Assessment of land use forest policy and governance in Cambodia Jeremy Broadhead FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand 19 th August

Objectives  to assist identification of key drivers of deforestation and/or forest degradation;  to review past efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation;  to identify promising approaches for the national REDD strategy.

Methodology  Desk based study based on secondary sources  Consultations in Phnom Penh  Questionnaire distributed to potential informants

Presentation structure 1.Trends in deforestation and degradation 2.Drivers of deforestation and degradation 3.Efforts to reduce deforestation and degradation 4.REDD strategy focal areas

Trends in deforestation

Trends in forest degradation  Fire (thought to have degraded forest over hundreds of years)  Logging has reduced stocking densities  Quantitative information scarce e.g. if coastal forests in Koh Kong province were allowed to recover to 70% of their 1980 carbon density level, an extra 80t/ha CO2e would be sequestered (CCAP)

Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation  Demography  Infrastructure development  Demand for land  Demand for wood  Fire  Governance

Demography  Population growth at 1.7% per annum – highest in SE Asia  Rural population growth at 1.2%  Internal migration is very important Source: UN Population Division 2006

Infrastructure development  Widespread multiplier effects – especially roads New roads from Kampong Cham to Kratie and from Kratie to Stung Treng New roads and bridges in Koh Kong and through Ratanakiri into Vietnam  Mining also a threat

Demand for land – agricultural production  Cambodia is a net rice exporter  Per capita rice production higher than Thailand or Lao PDR  Rice yields (t/ha) are lowest in GMS but increasing at the highest rate  Low institutional and management capacity to support farmers and the agricultural sector are core problems in perpetuating low growth in productivity, stagnation in the rural economy and persistent poverty Source: FAO FAOSTAT database; TWGAW 2010

Demand for land  Commercial agriculture has become much more important, especially: Economic land concessions (~1m ha) Land speculation  In-migration is very important in forest areas (annual population growth of up to 5-16%)

Demand for wood  Industrial roundwood demand difficult to assess and highly dependent on economic conditions;  Domestic consumption and export higher than from annual coupes;  Export of thousand cum sawnwood before economic downturn;  Total industrial roundwood demand 0.5-1m cum?  Woodfuel demand 6-8+ million CUM?

Forest fire  Received wisdom is that fire has degraded forest in Cambodia  Alternative proposal is that it has maintained forest  Generally agreed that very frequent burning degrades forest but more research needed.

Governance  Overlapping jurisdictions  Lack of uniformity of implementation of laws  Low transparency  Poor enforcement  Corruption  Low participation

Efforts to reduce deforestation and degradation  Protected forests Rates of deforestation lowered  Community forestry Important in allocating land and resource rights  FLEG – a work in progress “With the PM's call for illegal logging to stop, things have slowed down, so if this level of commitment can be maintained, there's a potential for some real govt based enforcement to take place.” Anon (questionnaire response)

Scenarios for strategy assessment  Scenario 1: Enforcement of 60% forest area target Funding directed more towards enforcement  Scenario 2: Forest area is in the balance Funding directed more towards opportunity costs and rationalisation of areas appropriate for REDD

Possible focal areas  Continue with CF, PAs and FLEG efforts  Provide incentives to reduce migration  Implement land and forest sector governance reforms  Agricultural intensification rather than extensification  Develop sound strategy to supply wood demand

Possible focal areas – central level  Equitably allocate land rights according to the Land Law and establish a clear and transparent conflict resolution mechanism  Encourage transparency, public disclosure and consultation in relation to forest related development  ESIA in relation to proposed development in forest areas  Review procedures for allocating Land Concession  Collect and disseminate information and statistics on land and forest resources

Possible focal areas – field level  Demarcate the Permanent Forest Estate  Raise awareness of rights and responsibilities  Support improved forest fire management and research  Increase efficiency of wood use  Environmental education