Youth stepping forward as forest guardians

Across Asia, forests are under growing pressure. Deforestation, land degradation, illegal activities and climate-related impacts continue to erode biodiversity, undermine rural livelihoods and weaken long-term resilience. The continent is also home to the largest population of 18- to 24-year-olds in the world, positioning its young people as powerful agents of socio-economic and environmental change.

In Southeast Asia, many young people are involved in forestry and conservation through community initiatives, civil society work and projects implemented by non-governmental organizations. However, youth engagement is often informal and fragmented, with limited access to skills-building, recognition and decision-making spaces. RECOFTC is implementing the ‘Youth as guardians of the forest project’ in Cambodia and Lao PDR to help close this gap.

The stories we share here offer a snapshot of how young people are engaging more deliberately with forest governance and conservation in our project areas.

Protecting forests from within

Oeurn Hok is 32 years old. He grew up in Cham Pen Community Protected Area in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province, surrounded by the forests that sustain his Kuoy community. Today, he is part of the community protected area’s weekly forest patrols team, which responds to reports of illegal logging and wildlife poaching in the area.

“The forests are our identity,” he says. “They shape both our culture and our livelihoods.” The livelihoods of the 254 Indigenous households in Cham Pen are tied closely to the forest. Non-timber forest products provide both daily necessities and income for the community.

In October 2025, Hok attended a meeting of the Provincial Community Forestry Partnership Coordination Committee with support from our youth project. Alongside government officials, community representatives, civil society members and other stakeholders, Hok listened and participated in discussions ranging from silviculture and REDD+ to community credit schemes and collaborative governance.

The experience broadened his understanding of how decisions affecting forests are made beyond the village level. It also sparked practical ideas. As chief of his community’s credit scheme committee, Hok plans to allocate funds this year to support patrol teams, helping ensure sustained resources for forest and wildlife protection.

When communities learn from each other

Soam Lisa is 23. She is a member of the Changkran Roy Community Forestry Management Committee in Cambodia. She supports local ecotourism activities, helping with online promotion through Facebook, regular reporting to the district governor and translation for visitors to the community restaurant.

During a visit to O Poung Roung Community Forest with other youth volunteers, she found striking similarities to her village – scenic forest landscapes, nearby temples, rich biodiversity and strong community commitment to environmental protection. Lisa shared Chankran Roy’s experience with bird-based tourism. She noted that responsible birdwatching attracts tourists, birders and photographers.

“My community forest hosts about 150 bird species, including the Indian roller and coral-billed ground cuckoo,” she said. Birdwatching ecotourism there generates around USD 20 per visitor while reinforcing incentives to protect habitats. “When people can benefit from ecotourism through homestays and guided tours, they choose to protect forests and wildlife.”

The exchange prompted interest from O Poung Roung’s leadership in exploring birding as part of a future ecotourism strategy and involving young people more actively in promotion and outreach. Lisa reflects on the response from O Poung Roung saying, “It has made me feel more confident about sharing and contributing whenever I have the chance.”

From awareness to advocacy

Pavina Vongsakda, who goes by Pavina, is a 19-year-old student from Lao PDR. She majors in international business administration and volunteers with a local environmental group. However, prior to her involvement with the ‘Youth as guardians of the forest’ project, her understanding of environmental issues focused on climate change in abstract terms. She says, “Forest governance, land-use change and their impacts on Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities felt distant from my studies and every life.”

This perspective changed over the course of field visits, discussions and exchanges with peers organized by the youth project. Pavina began to see forests as living systems that underpin food security, cultural identity and resilience. Her participation in the ‘Regional youth exchange 2025’ further expanded her outlook. “Listening to young people from different countries share their experiences of development pressures and climate risks revealed common challenges and common determination,” she says. “I was inspired by young women leading environmental initiatives and being taken seriously in their communities.”

Pavina has started sharing what she has learned with her classmates, linking conservation to familiar topics such as tourism, economics and local livelihoods. She is now planning a campus-based initiative to make forest issues more accessible to students and encourage critical thinking around development choices. “I now realize the power of peer-to-peer learning,” she says, “and the role youth can play in influencing each other.”

Learning by doing

As the project moves forward, participants are shifting from learning to action. Building on training, field exposure and peer exchange, our 34 youth volunteers – 17 in Cambodia and 17 in Lao PDR – are organizing into small groups to develop community outreach plans.

In the coming months, these youth volunteers will implement campaigns on forest fire prevention, combating deforestation, wildlife protection and community-based forest management. These efforts will combine local engagement with social media and youth-to-youth communication.

Support from practitioners has been a crucial part of the project. In Lao PDR, Phonesakda Somsytha, from the Department of Land Management and Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, has played a significant mentoring role.

With over a decade of experience, Phonesakda is well versed in the technical and legal dimensions of forest governance. Initially invited to speak at a learning session, he soon became closely involved, mentoring participants on topics such as land tenure, wildlife conservation, forest allocation and community-based forest management.

For him, working with youth offers a way to bridge the gap between policy and practice. “By engaging directly with government practitioners, young people gain insight into how forest governance operates as a system,” he says.

Phonesakda views this engagement as a promising form of collaboration between government agencies and youth, one that can help bridge policy and practice while building the next generation’s capacity to communicate, advocate and lead. “When youth understand how our national forest management system operates, including its constraints and trade-offs, they are better equipped to engage and contribute in meaningful ways,” he says.

In the coming months, our youth volunteers will continue to engage in domestic and regional platforms to share experiences, strengthen networks and learn from peers across borders.

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Dy Vutheara is communication officer at RECOFTC Cambodia and Chinda Milayvong is deputy country director of RECOFTC Lao PDR.

The ‘Youth as guardians of the forest’ project aims to create a new generation of forest guardians in Cambodia and Lao PDR. It focuses on enhancing youth awareness about forest conservation, wildlife and forest crimes and sustainable forest management practices. It is supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) through funding provided by the Government of Canada.