Australia gives $1 million to protect Angkor Wat

The Australian government has donated almost $1 million to help protect Cambodia's historic Angkor temple site.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the donation during a trip to the South-East Asian nation on Monday.

"We are putting nearly $1 million into a heritage protection plan for the Angkor World Heritage area to stop it being trampled to death as visitor numbers rise to 20,000 per day," Senator Carr said.

"We are using the experience gained at Uluru in central Australia and other UNESCO world heritage sites."

The Angkor site, parts of which are about 700 years old, is made up of the Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat and Bayon temples.

Millions of tourists visit the site every year, raising concerns about parts of it crumbling.

Senator Carr visited a Fred Hollows Foundation centre at the Siem Reap Regional Eye Hospital, in northwest Cambodia, on Sunday.

Australia has donated $6 million to the facility, including money to train local doctors and nurses to remove cataracts.

AAP