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KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 19: A cow passes in front of a lake that lies at the bottom of one of the limestone formations of the Kampot Karsts on January 19, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Karst hills in southeast Cambodia have been for the most part left unstudied and are unique due to the presence of highly specialized flora which is found only in this ecosystem. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: J. Andrew McDonald (62), Associate Professor at the University Texas Rio Grande Valley, points at the location where the expedition team need to get to during their daily search for unknown flora species on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. A team of seven national and international members explore for the first time the flora of the limestone mountains known as Phnom Kampong Trach as part of the Kampot Karst Conservation project by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) aimed to a floristic reconnaissance of a never-before studied area of Cambodia that could help to declare the area as protected. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: The Chief of the Forestry Association of Kampong Trach, Ken Sam An (61), crosses deep jungle while leading the way for the expedition team, followed by J. Andrew McDonald (62), Associate Professor at the University Texas Rio Grande Valley, IUCN Volunteer and Technical Advisor Steven Bernacki (36) and Neang Thy, Herpetologist at the Cambodian Ministry of Environment on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. A team led J. Andrew McDonald is studying rare and endemic plants that grow in the Karst hills of Phnom Kampong Trach, as part of the Kampot Karst Conversation Project of the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN). McDonald and his team have already discovered one floral species - part of the Amorphophallus family - which had never been discovered before. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: Tran Huv Dang (33), Vietnamese researcher from the Southern Institute of Ecology in Saigon, looks down to a deep cavity while trying to find a path to follow on the side of a limestone mountain on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. Members of the expedition team are exploring these unknown areas of Phnom Kampong Trach, taking risks while trying to find paths that will allow them to explore as deeply as possible in the mountain in order to find as many unknown flora species as they can in an attempt to convert these threatened limestone formations into protected areas and to avoid their exploitation for the cement industry. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: The Chief of the Forestry Association of Kampong Trach, Ken Sam An (61), climbs out of deep jungle while leading the way for the expedition team on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. Sam An has been living all his life near the limestone mountains of Kampong Trach, which he patrols on a daily basis in order to protect the trees and stones from illegal exploitation. His extensive knowledge about the area is of great help to the expedition team in finding new areas where to search for unknown flora species. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: IUCN Volunteer and Technical Advisor Steven Bernacki (36) crosses deep jungle while holding an epilithic (rock dwelling) orchid specimen that he had collected on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. Although it may seem like an important discovery, collecting specimens is only a first step in examining the ecosystem of the Kampot Karst and will need to be studied over the next few months by American and Vietnamese botanists to determine which are endemic to the hills. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: IUCN Volunteer and Technical Advisor Steven Bernacki (36) crawls through a narrow crevice in between limestone formations on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Karst hills in southeast Cambodia have been for the most part left unstudied and are unique due to the presence of highly specialized flora which is found only in this ecosystem. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: The Chief of the Forestry Association of Kampong Trach, Ken Sam An (61) (left), Neang Thy, Herpetologist at the Cambodian Ministry of Environment (center) and Lorn Sokchan (23), assistant researcher at the Cambodian Entomology Institute at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (right), explore the interior of a cave known as the "Bat Cave" on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Kampong Trach (Kampong Trach Mountain), Cambodia. Intricate and complex limestone habitats, such as caves, have emerged over millions of years by natural processes, and once damaged, may be impossible to restore. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: An Animist and Buddhist shrine can been seen inside a cave located near Wat Kirisan on January 20, 2017 in Phnom Sor near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. Many of the caves are used for both Brahmanism and Buddhist worship purposes, with shrines and small temples present in many of the more easily accessible caves. Some of these caves were also used Vietcong soldiers hiding from American bombs during the Vietnam War. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: Members of the expedition led by Associate Professor of the University Texas Rio Grande Valley J. Andrew McDonald collect specimens of unknown species at the entrance of a gigantic cave known as the "Bat Cave" on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. The nature of limestone habitats means that, often, a particular species may only flourish in a very small area – such as these caves – and as a result, even a single extractive quarry can result in a global extension of that particular species – something which has already happened in other areas of the world. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 19: Neang Thy, Herpetologist at the Cambodian Ministry of Environment, climbs up the side of a limestone formation while taking part in a floristic reconnaissance expedition on the Kampot Karst hills on January 19, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. Despite their biological importance and the level of threat they face, the karst hills have rarely been featured in discussions regarding biodiversity conservation in Cambodia, as the country has never included a karst formation in its conservation plan. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: Associate Professor at the University Texas Rio Grande Valley J. Andrew McDonald stands on the top of a deep limestone cavity after collecting a rare specimen of orchidaceae on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. IUCN's work includes developing partnerships and programs with the government and stakeholders related to the conservation of the environment in Cambodia, and to the sustainable and equitable use of the country's natural resources to contribute to socioeconomic development. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: Associate Professor at the University Texas Rio Grande Valley Andrew McDonald collects an unknown specimen from the acanth family that he found on the Kampot Karst on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. Although it may seem like an important discovery, collecting specimens is only a first step in examining the ecosystem of the Kampot Karst and will need to be studied over the next few months by American and Vietnamese botanists to determine which are endemic to the hills. