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Forestry and Plantations Development

 

(i) Introduction

 

The forestry sector in Cambodia stands at a crossroads. The concession system has demonstrably failed. More equitable and sustainable forest management alternatives need to be promoted that adequately protect the long term economic and environmental values and services that forests provide Cambodian people, and in particular their contribution to poverty reduction. In Cambodia, there is an increasing trend towards conversion of natural forests to other uses based on the false perception that maintaining areas under natural forest cover is contrary to Cambodia’s poverty reduction and development goals. NGOs are not “anti-development”, but too often development planning ignores the real contribution that natural forests make to the national economy and local livelihoods.

 

Natural forests play a crucial role in the Cambodian economy and should be viewed as valuable resource to sustain into the future. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are essential to support local livelihoods and provide a significant percentage of family incomes in many areas[1]. Indigenous communities are particularly dependent on NTFPs, with some communities routinely using well over 200 different types of plant products. Natural forest foods provide a safety net to which people can rely upon in times of need and thus help to prevent malnutrition and the potential for urban migration. Increasingly important is the fact that forests mitigate climate events (generating rainfall and protecting against drought, while at the same time reducing flooding and soil erosion by absorbing runoff[2]). Flooded forests and mangroves directly support fisheries, but forests in upland areas are also critical to the productivity of Cambodian fisheries by preventing soil erosion and protecting water quality. In addition, forests provide timber for housing and other construction materials within Cambodia. Managed sustainably, Cambodia’s forest resources will provide the country with a great deal of social, ecological and economic security. Over the past decade local and internationals NGOs have played a leading role in all aspects of forestry reform, notably efforts to strengthen community management, conservation, and resource governance.

 

Cambodia is still fortunate to have sizeable forest cover, while other countries in the region are expending great sums of money replanting or naturally regenerating their forests through drastic protection measures. We commend the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) for designating about 25% of the country, most of which is forested, under protection. On the whole, the draft legislation for protecting these areas is reasonably good, and boundaries of some of the protected areas have already been demarcated. We also appreciate the RGC’s efforts in developing regulations for community based management of forest areas. We have found that there are many committed individuals within government who are trying their best to improve forest management, be it for forest conservation, improved forest management or both.

 

(ii) Key Issues

 

1. Threats to government officials and civil society actors working to support improved forest management

Recent incidents point to increased violence against people involved in promoting improved forest management and restrictions on those monitoring their destruction and raising their concerns in public. Examples include the visa ban on foreign staff of Global Witness and violence against people involved in forest protection. Two rangers were murdered in Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary on 27 September 2005, a ranger working for the Natural Resources Protection Group NGO was murdered in August, and there was an attempted shooting of two community forest activists in Kompong Thom in July.

 

2. Concessions

We commend the Royal Government for releasing a list of economic land concessions; though note that it is incomplete. We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment for inviting comment on the ESIAs (Environment and Social Impact Assessments) of a number of concessions. Furthermore we welcome the delay of the ilmenite mine in Koh Kong province due to concerns over potential illegal logging activities initiated by the Royal Government. The Sub-Decree on Economic Land Concessions has been passed, as has the Sub-Decree on State Land Management.

 

However, the issue of concessions and plantations remains problematic in Cambodia. Logging concessions, land concessions and plantation schemes remain key threats to Cambodia’s forests. While the government is to be commended for maintaining a moratorium on concession operations, and consensus seems to have been reached amongst donors that the 15 remaining logging concessions should be cancelled, large scale logging continues. In the Samraong Wood concession in Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey this has led to the cutting of hundreds of villagers’ resin trees. In Ratanakiri logging is being permitted to supply luxury wood for the new National Assembly building. The granting of this logging license violates several existing laws, not least the 2000 Subdecree on Forest Concession Management which prohibits the re-allocation of cancelled concessions. The license entailed the non-transparent allocation of a forest area to a company lacking forestry expertise, in disregard of the population living in the area, and in a manner that invites timber theft. The process points to the threat that the proposed system of annual coupes poses for forests and communities.

