Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has supported community aid and environmental conservation in Cambodia for more than 20 years. She founded the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2003, initially focusing on local communities affected by landmines and the lingering impacts of war. Beginning in 2006, she expanded its work to forest and wildlife conservation.
The foundation works with communities and government agencies to help protect the Samlout Multiple Use Area, which lies in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces near the Thai border. The protected area covers approximately 61,000 hectares, and the foundation says its conservation work spans more than 40,000 hectares of forest.
A biodiversity survey conducted by the international conservation organization Fauna & Flora and Cambodia's Ministry of Environment found diverse local wildlife and plants, including birds, mammals, bats and orchids. In its January 2025 report, environmental media outlet Mongabay said researchers recorded 44 wild animal species through infrared cameras: 28 mammals, 15 birds and one reptile. Nearly 30% of them were listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
The protected area continues to face illegal hunting, logging and forest loss. The foundation and relevant local agencies continue conducting patrols to protect forest resources and wildlife habitats.
