The Association of Buddhists of the Environment (ABE), funded by UNDP, Global Environment Fund, Small Grants Programme, has implemented the Environmental Education through Pagodas Project which promotes the special role of monks in guiding local populations in understanding and protecting natural resources, as well as improving the environment. The overall objective of the project is to support and strengthen the role of pagodas/Buddhist monks in the areas of environmental conservation and education at the local community level, with particular focus on Buddhist monks/pagodas in natural resources conservation in Kampong Leng district of Kampong Chhnang province.

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Approximately 90km north of Phnom Penh, the Kampong Chhnang province consists of 8 districts, 69 communes, 546 villages and 86,944 families. Kampong Chhnang's main industries are fishing and rice growing, as well as pottery. In Khmer, chhnang means pot. There is also a lobster fishing industry. There is also a large fishing industry in the parts of the province that are situated near the Tonle Sap Lake, one of the biggest lakes in South Asia. With its green paddy fields, rivers and sugar palm-lined horizons, Kampong Chhnang is a wonderful place to spend a few lazy days and take in the sights of the traditional Cambodian way of life.

The idea of setting aside a day to plant trees originated in the United States. In the 1800s, concern grew about rapid deforestation of the United States. It was Julius Sterling Morton, editor of the Nebraska City News, who persuaded his state to make 10 April 1872 a tree-planting holiday called "Arbor Day". The practice gradually spread to other states and today, most states in the United States observe Arbor Day on the last Friday in April.