Angelina Jolie’s foundation spent 20 years protecting 150,720-acre Cambodian forests; rangers saved nearly 142 species from wire snares

Angelina Jolie’s conservation work in Cambodia offers a story beyond Hollywood. A foundation she established in 2003 has spent more than two decades working with local communities to protect forests, support rural families and safeguard threatened wildlife. At the centre of the effort is the Samlout forest, a landscape of roughly 150,720 acres where Asian elephants and critically endangered Sunda pangolins have been documented. The work remains challenging. Rangers pulled up almost 4.8 miles of wire snares from the forest in 2025, a reminder of the importance of conservation and the dangers wildlife still faces. Read on to find more details.

How Angelina Jolie’s foundation began in Cambodia?

Angelina Jolie first visited Cambodia in 2000 while filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. She later returned to the country through her work with the United Nations refugee agency and adopted her son Maddox, who was born there. In 2003, she established what became the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, now known publicly as the Maddox Foundation. Its initial work focused on clearing landmines from rural communities affected by Cambodia’s conflict. Three years later, the organisation expanded into environmental protection and assumed responsibility for helping protect the Samlout forest.

The organisation’s work gradually grew to include healthcare, education, sustainable livelihoods and forest conservation. Its approach places Cambodian communities at the centre of these efforts, rather than treating wildlife protection as a project separate from the needs of people living nearby.

Inside the 150,720-acre forest where elephants and Pangolins roam

Samlout Multiple Use Area covers approximately 60,994 hectares, or 150,720 acres, across Cambodia’s Battambang and Pailin provinces near the Thai border. The Cambodian government designated the area for protection in 1993. The forest contains a wide range of wildlife, including the endangered Asian elephant and the critically endangered Sunda pangolin. A biodiversity survey led by conservation organisation Fauna & Flora, commissioned and funded by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in collaboration with Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, documented several threatened species in the area.

A 2025 investigation by Mongabay reported that camera traps recorded 44 species during the survey, including 28 mammals. Researchers also documented evidence of hunting and other threats, including a deer that had lost a leg, almost certainly because of a snare injury. The findings show why protecting the forest requires more than drawing boundaries around it.

Rangers confiscated 4.8 miles of wire snare

Wire snares are simple yet deadly traps for catching wild animals. They kill or injure wildlife indiscriminately and threaten species already under pressure from habitat loss and hunting. According to the Maddox Foundation’s field notes, rangers removed close to 7,800 metres of wire snares from Samlout in 2025, approximately 4.8 miles. Their patrols also help monitor illegal logging and poaching.

Why protecting the forest becomes integral

Mongabay reported in January 2025 that deforestation in the region remained a concern despite the forest’s protected status. Its reporting highlighted the need for stronger enforcement and for continued cooperation between rangers, government agencies and local communities. The project in Samlout continues after 20 years. The elephants and pangolins found there are a testament to the ecological significance of the forest, and the snares removed by rangers show how vulnerable its wildlife remains. The protection of this landscape will depend on sustained local leadership, effective enforcement and the continued involvement of the communities who call this landscape home.