Community Contributions

At Canvas & Orchids Retreat we have vowed to protect the beautiful nature and wildlife around us to the very best of our ability. Sustainable travel is more crucial now than ever before. We work together with our team and our neighbors to ensure that the planet and fragile ecosystem is not irreparably harmed by our actions.

We constantly strive to find ways to manage and maintain the Lodge as efficiently and eco-friendly as possible. We constantly learn and adapt to ensure we protect the valuable and wondrous land and river where we are situated.

We have endeavoured to create a luxury resort that is kind to the environment. It’s incredibly important for us to take great care of both you and Mother Nature as you enjoy the ecological miracle and uniqueness of the Cardamoms Rainforest.

We pride ourselves on having the lowest impact on the environment as we possibly can, to protect the delicate biodiversity. We use sustainable materials, recycle at the highest level possible and have developed a waste management system that won’t damage the local area. We know that we are living on precious land and it is our responsibility to protect and nurture it.

We are also proud of the education and information that we share with our team, the local villagers and our guests. As we share our methods and ways of helping, we know that this will be passed onto future generations for the good of Mother Nature and Planet Earth. As people of all ages and backgrounds learn the simple ways to lower our impact, we have hope that the solutions we’ve created here will spread throughout the world.

As much as we love and value the environment, we put people first. We strive to provide you with the most unforgettable experiences from the very first hour you arrive. We train and educate our team to achieve promotions and gain as much fulfilment in their job as they can. We work closely with local communities on a number of projects and eco-tourism activities. These delight our visitors and provide sources of income to many local families. We have worked hard to achieve a wonderful balance here at Canvas & Orchids Retreat and we’re excited to welcome you to our home.

Our neighbors in the Koh Kong region are our greatest ally – they have taught us so much about the ecosystem we are living in and how to protect it at all costs. We consider them our friends and we are delighted to work with so many of them at Canvas & Orchids Retreat. The strong sense of community spirit has only strengthened over time and we share our knowledge and education with each other. It’s a beautiful partnership that we truly value.

With this in mind, we have developed several projects aimed at improving the lives of everyone who lives in the region, as well as protecting the fragile fauna, flora and wildlife balance. It is essential that we do everything possible to ensure its survival and help it to flourish.

A few short years ago, the Tatai River was overflowing with the deluge of rubbish left by tourists. Unable to cope with the overflowing bins, the trash would end up in the water. It was a sorry sight that broke our hearts. We knew that we had to do something about it before the river was irreparably damaged.

So once a year, with the help of the community leaders, volunteer boat owners and children from the surrounding schools, we work together to collect the rubbish floating on the Tatai River. We collect food wrappers, plastic straws and cutlery, bottles and packaging. We delve deep into the mangroves to retrieve trash caught in the underwater branches and we dig out plastic waste buried in mud and sand. Throughout the day, we converse to discuss the importance of protecting the environment and reducing waste to the best of our abilities. Together we have spread information throughout the villages and communities that we are positive will help future generations to keep the river flowing freely.

Sadly, collecting all the rubbish around the waterfalls is a daily activity, due to the sheer volume of waste that accumulates over a few short hours. We work on this with the help of the Tatai Tourism Community. We are proud of river and waterfall clean-up projects as we know that it will benefit both the people and the land for years to come.

The information sharing and passing down of educational tools give us hope for a brighter, cleaner future.

Your visit to the waterfall from Canvas & Orchids Retreat helps us fund the clean-ups.

At Canvas & Orchids Retreat, we take pride in our contributions to the local community, particularly in supporting education. We have financed the hiring of a community teacher, Sok Chea, who supports the existing teachers and teaches arts and sports classes. Sok Chea also supervises the weekly school clean-up activity. In the future, he will be offering English and computer classes to Grade 5 and 6 students.

With the help of our generous guests, we have donated 5000L water tanks for the school’s water storage. This is crucial for hand washing, toilets, and cleaning classrooms. Additionally, we ensure that children whose parents are not financially able have the necessary school supplies.

We provide arts materials for their arts classes and sports accessories for their Thursday sports day. We have also implemented and maintain recycling bins for waste management within the school. Each year, we host a Khmer New Year party for the students, filled with fun games and prizes.

Our team regularly coordinates with the school director to understand how else we can support the school and make a positive impact.

In 2017, we started to help build the new classrooms for Koh Kong Khnong School. With donations from some guests, and funds that we raised from tours, we constructed the foundation – concrete floors & pillars. Then we met a catastrophic event and had to pause the school construction.

In a fortunate turn of events, an NGO known as UWS Cambodia – United World Schools Cambodia contacted us to request permission to continue the school building, and we excitedly said YES!

UWS Cambodia successfully built and is currently supporting this charming small school in a remote village in Koh Kong Khnong.

We are currently in talks with our community leaders and officials, and kind-hearted donors to build a vocational school near Koh Andet School. The objective of this vocational school is to provide skills and build capacity among our community members who have not been given a chance to attend proper school.

This will allow them to find good-paying jobs in the businesses that are operating in our region, much of which are in eco-tourism, such as eco-accommodations and restaurants.

With this capacity-building initiative amongst these vulnerable community members, they would get reliable-paying jobs than poaching and illegal logging, hence, would significantly boost the conservation efforts in our region.