Shifting boundaries

At the moment life feels full, interesting and varied. However it's just in my nature to constantly weigh up the excitement and satisfaction of living and working overseas versus the ease and calmness of being settled in one place for a long time. However I am getting much better at just 'living for the moment'.

Today was a rare escape from the laptop to one of our project sites in Cambodia where we are supporting the community in mapping out the boundaries of what will become their legalised community-owned forest. We stood back and let them take charge, taking into account where land is owned or being cultivated and where natural features form obvious boundaries.

I stand by the observation that Cambodia has some of the most blatant illegal activity of any country. Not as bad here as in the Cardamom Mountains but even during this simple exercise someone heard a chainsaw and came across some people, probably from another district, felling trees for timber in a large burned area (probably burned earlier by the same people). The people dumped the chainsaw and legged it.

Insightful, interesting and long day out in the beating sun.