Guided by ancestral knowledge: indigenous communities in Virachey shape their own ecotourism future

Despite its riches in landscape, biodiversity, and culture, less than 100 tourists visit Virachey each month. Previous ecotourism initiatives have lost momentum once external support ended. With funding from the UK Government's Biodiverse Landscape Fund (BLF), IUCN facilitated a collaborative approach between ecotourism experts and indigenous communities to assess the current values and challenges for community-engaged ecotourism in Virachey and establish a roadmap for future development including the creation of an indigenous envisioned brand identity for the region with tools local communities and ecotourism operators can carry forward independently in the future. 

Assessing the potential 

IUCN brought together ecotourism experts to conduct field visits, workshops, and stakeholder consultations with the leadership of five Community Protected Areas (CPAs): O'Tung, O'Kham Pha, O'Tabok, Mondul Yorn, and O'Chay. CPAs are legally designated zones within Cambodia's national protected areas where indigenous and local communities hold formal rights to manage, conserve, and sustainably use natural resources. Virachey is home to five of the largest CPAs in Cambodia, together covering around 20,000 hectares of forest, river, and grassland under direct indigenous stewardship. An assessment of ecotourism potential identified over 30 attractions in these CPAs: waterfalls tied to ancestral origin stories, rivers with potential for whitewater rafting, sacred grasslands and forests, and a wealth of living cultural traditions tied to the land which community members wish to share with visitors. 

The assessment concluded that while the park's biodiversity values were clear, it was the park's diverse indigenous communities that set Virachey apart from other protected areas in Cambodia. The assessment report concludes, "it is ultimately people, their stories, traditions, hospitality, and stewardship, which give Virachey National Park its unique character and lasting appeal." 

A roadmap for community-led tourism 

Building on the assessment, the team worked with CPA committees, provincial government, and park authorities to develop an ecotourism road map for the next five years. Signed by each of the five communities' CPA leaders, the roadmap sets targets for establishing Indigenous operated ecotourism enterprises, launching a co-managed Destination Management Company, and increasing the number of visitors to the park through marketing of ecotourism activities that are co-managed by Virachey's indigenous communities. As the CPA leaders wrote in its foreword: "Ecotourism can only succeed when local people are recognized as its rightful custodians and beneficiaries." 

The assessment found that few tourists in Cambodia, international or domestic, had heard of Virachey at all, let alone its picturesque landscapes and rich cultural traditions. To address this, the project developed a destination brand identity that centred both nature and indigenous culture, and that communities could own. 

O’Tung Community members seek to build ecotourism businesses offering tourists bamboo rafting trips down the O’lai Lai River © Miguel Jeronimo/Shunsuke Miyatake

A brand born in community 

To establish a brand identity, IUCN brought a diverse team of creatives, researchers, and adventurers from the Phnom Penh-based creative collective itonami to Virachey and its communities. The team included Mondet Youn, a Brao hip-hop artist originally from one of the five partner communities, whose music celebrates indigenous culture and promotes environmental stewardship. Mondet facilitated dialogue in Brao and Kavet languages throughout the process, giving the design team direct access to indigenous folktales, values, and ways of seeing the landscape that would otherwise have remained out of reach. 

Together with community members, the project explored stories and symbols that could represent the area's natural and cultural heritage. It was found early on in a creation story shared across all four of the area's indigenous groups — the legend of two brothers, Krong and Yong. The resulting brand — Krong Yong Trails, "Ancestral | Natural | Sacred" — connects all five CPAs under a shared identity rooted in their indigenous heritage. Alongside a full visual identity and messaging guidelines, the project produced the Krong Yong Story Trails Trilogy: three community guidebooks in English and Khmer, one for each landscape the brothers crossed including the Forest Chapter, the Mountain Chapter and the Waterfall Chapter.

Representatives from 5 indigenous CPAs met with IUCN and Itonami, a Phnom Penh creatives collective to develop an indigenous brand identity for ecotourism in Virachey NP © Miguel Jeronimo/Shunsuke Miyatake

Long before the park was established, Krong and Yong set out from their village following their grandmother's instruction: "Follow the water. It will teach you how to live." Their journey through waterfall, mountain, and forest shaped the stories of the highlands. At O'Tabok waterfall, a dispute between the brothers brought an elephant crashing through their bamboo fish barriers — its footprints, and the beast itself, are said to have turned to stone and can still be seen today. Reconciled by a chance encounter with a third river traveller whose boat destroyed both their barriers at once, the brothers continued into the mountains, where their struggles on the steep ridges are said to have stained Ratanakiri's soil its distinctive red. Descending finally into the forest, they were welcomed into villages with jar wine and shared food, learning that "what is gathered from the forest belongs to the whole community." These teachings — passed down through generations and still alive in the daily life of Virachey's communities — give the Krong Yong Trails brand its name, its three-chapter structure, and its spirit. Each book weaves together origin stories, field guides, cultural protocols, and ecological knowledge. 

"The Krong Yong Trails guidebook project embodies Motion 094 passed at the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress, which reads 'Recognising the importance of Indigenous languages, traditional knowledge and cultural heritage in biodiversity conservation'. Co-creating and giving ownership of an Indigenous centred brand identity and guide materials to these communities will help to ensure indigenous participation and co-management within the Community Protected Areas of Virachey National Park." – Samuel Leslie, Senior Technical Officer, IUCN Lower Mekong sub-region. 

Materials to inform and inspire 

The practical value of community-owned materials has already been demonstrated beyond the project itself. At the end of April, the Krong Yong Trails storybooks were used as primary learning materials during a nature and community immersion programme in the village and CPA of Mondul Yorn. The four-day camp was organised by YEP Academy — a Cambodia-based outdoor education organisation that uses nature-based experiences to foster personal growth, environmental awareness, and connection to local cultures. During the camp, participants stayed with the Brao community, joining elders on forest walks, fishing and gathering vegetables along the river, and visiting the community's ancestral burial forest. Reflecting on the camp, Rathana Hul, lead instructor, recalled: "The guide knew nearly every tree by memory, mourned when one died, and treated the forest as a living community. For many participants, this was the first time they understood that trees age, fall ill, and carry life — much like we do." 

Looking ahead 

The assessment, roadmap, brand toolkit, and community storybook guidebooks are now complete and in the hands of the CPAs and their government partners — a foundation for ecotourism in Virachey that centres indigenous knowledge, supports community livelihoods, and links conservation directly to local benefit. The strategy and identity to carry that work forward now belong to the communities of Virachey. 

This work was carried out under the UK Government DEFRA-funded Biodiverse Landscapes Fund (BLF), implemented in the Lower Mekong by Fauna & Flora (FFI) in partnership with IUCN and SNV. 

Residents of Mondol Yorn village collect bamboo to make baskets within the Community Protected Area (CPA) an area within Virachey National Park © Miguel Jeronimo/Shunsuke Miyatake