? And what kind of world is left behind, when roots, history, and memory have been torn from beneath our feet? It is already enough to be removed from one’s land. It is another thing entirely to have one’s land removed as well.
While Kalyanee was in Cambodia, she attended a ceremony in the mangrove forests with a large group of young students and environmental activists, monks, and the local community. Together, they blessed the mangroves with their commitment to love and protect them · Mona Simon
If the land gives way then the people follow, and soon the entire fabric of a culture and identity is lost. That is why we must embrace one another, stand tall like the mangroves, and commit to protecting these ecosystems · Kalyanee Mam
Contributors

Kalyanee Mam

Filmmaker

Kalyanee is an award-winning filmmaker whose work is focused on art and advocacy. Born in Battambang, Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, Kalyanee immigrated to the United States in 1981 with her family. Her debut documentary feature, A River Changes Course, won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Gate Award for Best Feature Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her other works include documentary shorts Lost World, Fight for Areng Valley, Between Earth & Sky, and Cries of Our Ancestors. She has also worked as a cinematographer and associate producer on the 2011 Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job. She is currently working on a new feature documentary, The Fire and the Bird’s Nest.