 

Some progress was made in improving the transparency of government decision making through the release of details on economic land concessions, though the list of concessions is incomplete. Another positive development is that the Ministry of Environment invited comments on the environmental and social impact assessments. However the government continues to view economic land concessions as a preferred use of forest areas and a central rural development vehicle. In recent months, numerous new economic land concessions have been granted or are being reviewed, particularly in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear. Too often, in assessing areas for economic land concessions, forests are arbitrarily designated as “degraded” and their ecological and social values are ignored. Concessions are also being promoted in protected areas, including for resort and mining developments in Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary, and a tourism development in Ream National Park. Additional threats to forests, and to protected areas in particular, are mining concessions. These are being granted without adequate consideration of their environmental and social impacts including subsidiary impacts linked to the opening up of previously inaccessible forest areas.

 

3. Migration and land-grabbing 

Migration into forest areas continues at an alarming rate, often associated with new road developments. Land grabbing in forest areas also continues to be a major problem, despite numerous statements that warn against it.

 

4. Military

There have recently been very strong statements made against the military appropriation of land, and some military units have been relocated outside of forest areas. Joint enforcement operations have been conducted in some areas (such as Aural Wildlife Sanctuary) with military support. However, military personnel continue to be involved in many of the forest crimes that are committed, including in protected areas. Since 2004, more than 50% of the forest crime offenders apprehended by Ministry of Environment Rangers in Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary were soldiers, and more than 25% were soldiers in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary[3].

Locations of military development zones have yet to be disclosed, and the development of these areas is often associated with logging operations and violence against local communities.

 

5. Planning and Approval

PLUP (participatory land use planning) has received support as a mechanism for involving local communities in land use planning, and now has a formal legal foundation through the Sub-Decree on State Land Management. PLUP has been carried out in many areas, with government and donor support. Though PLUP results are still recognized only locally, they have been able to play an important role in regulating local land use.

However, decisions on land use continue to be made at higher levels with little or no consultation with local communities or local authorities, and without transparency. Decisions on concessions are often not made by the appropriate technical ministries. Within protected areas, decisions on development activities are commonly made without formal delineation as to where the activity is to be allowed. Likewise, decisions on commercial forest resource use and forestland conversion continue to be made in the absence of the crucial delineation of the Permanent Forest Reserve.

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) have been mandatory since 1999 for most private or public projects. However concessions are often approved before EIAs have been submitted and EIAs are often viewed by concessionaires as a mere formality. EIAs are typically of low quality, and their acceptance regularly occurs without sufficient consultation of affected communities and other interested parties.

 

6.  Legislation and enforcement

Positive developments include the draft Protected Areas Law submitted to the National Assembly and the inauguration of protected areas management in Cambodia’s east. But while the draft law has the potential to provide legal support to the protected area system, a concern is that it contains provisions that are likely to be used to authorize development activities that will over time undermine their integrity.

In relation to enforcement issues, logging appears to be on the rise in much of the country.[4] This logging, most or all of which is illegal, occurs with impunity. Few forest crimes go to court, and of those that do, few punishments are of sufficient a magnitude to deter those breaking the law. There seems to be a lack of political will and there is a lack of institutional capacity to enforce existing forestry legislation. It is thus vital that independent forest monitoring (IFM) be revised and strengthened. The current independent monitor has proved unwilling or incapable of addressing underlying causes of forest crime and should be replaced. NGOs stand ready to contribute constructively to an overhaul of the IFM framework.

 

7.  Community access and tenure

We commend the Royal Government for its increasing support of community forestry, evidenced most strongly by the launch of the National Community Forestry Program (NCFP). Furthermore, the draft Protected Areas Law also makes good provision for communities to secure access to forest resources and to manage and use forested Community Protected Areas. A number of CPAs have already been granted by the Ministry of Environment.

