Where in the world is Forestry Ph.D. student Lok Mani Sapkota? Cambodia

By Molly Rosbach on Jan. 28, 2025
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Researchers and community forest leaders in a group photo in front of some trees in Cambodia.

A team of researchers (three people on the right) and community forest leaders during a visit to a community forest in Stung Treng. 

Lok Mani Sapkota is a third-year Ph.D. student in OSU’s College of Forestry, studying forest ecosystems and society. With his degree, he intends to work on the science-policy-practice interface with a focus on enhancing local stewardship of forests. He spent much of last year researching in Cambodia. 

Where were you working? 
My study area was the Prey Lang Extended Landscape, covering four north-central Cambodian provinces: Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Katie and Stung Treng. 

What language is spoken there?
Khmer is the main language in my study area. 

How much time did you spend there? 
I was there from March to September, 2024.

What was the focus of your work? 
I was there to research community forestry, an initiative of forest management that empowers local communities in protecting, managing and using forest resources. Our research is on how community forestry has shaped people-forest relationships, with a focus on understanding why and how people engage in forestry, and how that has been changing over time. As part of a broader project led by my major professor Reem Hajjar, this work helps us understand the impacts of community forestry on forest cover, biodiversity and livelihoods, and the feedback mechanisms between forest conditions and community livelihoods. 

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Three men sit around a wooden table outdoors for an interview.

Lok, right, and research assistant Piseth, left, conducting post Q-sort interview with a community forest member, center, in Kratie province.

Who were your closest local colleagues? 
We worked extensively with colleagues from our local partners: the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), a non-governmental organization; and the Royal University of Agriculture. 

What’s the biggest challenge of working there? 
I spent most of my fieldwork traveling to 20 different villages in the Prey Lang Extended Landscape, and things were uncertain, due to factors like the availability of villagers, the variable weather conditions and poor telecommunications networks in the villages. We never had enough information about the sites we were going to. I had to be evacuated once from the field due to health issues, which took all the team members’ effort. However, having local partners and awesome colleagues always on standby to sort things out any time of the day helped a lot to finish fieldwork by the time I had to come back.

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A group of people cluster around an outdoor table to look closely at maps.

Protected area community leaders explaining spatial attributes of their forest and village to researchers in Kampong Thom province.

What’s the best food you had there? 
It is difficult to pick one as I like many types of Khmer foods, but I would say “somlar sach mon,” Cambodian-style sour chicken soup. It has chicken, white onion, onion leaves, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemon grass, tamarind mix and other local ingredients.

What’s the most non-touristy thing you got to do? 
Local leaders of community forests showed us many plants they eat. Many were familiar to me, but it never occurred to me that they could enter your kitchen. One such plant is the white lead tree (scientific name: Leucaena Leucocephala), called “kantʰum” locally.

What’s an important phrase to know in the local language? 
“Choum reap suor” is said to greet people in Khmer respectfully. Similarly, “Orkoun” is thank you, and “Changanh” is delicious. I used these phrases a lot when in Cambodia.

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A group selfie while trekking through a community forest in Cambodia.

A selfie during the visit of a community forest in Stung Treng province. In the photo are two community forest leaders and the research team, including five interns from Cambodia's Royal University of Agriculture.

What were you most surprised to learn? 
One observation which sadly surprised me was the differential impacts of forest loss. Cambodia has lost massive forest areas in the last few decades and made substantial economic progress. However, many poor people I interacted with shared that they are negatively impacted by the loss of forests as one of their major livelihood options. While others seem to have been doing better economically, the conditions of the poor were reported stagnating or have even gotten worse.

What’s one thing from your experience that you’ll take back to Oregon with you? 
Cambodia’s people, particularly those over 50 years old, have gone through a lot: wars, evictions, loss of natural resources coupled with rapid economic development. I feel like they have had more challenging experiences than most of the population currently living in the world. Despite that, Khmer people are humble and positive. It is something to cherish and promote when people worldwide have been facing hardships of a different nature. 

Besides family, what did you most miss from home? 
Maybe the nice weather. It was super hot, around 1040F during my first month of fieldwork. Spring had just started in Oregon, and I was constantly thinking about it until I got used to Cambodian weather. 

What advice would you give others who might travel there? 
Cambodia has a lot to offer, more than those fantastic and usual tourist destinations such as Angkor Wat. It is challenging for foreigners to navigate rural areas independently, especially if they do not speak the local language, but please consider visiting and interacting with local people.