KH012
Phnom Samkos


Country/territory: Cambodia

IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2003)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 207,783 hectares (2,078 km2)

NatureLife Cambodia
IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2009 good medium high
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (2003 baseline)
The IBA is located within Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in the Cardamom Mountains, adjacent to the international border with Thailand. The IBA comprises all areas of evergreen and semi-evergreen forest above 400 m asl, which is thought to be the lower altitudinal limit of Chestnut-headed Partridge Arborophila cambodiana. The topography of the IBA is mountainous and dominated by three discrete peaks: Mount Samkos (1,717 m asl), Mount Khmaoch (1,496 m asl) and Mount Tumpor (c.1,250 m asl). At elevations up to 1,000 m asl, the vegetation of the IBA is dominated by lowland evergreen forest, which has been disturbed by logging in many areas. At elevations between 1,000 and 1,300 m asl, lowland evergreen forest grades into hill evergreen forest. Above 1,300 m asl, near the summit of Mount Samkos, dwarf hill evergreen forest formations are found. The IBA supports both restricted-range species found in the Cambodia-Thailand-Mountains Endemic Bird Area: Chestnut-headed Partridge and Cambodian Laughingthrush (Garrulax ferrarius).

Key biodiversity

Non-bird biodiversity: Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina), Silvered Langur (Semnopithecus cristatus), Pileated Gibbon (Hylobates pileatus).Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), Gaur (Bos gaurus), Southern Serow (Naemorhedus sumatraensis).


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Phnom Samkos (Cambodia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/phnom-samkos-iba-cambodia on 06/12/2024.