However, severe restrictions on community forestry remain. The Forest Administration has documented over 200 community forestry sites for its national database. However, no community forests have been recognized by the Forest Administration and the prakas giving guidelines for community forestry has not yet been passed. Informal community forestry is not respected, although providing legal recognition and financial support to pre-existing or informal community forestry practices continues to hold the greatest promise for improved forest management.

 

There is also increased interest in partnership forestry, recommended by the Independent Forest Sector Review. However, there is still only limited support to commune councils for forestry management or effort to explore this concept within the legal system.

 

(iii) Recommendations

 

Significant progress was made in promoting forestry reform for a period in the late 1990s, for which the government deserves considerable credit. More recently, however, the momentum generated has dissipated and gains have been reversed. Opportunities remain to move the agenda forward however, notably by implementing recommendations from the Independent Forest Sector Review and expanding community forestry. These critical next steps must be accompanied by sincere efforts from the government to tackle the vested interests that are currently robbing rural Cambodians of the forest and land on which their livelihoods depend. In this regard, particular emphasis should be placed on measures to strengthen law enforcement and increase transparency.

 

Recommendations include:

w   The involvement of state institutions in the management of natural resources and the approval of private development schemes should be made more transparent through immediate and regular public disclosure of existing contracts and the compliance status of contracts governing economic land concessions, mining concessions, and forest concessions.

w   Donors and government need to agree on a timetable and resources required for the demarcation of a permanent forest reserve. This should occur without delay and involve a participatory process for zonation of protected areas taking into account provisions in the proposed Protected Areas Law.

w   The recommendations of the Independent Forest Sector Review and World Bank to terminate the concession system should be followed by the government taking measures to cancel all remaining logging concessions. In their place management models supportive of Cambodia’s rural population should be enacted including community and partnership forestry. Steps should also be taken by the government to approve various community forestry and community protected area prakas and implement the National Community Forestry Program.

w   The moratorium on approving new economic land concessions must be reinstated, and a transparent and consultative review of existing economic land concessions conducted. Land concessions based on contracts in violation of the law must be cancelled, and concessions greater than 10,000 hectares reduced in size. ESIA procedures need to be made more comprehensive and transparent.

w   A moratorium must be imposed on the construction of roads into forest areas and protected areas until the permanent forest reserve is demarcated.

w   Military units must not be based in and around forest areas and a policy of zero tolerance for soldiers involved in logging and land grabbing implemented. For a number of years civil society actors have called for the disclosure of the location and legal status of all military development zones. Release of this information should be used by donors as an indicator of progress on improved governance.

w   Based on wider initiatives supporting judicial reform, donors should seek to promote new legal and transparency initiatives to hold the powerful accountable for forest crimes including the appropriation of forestland.

w   The institutional framework within which independent monitoring might operate needs to be revised and strengthened. This should be done by initiating a period of public education on its potential role and wide consultation on the terms of reference. A qualified independent monitor should be appointed on the basis of an open bidding process.

w   The media must be given space to be able to freely report on environment and forestry issues and the visa ban on Global Witness’ foreign staff lifted.

 

For more information on the issues raised in this paper, please contact:

The Land and Livelihoods Programme of the NGO Forum on Cambodia at

Tel: 023 990-063, Email: ngoforum@ngoforum.org.kh.

 


[1] Studies by the Royal University of Agriculture in forested parts of Pursat Province in 2005 found households gained an average of $90 per month from renewable, sustainable NTFPs.

[2] The Cardamom Mountains receive more than 5 meters of rainfall per year, and forests help to prevent the massive flooding in Koh Kong, Battambang, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang and Pursat provinces that might occur if they were logged. 

[3] Figures by Ministry of Environment (MoE) quoted in annual report of the MoE-FFI Cardamom Mountains Wildlife Sanctuaries Project 2005.

[4] A prime example is Sandan district in Kompong Thom where logging is occurring on a massive scale, involving the cutting of hundreds of resin trees.

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