The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) inaugurated two new protection areas in Cambodia's northeastern province of Mondolkiri with the support and cooperation of the government.

The two protection areas -- Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary and Mondolkiri Protected Forest -- cover approximately one million hectares, Business Press reported on Monday.

It had been also planned in advance to form a corridor enabling animals to move from one area to another, it said.

The two protected eco-tourism areas has supported the idea of Environment Minister Mok Mareth that the eastern plains of the country should become the second-most popular tourist area in Cambodia, following Angkor Wat.

The WWF has worked since the mid-1990s in Cambodia, especially in Rattanakiri province. According to Cambodia's WWF Director Seng Teak, by 2008 the Shre Pouk protection area in Shre Pouk district will be ready to welcome tourists.

"It is imperative to teach the people and eliminate all illegal hunting and wood cutting," Seng Teak stressed. He said that Cambodia remains a shelter for some wildlife that is heading for extinction.

Source: Xinhua