The government’s policies of poverty alleviation and economic development will likely not be realized through the policy of rubber development; on the contrary, the development of rubber plantation in Tum Ring demonstrates a failure of government policy to realize concrete improvements in people’s livelihoods and in reducing poverty. In the Tum Ring example, it is increasing the poverty of the community and needs to be reviewed.
The plantation was undertaken without regard to the economic, social and environmental impacts on the community. It was established in an inappropriate location, where there were heavy forests which formed the basic livelihood for local people for generations. The project has been implemented without the serious consideration of consultation with or participation of local people. People have been deprived of forest resources and their lands. They have had to take risks and to rely on uncertain returns from a long-term investment in rubber. The project promoting villagers to plant family scale rubber is poorly organized. Villagers are not given any training on rubber planting and management and are not given land titles. There is no formal or written agreement between the rubber company and the local people regarding family scale rubber, and no alternative livelihood for people during the pre-latex production period. As a result, family scale rubber plantation has not been implemented according to the promises made by the Prime Minister during the rubber plantation opening ceremony.
The impacts of the rubber plantation have put more pressure on forest resources and wildlife habitats inside and outside the commune. Valuable forests were cleared and converted. Forest areas and numbers of wildlife have declined dramatically since the rubber plantation arrived. Migration of people in and out of the commune is another cause of deforestation and land conflicts. In general, property rights are not clearly defined in the community.
The cost-benefit analysis shows that the costs of the rubber plantation exceed its benefits through the project life of 30 years. This means that the net social benefits of the rubber plantation are negative. The project is not profitable: development should not be continued because the larger forest area cleared would incur more costs than benefits. Thus, limiting the plantation to its current size and protecting the remaining forests is the only option to prevent excessive negative impacts on the local people and environment. The government and other stakeholders should review the policy of rubber development in order to identify its strength and weakness and address current conflicts resulting from the policy implementation.
There are three sets of recommendations for minimizing negative impacts of rubber plantation, addressing current issues and improving future planning of rubber development in Cambodia.
Keep the remaining forests
• The remaining forests should be protected and managed by the community with the cooperation of related government agencies. Local NGOs can play an important role in establishing community forestry.
• There should be proper land-use planning in the commune so as to minimize impacts on the local people and forested areas.
• The future market for resin trees and other NTFPs should be investigated.
• The rubber company should provide training to and share information with local people on community forestry management, land law, forestry law and human rights.
Improve implementation of the ‘family scale rubber plantation’ on the cleared area
• The rubber company should decrease the planting area on the industrial side and concentrate on getting the smallholder section of the development operating properly.
• The project should include different components or issues, namely land titling, agreements, long-term credit, technical assistance, marketing support services, alternative livelihoods activities and farmers groups or associations.
• The rubber company should provide Tum Ring villagers with trainings and exchange visits to family rubber plantation projects in other areas. The rubber company should also share information with the local people market on prospects for rubber.
Improve the planning of rubber development in the country
• A proper environmental and social impact assessment procedure should be developed before establishing rubber plantations.
• A clear plan of a rubber plantation project should be developed in order to prevent a repeat of the mistakes in Tum Ring.
• Local people should be allowed to participate in developments that impact strongly on them.
• Other models of smallholder rubber development should be investigated and implemented, e.g. rubber agro forests mixed with fruit trees etc.
• The future market for rubber should be investigated and a rubber development plan should be developed for the country.
• The profitability of existing plantations should be investigated, with a concentration on improving the profitability of existing plantations rather than clearing forest for new plantations.
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