Forestry Sector

(i) Introduction

Cambodia’s forests continue to disappear at an alarming rate, with serious impacts on livelihoods of local communities. Anarchic logging continues to prevail, concessionaires continue to ignore guidelines for sustainable forest management, and forest areas continue to be converted permanently to plantations.

This is despite strong leadership and commitment to forestry reform at the highest level. During the past year, the Prime Minister has, in televised speeches. 1) Called for stopping the cutting of trees which villagers are tapping for the resin, 2) called for restrictions on transporting of logs, 3) called for cancellation of concessions which don’t follow the rules, 4) called for the organization of community forests and greater restrictions on concessionaires, 5) recognized the tragedy in terms of forest loss in the recent past and committed the government to protecting Cambodia’s forests and making forestry reform a centerpiece of the government, 6) announced a ban on logging and the need to increase the area of protected areas, 7) announced that cancelled concessions would be put under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment, 8) announced that any concessionaire who logged after the ban took effect would be cancelled, 9) called for areas to be excised from concessions for community use, and 10) warned government officials not to get involved in illegal logging.

We commend the government for banning sales of wildlife in Phnom Penh restaurants, requiring all concessionaires to complete Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) and sustainable forest management plans before being authorized to cut again, and taking steps to develop a national forest policy.

The importance of forests in Cambodia is increasingly recognized. For example, the floods in 2001 were estimated to have cost the country significantly more than what was earned from all logging concessions. The importance of forests to communities has been given increased attention, not least in the development of the Sub-Decree on Community Forestry and involvement of communities in its drafting. There is a greater recognition of the critical role of forests in poverty reduction.

We appreciate the Department of Forestry and Wildlife’s welcoming of NGOs to become more involved in forestry issues, particularly through the development of Community Forests.

(ii) Key Issues

1. Forest concessions: Significant policy changes have been made in the past year with regards to logging concessions. These include: the ban on transporting logs on which royalties have not yet been paid; the ban on logging until ESIAs and management plans have been approved (starting 1 January 2002), the recognition that some concessions will have to be cancelled and that if they are those areas will become protected areas under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment; and the decision to cut parts out of concessions for the development of Community forests.

However, there is a growing recognition that the concession system will not work in Cambodia, just as it has not worked in other countries. Many forest areas given to concessionaires are not suitable for this kind of commercial timber extraction and should never have been allowed. Despite numerous documented illegal activities on the part of concessionaires during the past year, concessionaires have not faced the consequences of their actions. Over the past year, concessionaires have continued to cut many more trees than they are allowed to cut in a given area, have allowed anarchic logging in their concessions, and have cut trees tapped by villagers for resin. This has happened despite the prohibition by the 1988 Forestry Law, which is in force, and an order by the Prime Minister dated 18 April 2001 prohibiting the felling of resin trees. When Global Witness reported on illegal felling of resin trees, forestry officials attempted to sue them and no one was ever held accountable despite clear evidence of wrong-doing. A number of concessionaires are extremely well-connected, the most so being Pheapimex which does not bother to follow even the most basic guidelines for concession management and whose operations are more like organized anarchic logging.

Extreme negative impacts by concessionaires on communities continued in the past year, in addition to the cutting of resin trees mentioned above. Checkpoints have continued to restrict access by outsiders to villages within some concessions, and concessionaires have continued to control community access to roads, which they built over existing community roads. Paramilitary units, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and Military Police units continue to provide protection for concessions and harass villagers. The cutting of parts of concessions to give back to communities, planned for the end of 2001, has not yet been implemented.

Despite extremely strong words by the Prime Minister, there is evidence of concessionaires continuing to cut trees after the January 1 ban, as yet with no obvious consequences.

