Cardamom Mountains
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| Cardamom Mountains | |
|---|---|
| Kravanh Mountains, Chuor Phnum Kravanh | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Gene Pool | Southeast Asian Gene Pool |
| Growing Region | Southern Cambodia |
| Geography | |
| Country | Cambodia |
| Province/State | Koh Kong, Pursat, Kampong Speu |
| Coordinates | 11.500000, 103.500000 |
| Landscape | |
| Elevation | 0-1,813 m |
| Area | ~20,000 km2 |
| Terrain | Steep escarpments, incised valleys, dense tropical forest |
| Climate | |
| Climate Type | Tropical monsoon |
| Rainfall | 3,000-5,000 mm (windward), 1,000-1,500 mm (rain shadow) |
| Seasons | Wet (May-Nov), Dry (Dec-Apr) |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 4 |
| Conservation | |
| Status | Endangered |
The Cardamom Mountains growing area encompasses the Kravanh Mountains (Khmer: ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ) and their southeastern extension, the Damrei Mountains (Elephant Mountains), a continuous mountain corridor across southwestern Cambodia spanning Koh Kong, Pursat, Kampong Speu and Kampot provinces. The range reaches 1,813 m at Phnom Aural, Cambodia's highest peak.[1]
For the physical geography, ecology and archaeology of the mountain range, see Kravanh Mountains.
As a landrace cannabis growing area, the Cardamom Mountains were the epicentre of large-scale commercial cultivation during the 1990s and early 2000s, centred on Koh Kong province. The sole academic botanical identification of cannabis from this region classifies the Koh Kong cultivar as Cannabis indica.[2] The same inaccessibility that preserved the range's primary forest also sheltered cannabis cultivation and other illicit extraction economies including safrole oil production.[3]
Geography
The growing area spans the full extent of the Kravanh-Damrei corridor, from the Thai border in the northwest to Kampot province in the southeast. Cannabis cultivation has been documented across multiple provinces within the range, with different areas active at different periods. The western slopes receive 3,000-5,000 mm of annual rainfall from the southwest monsoon, while the eastern rain shadow receives only 1,000-1,500 mm. Dense tropical rain forest covers most of the range, with access limited to a few roads and river corridors.[1]
The terrain consists of steep escarpments, incised valleys and pronounced ridges. The remote, heavily forested interior provided both concealment and logistical difficulty for enforcement operations, making it an ideal environment for illicit cultivation. The coastal plain along the Gulf of Thailand, accessible through Koh Kong and Sihanoukville, served as the primary export corridor.[4]
Cannabis cultivation
Post-conflict cultivation (1980s-1991)
The earliest documented cannabis cultivation in the Cardamom corridor dates to the immediate post-Khmer Rouge period. At Koh Sralao commune in Koh Kong, mountain forest was cleared from 1980 to 1990 specifically to plant Cannabis indica, driven by conflict refugees who "moved to Koh Sralao motivated by personal safety." At nearby Koh Kapik commune on the Thai border, cannabis was "widely grown from 1980 to 1985." Cultivation at Koh Sralao ended in 1991 when the Ministry of Environment declared the area protected.[2]
Commercial production era (1992-2002)
Main article: Thai investment in Cambodian cannabis
As Cambodia opened to foreign engagement through the UNTAC period, Thai-financed commercial cultivation transformed the Cardamom corridor. By 2002, Reuters described Koh Kong as Cambodia's "Wild West" and a production zone for high-quality marijuana. Drug lords provided farmers with tools, seeds and fertiliser, and a two-tier quality system emerged: poorly cured bulk cannabis for domestic sale and superior export-grade product channelled through Sihanoukville and Koh Kong to international markets.[5]
The 2003 INCSR identified the Cardamom provinces as primary producing areas, with national output estimated at 700-1,000 tons annually.[4] The deep-water port at Sihanoukville and the Koh Kong coastline near the Thai border were identified as major trafficking routes.[4]
The same inaccessibility that sheltered cannabis cultivation also supported large-scale illicit safrole oil extraction from Cinnamomum parthenoxylon trees, suggesting a shared economic logic driven by remoteness from law enforcement.[3]
Decline and dispersal (2000s-present)
Road infrastructure and sustained enforcement pressure reduced Koh Kong's viability as a production centre, shifting the main locus of Cambodian cannabis cultivation southeast to Kirivong in Takeo province. However, dispersed cultivation continues within the Cardamom corridor. In 2015, Pursat police destroyed thousands of marijuana plants in deep-forest plots concealed among sesame crops, with plants traced to seed stock from Kandal province.[6]
Modern cultivation across the corridor follows the pattern documented elsewhere in Southern Cambodia: remote mountain plots, intercropping for concealment and rapid replanting after eradication.
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Priority | Collected | Locality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZOM-KHM-KOH-0420230002 | Koh Kong 'Prek Svey' General Population 2023 | Critical | 15 April 2023 | Secret |
| ZOM-KHM-KOH-0420230001 | Koh Kong 'Chamka Kas' General Population 2023 | 15 April 2023 | Secret | |
| ZOM-KHM-PUR-0420220001 | Pursat General Population 2022 | Critical | 15 April 2022 | Secret |
| ZOM-KHM-KOH-0420220001 | Tatai General Population 2022 | Critical | 15 April 2022 | Secret |
Conservation status
Conservation status: Endangered -- Historically significant production zone, now largely suppressed; no known preservation of cultivar genetics.
The cultivars grown across the Cardamom corridor during the 1980s and 1990s were never systematically collected, characterised or preserved before enforcement eliminated large-scale cultivation. The sole academic botanical identification classifies the Koh Kong cultivar as Cannabis indica.[2] Whether isolated deep-forest cultivation maintains genetic continuity with the earlier Koh Kong populations is unknown.
The Cardamom Mountains' cannabis heritage faces the same constellation of threats affecting all Southern Cambodian landraces: active eradication, habitat displacement into increasingly marginal sites, cultural disruption and potential genetic contamination from imported varieties.
Recent News
See Also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kravanh Mountains." [1]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment of Koh Kong and Kampot Provinces, Cambodia." [2]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 US Embassy Phnom Penh. Cable 07PHNOMPENH1376, "2008 INCSR Submission: Cambodia." 2 November 2007. [3]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 US Department of State. "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2003: Cambodia." Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, March 2003. [4]
- ↑ "Cambodia's Wild West." Reuters, 18 May 2002. [5]
- ↑ Khouth Sophak Chakrya. "Thousands of marijuana plants seized, burned by Pursat police." Phnom Penh Post, 6 May 2015. [6]