Posted on August, 08 2025

In a quiet village nestled along the Mekong River in Kratie province, a young father is reshaping the future not just for his family, but for an entire community. 

Chhun Engly, now 30, grew up in Liet village, Chroy Banteay commune. Like many in his area, he once relied on illegal fishing and forest clearing to survive. “Back then, I didn’t think much about the forest or wildlife,” Engly recalls. “I was just trying to make ends meet.”

Everything changed in 2019 when WWF-Cambodia introduced the SCALE-UP I project. Engly received 140 chicks and training in chicken farming – and with it, a chance to start over. 

The journey wasn’t easy. The COVID-19 pandemic hit communities hard. When markets closed, Engly nearly gave up. 

“I had no buyers, no income. I almost sold all of the chickens,” he says. 

Read the rest of this story to learn about the impact of WWF-Cambodia’s SCALE-UP II project by downloading the PDF below.