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Participatory Land Use Planning
Training in mapping and land use planning is required in the Mean Rith red soil areas. This is both for delineating areas of cash cropping and forest protection but also to assist with obtaining official recognition for these villages.
Support for decentralization activities
CoDec could be assisted in their efforts to prepare more accurate records of people living in this area. Support could also be given to CoDec’s efforts to build the capacity of the administrative committees that have been set up in these villages. This should include assistance to these committees and communities to develop advocacy strategies to get the Ministry of Interior to recognize the villages in this area so that they can find it easier to request land titles, schools, teachers, health clinics, etc.
Other assistance could be getting local people to advocate for themselves by learning how to understand and use environmental and social impact assessment, existing legislation, compare land uses, etc.
Human Rights advocacy
Human rights organisations could assist in supporting and training some village level agents in Mean Rith as has been happening in Tum Ring. This is important because the model of displacement and industrial agriculture development presently being formulated in Tum Ring Commune may well be applied in Mean Rith and other areas.
Legal rights training and awareness raising is required to confront the attempts of Colexim and other officials to get people to thumbprint documents.
Investigation into cases of land grabbing
Support to the village committees should include investigating the legitimacy of peoples’ land claims and developing conflict resolution processes to assist traditional landowners of the area to claim compensation and or resolve disputes with newer in-migrants.
Compensation scheme
A system of compensation could be developed to allow former resin tree owners to claim for the cutting of their resin trees. People who cut resin trees could be required to plant a variety of trees back for the former resin tree owner or for the community.
Farmer Associations
As part of decentralization activities people could be asked if they would interested to develop farmer associations for a stronger voice when dealing with merchants, etc. This could eventually develop into credit associations to break the power of the merchants and reduce problems caused by indebtedness.
Exchange visits/networking
Should be conducted between Mean Rith, Tum Ring and other areas to share experiences and develop networks for mutual support. As part of possible Farmer Association development links and exchange visits should be carried out with pilot efforts being implemented by the Centre d’Education and Developpement de l’Agriculture Cambodgien (CEDAC) to develop national Farmers and Smallholder Rubber Associations in Kampong Cham Province.
On farm trials to improve present farming systems
Along with further research into the potential uses of red soil areas a programme of on farm trials could be developed with local farmers to improve sustainability and productivity of present farming systems. This on farm research could especially include the development of agroforestry systems. Farmers could be assisted and encouraged to plant trees on their land to strengthen their claims. Tree nurseries could be established as part of Farmer Association activities and could include longer term forest, fruit, resin and other useful species.
Alternative models of smallholder rubber development could also be investigated, for example rubber agroforests with mixed fruit (and even resin) trees to provide alternatives for small farmers to the risk prone monoculture plantation models being developed in Tum Ring.
Anti logging advocacy
Illegal logging is open and blatant in this area. Advocacy is required to highlight this. Tum Ring are getting hit both ways by losing their land and slowly but surely their resin trees. Mean Rith Commune Councillors want to do something about illegal logging. An information collection and reporting process needs to be set up.
Community forestry/forest protection
Community Forestry activities need to be more coordinated at the District and Provincial level. The Sandan District have expressed support for establishing community forestry as an alternative to anarchic concession management. Chom Phkar Area has also expressed interest in established a community forest area in Prey Domnak Sdach.
Awareness raising is also required to protect any remaining forest areas, resin trees and wildlife in this area. This should be coordinated with land use planning to bring under some control the clearing of forest areas for cash cropping.
Policy level advocacy
A campaign should also be developed by relevant organizations and community groups with the aim of requiring the Government to openly state its intentions and its timetable for rubber development activities in Mean Rith and other red soil areas.
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
Relevant organizations and community groups should lobby the Government to make sure that a fully participatory and transparent environmental and social impact assessment is carried out before any land use changes or relocation of existing residents is contemplated.
Further studies
Other red soil areas in Mean Rith Commune, Sandan District and Prey Long
These need to be more precisely identified so that rubber developers cannot make the argument that they should be allowed to clear forested red soil areas for rubber because people are already using the main areas for cash cropping. Klien Commune, Sandan District is also reported to have a large area of red soil. Red soil areas have also been reported on the "road" to Phnom Chi, northeast of Chaom Svay and beyond the end of the Colexim road, past camp 99 (Eva Galabru pers. comm.)
Investigation into the future market for rubber and the development of an enviornmnetally and socially responsible rubber development plan for the country.
Investigations could look at likely future demand for rubber, existing and planned world wide production, models of smallholder rubber development. This should be compared with other potential uses and crops on these red soil areas. This discussion of alternative land uses should include investigating the feasibility of alternative diverse agroforestry systems (which could also include rubber, see Appendix 5) as one of the development pathways for red soils areas in the country.
A national rubber development plan should be based on renovating existing plantations and diverse smallholder rubber rather than on clearing forest for plantation development.
Comparisons of land uses for red soil areas
It is important to generate more discussion about the use of these red soil areas considering that there are significant red soils areas in the northeast and in other parts of the country. Information from this study could be compared with actual and projected revenues from rubber in Tum Ring. The baseline cropping information in this report could also be used to investigate how present farming systems could be improved.
Any investigation into land use on red soil areas should of course include an investigation of forest based livelihood activities on these red soil areas such as resin tapping, cultivation and harvesting of forest crops such as cardamom, managed forest honey production, etc.[1]