2. Land concessions: Though the Government has made strong statements against logging concessions, disturbingly it has promoted the conversion of forest lands to agricultural plantations. The most notable was the official opening of the Tumring Rubber Plantation in Kampong Thom, with 4356 Ha (including large areas of nearly pristine forest) to be planted as an industrial rubber plantation. The logging companies from whose concessions the area was excised have been invited back in to harvest the timber in the area, and the devastation of the forest has been horrendous. Large areas of primary forest have been reduced to bare soil. Within weeks hundreds of resin trees were cut, despite the current forestry law and the Prime Minister’s prohibition. The impact on the livelihoods of local villagers, who in the past have depended largely on forest products, has been severe. The government has announced a plan to increase the area of rubber plantations from the current 70,000 Ha to 350,000 Ha, a feat which can no doubt be achieved only by clear-cutting other areas of intact forest. At the same time, the rubber industry in general is suffering from extremely low rubber prices.

A solution to the Pheapimex land concession covering 300,000 Ha in Pursat and Kompong Chhnang, including large areas of forest, has yet to be announced despite strong community protestations about the negative impacts the concession will have on their livelihoods.

In Stung Treng, the Flour Company has begun clearing dense forest in a 7,000 Ha land concession. Another land concession, the Green Sea concession in Stung Treng, began getting underway this year. The area of the proposed concession is located on former forest concession land; and according to the Sub-Decree on the Management of Forest Concessions, it must be preserved as natural forest and should not be granted as a concession to any other company. At 110,128 Ha, the concession is also much larger than the 10,000 Ha allowed by the newly approved Land Law.

It is our understanding that the new Land Law authorizes land concessions only on state private land, which forestland would not constitute. If the granting of land concessions in areas taken out of concession or other forestland continues, Cambodia’s forests will disappear permanently at a rate never before seen in the country. The impacts on livelihoods will also be irreversible.

3. Anarchic logging: In 1999, the extent of anarchic logging was drastically reduced. Regular reports of crackdowns on illegal logging indicate that the government continues to tackle this problem. However, efforts are nowhere up to the task, and in many areas where illegal activities are stopped, they soon start up again.

Anarchic logging continues in most forested areas of the country, including within concessions and protected areas, and appear to have increased in comparison to the previous year. The National Assembly has raised questions about extensive anarchic logging in the Phnom Kulen National Park. Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Military Police units are the driving force behind most medium-scale anarchic logging activities in the country’s forests.

4. Clearing of land: Along with the granting of land concessions, extensive clearing of land for private ownership is a worrisome trend, which leads to the permanent loss of forest cover. It is of particular concern that the Government has called for setting aside of more forest lands for clearing by people who need the land. We fear that areas excised from concessions will be announced as areas for conversion to farmland. illegal clearing of forest land takes place in almost all protected areas, in many instances with approval of the local and provincial authorities. During 2001, cases of land grabbing, often organized by RCAF elements, increased sharply.

5.  Marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs): We congratulate the government for successfully abolishing monopolies on the transport of resin in some provinces, leading to higher prices for local communities which depend on resin-tapping for a large fraction of their household incomes. However, obstacles to the transport and sale of non-timber forest products continue to pose a significant problem for forest-dependent communities. The transport of resin (a product whose production does not harm the forest) continues to be subject to a range of controls and fees, which work to keep the price low for producers. Despite strong international demand for it, export continues to be informal and secretive. The Department of Forestry and Wildlife recently reported that they have confiscated 45 tonnes of liquid resin (chor teuk) so far this year.

6. Forestry Law and Community Forestry (CF) sub-Decree: The Forestry Law remains where it was a year ago, at the National Assembly. The latest draft still contains a number of controversial sections mostly related to the overly dominating role given to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and its centralized approach. Significant progress has been made on the Sub-Decree on Community Forestry, and the government is to be commended for allowing a high level of participation by forest-dependent communities and other stakeholders across the country in its drafting culminating in a face-to-face meeting between community representatives and the Department of Forestry. In many ways the Sub-Decree is a strong piece of legislation that can help protect communities’ rights and livelihoods.

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