Cambodia is in the process of changing from “100 percent conservation” to a system that can accommodate development and the issue of how that transition is handled came to the fore in recent weeks when, through a little-known Australian firm, Indochine Resources, two flamboyant Australians won the right to explore for unnamed minerals in 180,000 hectares, or 54 percent, of Cambodia’s Asean-heritage listed Virachey National Park, writes Douglas Gillison.