eTurbo News
22 September, 2013
The Song Saa Foundation, a Cambodia-based organization dedicated to protecting the land and waters of southern Cambodia’s Koh Rong Archipelago, was officially launched on September 21.
With coral reefs, mangrove forests and sea grass beds – inhabited by sea turtles, whale sharks and seahorses – the Koh Rong Archipelago is one of the most diverse and least known marine environments in Southeast Asia.
For Rory and Melita Hunter, the creators of the Foundation, the launch represents a culmination of seven years’ work and commitment to the Archipelago.
The Hunters first came to the region in the mid-2000s and later built the first high-end luxury resort in the Archipelago – Song Saa Private Island. Underpinning the development of the resort was a commitment to sustainability explains Rory Hunter:
“Being the first to develop a resort in the Koh Rong Archipelago came with a tremendous sense of responsibility to ensure that whatever we did had a lasting, positive impact on the surrounding environment and gave opportunities and a future to the local community. We also wanted to lead by example and set a benchmark for others to follow by showing that property development, conservation and community engagement were not mutually exclusive concepts.”