Before the civil war, Cambodia had six national parks, together covering 22,000 sq km (around 12% of the country). The long civil war effectively destroyed this system and it wasn't reintroduced until 1993, when a royal decree designated 23 areas as national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes and multiple-use areas. Three more protected for­ests were recently added to the list, bringing the area of protected land in Cambodia to 43,000 sq km, or around 23% of the country. This is fantastic news in principle, but in practice the authorities don't have the resources, or sometimes the will, to actually protect these areas in any way other than drawing a line on a map. The government has enough trouble finding funds to pay the rangers who patrol the most popular parks, let alone recruiting more staff for the remote sanctuaries.

Cambodia's most important national parks include: Bokor, which occupies a 1000m-high plateau on the south coast overlooking Kampot; Ream, which includes a marine reserve and is just a short distance from Sihanoukville; Kirirom, 675m above sea level in the Chuor Phnom Damrei, 112km southwest of Phnom Penh; and Virachay, for a long period the kingdom's largest park, nestled against the Lao and Vietnamese borders in northeastern Cambodia. Bokor is home to wild elephants and has accommodation available at the summit. Ream has a visitor programme, which includes a boat trip and guided walks, while Kirirom has a basic guesthouse and is popular with Khmers at weekends. There is little in the way of facilities at Virachay, but rangers are keen to welcome visitors and have centres in Voen Sai and Siem Pang. Botum Sokor is a coastal park with endless white-sand beaches; it has much potential for ecotourism, as any casual observer can see on the boat journey between Krong Koh Kong and Sihanoukville.

Among the new protected areas, the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, at 4294 sq km, is now the largest protected area in Cambodia and is contiguous with Yok Don National Park in Vietnam. The Cardamom Protected Forest, at 4013 sq km, borders Phnom Samkos and Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuaries, creating a huge protected area in the southwest of almost 10,000 sq km.