A Bilingual Guide to Cambodian Animals and Ecosystems
The Illustrated Guide to Wildlife of Cambodia is a bilingual book entirely researched, written, and illustrated by the students of Liger Learning Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The book details 87 vertebrate species and 7 ecosystems. Beautifully visualised and scientifically accurate, it is the first record of its kind for this part of the world.
All proceeds from this campaign will go to printing and distributing the book to school libraries all over Cambodia.
An Immense Journey Of Discovery
"My students and I became a family." - Jojo Hart, learning facilitator and co-editor
The Illustrated Guide to Wildlife of Cambodia is the result of an immense journey of discovery that took course over two years. The book is authored by 13 students and includes contributions from 50 Liger students, ages 10-13.
It began with research. Liger students traveled throughout Cambodia to participate in forest ecology and zoological projects. Adventurous destinations included the Seima Protected Forest in Mondulkiri, the northern plains in Preah Vihear, and the evergreen forest in Koh Kong.
"On these trips, the world was our classroom," says Liger Learning Facilitator Jojo Hart. "The students were delighted to discover animal tracks in the forest, to see a smooth-coated otter in a mangrove, and to hear the loud wing beats of the great hornbill."
These trips fueled the students' passion for Cambodian wildlife and conservation and earned them a strong understanding of taxonomy, animal behavior, ecology, and Cambodian geography.
They grew closer to one another grew to love and appreciate the wild places and the creatures that depend on them.
Art Inspired By Nature
Liger collaborated with NYC-based NGO Art in a Box to teach the kids how to create watercolor illustrations and design the book. Art in a Box partners with disadvantaged communities around the world and assists in recovery and empowerment through art.
Art in a Box’s Val DuBasky traveled to Cambodia and spent two months with the Liger students leading a course on watercolor and natural history painting.
"The students learned how to paint with watercolor, a technically demanding medium often used by natural history illustrators, that yields jewel-like colors and breathtakingly beautiful effects." - Val DuBasky, art instructor & co-editor
As their confidence grew, the student illustrators began to achieve visual expressions of more complex ideas: How to paint water. How to paint fur, feather, or scales. In the end, they had discovered how to create art that combined scientific observation with creative self-expression.
Learning to Write Like Scientists
This project incorporated many subjects including ecology, biology, geography, and art. It also included invaluable growth in the students' English literacy and Khmer literacy skills.
Liger kids improved their reading and writing by interviewing and emailing local conservationists, visiting ecosystems and taking notes, and reading websites and books. They learned how to recognize a reliable source, developed research skills, and amassed an impressive vocabulary -- words such as “burrow,” “incline,” and “arboreal” to “estrous,” “altricial,” and “crepuscular.”
"Just a few years earlier, none of them spoke English nor had touched a computer. And now they've created the first reference work on Cambodian wildlife created by Cambodian children." - Trevor Gile, founder of The Liger Charitable Foundation.
Each species description involved at least four rounds of editing, conducted by the students, Liger staff, and a mentor from Cambodia, the USA, or Poland. All 50 Liger students worked together to provide accurate and informative Khmer translations.
Partnerships with Conservation NGOs
The knowledge contained in this book could not have been gained without the support of these Cambodian NGOs:
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), whose mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide. They do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks. 
Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Cambodia, whose mission is to act to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take into account human needs.
Sam Veasna Center, who provides an alternative sustainable livelihood from ecotourism for the local communities at WCS conservation sites.
Free The Bears, whose mission is to is to protect, preserve and enrich the lives of bears throughout the world.
Angkor Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity, who aspires to become a focal point for wildlife conservation and environmental activities throughout the northwest of Cambodia.
Story of the Week
Each week of our campaign, we'll update this section with a funny or meaningful anecdote from our experience creating this book.
Week 4: This week’s story is about quick-thinking, ingenuity and appreciation from wildlife book authors Sythong and Niron.
Sythong: We were on a boat in Prek Toal flooded forest, in the protected bird sanctuary near Siem Reap. We have to climb up a tall tree to see through the binoculars from the platform on the top, four meters up. We wanted to see the storks, egrets, herons and other water birds.
Niron: There was some problem with the ladder so we needed to climb up the tree. I was having a little vertigo and was so scared. I was holding my journal but I had to hold on to the tree and my book fell! I felt I cannot do anything, only watch frozen as it fell into the water. All my drawings and research and facts about my species.
Sythong: “I can go to get it!” I yelled, and started to climb back down that tree. I reached for the book but I cannot get it. So I pulled down a vine, a dead vine, and use it to pull that book back.
Niron: Everyone was cheering and my book was saved! But the pages were stuck together from the water. We dried it page by page on top of the boat. I was so happy not to lose my hard work.
To read the stories from past weeks, visit facebook.com/ligerlearning
What is the Liger Learning Center?
The Liger Learning Center is a privately-funded residential academy with a core focus on three main themes: leadership, entrepreneurship, and social awareness centered around the challenges facing the country. Liger students are selected exclusively from impoverished backgrounds and chosen based on their potential. The first LLC is located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Liger Charitable Foundation is proud and honored to be making long-term investments in these young people who are already achieving amazing things, this book being just one of them. Our students are the bright faces of a future Cambodia. We welcome you to learn more at: ligerlearning.org.
Liger works closely with the Cambodian Ministry of Education and Minister Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, who has requested that copies of multiple Liger publications be placed in all of government school libraries.