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: The Chief of the Forestry Association of Kampong Trach, Ken Sam An (61), places a specimen that he just collected inside a sac for posterior examination on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. For each unknown species found during the mission, the team collects five samples, some of which will become part of Cambodia's National Herbarium very small collection of 10,000 species. Other samples will be sent to research labs in Vietnam and the United States to be studied and archived. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: Members of the team led by Associate Professor at the University Texas Rio Grande Valley Andrew McDonald (center-left) prepare newspapers for the drying process of the species collected during their expedition at the Kampot Karst, while Luu Hong Truong, Vice-Director and Head of the Department of Botany of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, takes a photograph of a specimen on January 20, 2017 in Kampong Trach, Cambodia. After collecting the specimens, the team places them inside newspaper pages and cardboard to start the pressing process during which specimens are flattened out to their maximum. After setting up the presses, these are placed in a metallic structure covered by cardboard where a heater is placed at the bottom of the structure. The drying process can last for up to seven days, during which constant heat is applied to the specimens. After being dried, specimens will be placed inside a freezer set up at -70° C to kill any insects and bugs for five to seven days. Once this whole process is finished, the specimen can survive for hundreds of years. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
KAMPONG TRACH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: The Chief of the Forestry Association of Kampong Trach, Ken Sam An (61), walks in front of a pile of empty bags of Kampot Cement in front of Phnom Kampong Trach on January 20, 2017 near Kampong Trach, Cambodia. Kampot Cement is the largest producer of cement in Cambodia and its cement production facility is located only a dozen of kilometers away from Kampong Trach Mountain. The factory opened in 2008 and has a production capacity of almost a million ton of cement per year. The cement is produced from the limestone of the Kampot Karst, putting in danger the ecosystem of this unique area. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
CHROKCHEY VILLAGE, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: View of the Kampot Cement facility set up on the hill side of Tuok Meas Mountain on January 20, 2017 in Chrokchey Village, Cambodia. Kampot Cement is the largest producer of cement in Cambodia. It is estimated that Cambodia's annual demand for cement is over 5 million tons a year. New cement plants are in the process of being built in Kampot and Battambang provinces, which would raise the annual production of Cambodia's cement significantly. The furious development of the country has increased significantly the need to produce local cement in order to cut costs on imported cement, which currently increases the price of constructing buildings in Cambodia. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
CHROKCHEY VILLAGE, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 20: A limestone hill where Kampot Cement company is blasting is seen from a hut where bags of Kampot cement are left beside piles of limestone rocks and gravel on January 20, 2017 in Chrokchey Village, Cambodia. Quarrying these hills is the biggest threat to the species that flourish in the environment, and will worsen Southeast Asia's biodiversity crisis. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
CHROKCHEY VILLAGE, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 21: Two women break limestone under a tin roof while the hut’s owner Samora (27) walks by holding a hammer on January 21, 2017 in Chrokchey Village, Cambodia. Samora, a 27-year-old worker at Kampot Cement who makes USD 170 a month working as an electrician for the company, buys the limestone from illegal miners who hammer out the limestone in some of the mountains in the area and sells it after to private buyers as building material for their homes or construction projects. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
LVEA VILLAGE, CAMBODIA - JANUARY 21: A Kampot Cement truck drives along the National Road 3 that links Kampot to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on January 21, 2017 in Lvea Village, Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. Kampot Cement is the largest producer of cement in Cambodia. Its cement production facility is located only a dozen of kilometers away from Kampot Trach Mountain; the factory opened in 2008 and has a production capacity of almost a million tons of cement per year. The cement is produced from the limestone of the Kampot Karst, putting in danger the ecosystem of this unique area. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 23: A bag of Kampot Cement is blown away by the wind on a site where luxury condominiums are being built and planned on top of what was once the Boeung Kak Lake on January 23, 2017 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Figures released by the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management at the beginning of January 2017, the 2,636 construction projects approved in 2016 alone are valued at more than USD 8.5 billion – twice the value of constructions projects in 2015. This rapid economic development is threatening the natural ecosystems of the limestone of the Kampot Karst. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 23: A young construction worker fills a bucket with cement in front of a building under construction in an area of recent development near Psa Tuol Tom Poung (Russian Market) on January 23, 2017 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The production of cement is often used as an indicator for economic growth, and as such limestone plays a particularly important role in economic development. Construction projects – including dams and bridges, ports, buildings and roads – heavily depend on the extraction of limestone – a fundamental yet irreplaceable activity. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – JANUARY 25: Dozens of new apartment buildings under construction are seen from a rooftop at the Russian Market on January 25, 2017 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In recent years the cityscape of Phnom Penh has changed drastically; high-rise buildings and concrete houses have replaced what were once French colonial buildings and traditional tin roof houses, progressively giving way to a new city that will still be under construction for years to come. Thousands of new apartments are planned to be built in Phnom Penh over the next 10 years, placing an increasing danger on the limestone of Cambodia. Photo: © Omar Havana for The New York Times

Millions of years ago, a cluster of coral reefs stood firm here as the water receded, leaving them surrounded by the marshy, mangrove-studded Mekong Delta.

Today, these reefs have been carved by the wind and rain into spiky limestone cliffs known as karsts that stand stark against the Cambodian landscape, even as the lowland rain forest around them has been denuded by centuries of intensive rice cultivation and logging.

Soon, they will be gone.

Intro by Julia Wallace for The New York Times

This story was done while on assignment for The New York Times

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