| |
 Part 4: Reform in
the forests
Part
1: River of controversy
Part
2: The challenge of China
Part
3: Hey, big spenders
PHNOM PENH - No one
knows more than Cambodia's timber association that the
country's forests are a national asset. After all,
logging companies earn tens of millions of dollars in
annual revenue, while giving small remittances to the
local villages.
Illegal logging and
deforestation have resulted in a vast reduction of
Cambodia's precious forestry. Some 2.6 million hectares
of forest have disappeared over the past two decades,
according to figures from officials at the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
 "We are
aware of this precious natural resource and now are
taking steps even though there is a government-mandated
moratorium to rein in the rogue companies," says Henry
Kong, chairman of the Cambodian Timber Association.
In any developing economy, it often takes years,
even with the efforts of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and thousands of concerned citizens, to effect
change. All the data are not in, but the timber
association recognizes the problem: almost 50 percent of
Cambodia's forest cover has been logged. While some
timber has been cut by villagers for fuel, home
construction, and the cultivation of more crops to feed
an expanding population base, the logging companies are
responsible for decimating much of the timber along the
Mekong.
One month ago, Cambodia's National
Assembly enacted a new forestry law making it illegal to
cut trees outside concession areas, in national parks,
in wildlife sanctuaries or in other designated areas.
The legislation imposes heavy penalties of up to 10
years' jail and fines of up to 100 million riel
(US$25,600) for illegal logging.
The law also
establishes a traditional tree-planting day, July 9, to
be recognized as Arbor Day and even encourages newlyweds
to plant two trees before filing for their marriage
certificate.
"It is an important instrument for
guaranteeing sustainability of our valuable natural
heritage," Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said upon
passage of the bill.
Prior to the passage of
this law, Global Witness, a United Kingdom-based
environmental and human-rights organization that has
been campaigning against illegal logging since 1996,
claimed there were 18 logging concessions in Cambodia
covering more than 7 million hectares, or almost 45
percent of the country's land mass.
NGOs have
been concerned for years about large-scale granting of
land concessions throughout Cambodia and are now
especially sensitive about the environmental
implications of building a pulp-and-paper-manufacturing
facility in the vicinity of the Great Lake, Tonle Sap.
Glen Barry, a conservation biologist and
president of Forests.org, describes an improving
situation in Cambodia's logging industry.
"There
have been two highly positive developments regarding
Cambodian rain-forest conservation. A huge new
1-million-acre [0.4-million-hectare] protected area has
been established, and yet another pledge has been made
to rein in illegal logging," says Barry.
Like
other environmentalists, Barry is aware that Cambodia’s
forests remain gravely threatened, but he is confident
that the country is on a road toward reform and that it
is not too late to save the forests.
In 1999,
Cambodia was widely regarded as one of the worst timber
offenders, clear-cutting massive swaths of jungle to
sell abroad or to neighboring countries, including
Vietnam. That year, major donors to Cambodia, including
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the
Asian Development Bank, insisted that their roughly $1.5
billion in aid be linked to major improvements in forest
conservation. A large part of that deal guaranteed that
Global Witness serve as the independent environmental
monitor.
Cambodia initiated efforts to reorient
its economy in the mid-1980s after a long, dark shadow
fell over its people and landscape. The world has
watched with much interest as this poor country has
slowly taken the steps to climb out from a deep dark
hole into the sunshine offered through economic
liberalization and painful and difficult reforms.
Although the work is still unfinished, the process has
brought about a changing role in both the public and
private sectors.
The country's reforms move at a
snail's pace, largely because the economy is rural and
agriculture-based. It's no wonder that some excesses
have been committed during this democratic transition.
The World Bank has made clear that the formula for
conservation and development is necessary for
sustainable management of the country's forests. But
with increasing investment challenges, Cambodia does
need a self-regulating and sustainable timber industry.
"Since there was never any baseline, many
companies logged without regard for tomorrow's future,"
shrugs Kong at his quiet Phnom Penh timber-association
office. An articulate spokesman for the industry, Kong
implies that his association's 17 member companies now
wish to become part of the solution rather than being
perceived as the problem.
A contentious issue
surrounding the law is an annual permit system enabling
small-scale loggers to operate in Cambodia's almost
denuded forests. However, there is hope among
environmentalists that a sub-decree will designate and
protect the Cardamom Mountain Range, which comprises an
important watershed, with streams and rivers running off
its slopes to feed the Tonle Sap and Mekong River.
The average hardwood tree in Cambodia is almost
150 years old and has a market value of $120 per meter.
The upstream timber operations employ nearly 3,000
people and also include a support staff of 800. The
average monthly wage is between $80 and $100. There are
14 sawmills operating downstream processing plywood and
veneer.
The more than 17 logging companies all
recognize and readily admit that past cutting around
Tonle Sap has endangered fishing. Of course, wide-scale
cutting along the Mekong has contributed to a reduction
in the important fisheries and many suggest there is a
direct correlation with increased flooding. Constant
logging has so eroded the Mekong's shoreline in places
that disastrous flooding is virtually guaranteed; last
year's floods in Cambodia and Vietnam killed 500 people
and wiped out herds, crops and orchards.
Upstream in neighboring Laos, trees have also
disappeared when dams were built, and that too impacts
on the delicate ecosystem of the Mekong and its
tributaries.
More Cambodian timber companies are
accepting the reality of the mounting pressure from
environmental groups such as Global Witness. "Of course
the association's membership acknowledges our
responsibility and complicity in the logging of the
country's tropical forests and we are now committed to
abiding and supporting the essential forestry reforms,"
says Kong.
It is true that the logging companies
have provided some economic benefits to those villagers
employed by the few companies with lawful concessions.
According to the World Rainforest Movement, Cambodia's
timber companies from 1994-2000 generated about $95
million.
As a direct result of donor-country
pressure and to address the widening illegal logging
trade, Prime Minister Hun Sen imposed at the first of
the year a moratorium on any further logging.
"We have succeeded in forestry reforms better
than other countries in Asia," claims Ty Sokhun,
director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Forestry
Department. He argues persuasively that no country in
the region can match Cambodia's level of forestry
reform, including the development of master plans.
Observers indicate that this has been a
challenging year for logging companies. In fact, Hun
Sen's decision to enact a moratorium was largely in
response to the fact that logging worsened the Mekong's
flooding conditions last year, costing much more in road
and bridge repairs than what was collected in the form
of flagging logging royalties.
Grainne Ryder of
Toronto-based Probe International and editor of the book
The Mekong Currency says "it is generally
understood that deforestation increases the volume and
speed of runoff, which can lead to more severely
damaging floods".
Government officials agree
that the Cambodian Timber Association's member company's
are complying with Phnom Penh's request for management
plans. "Let us face the facts: our timber industry can
participate in sustainable development only if we have
an effective sustainable business model," remarks Kong.
A few timber companies are continuing to cut
trees by exploiting a loophole in the moratorium. While
logging is banned in forestry concessions, the
moratorium wording does not mention land concessions,
which several logging companies own.
Cambodia's
forests and its section of the Mekong River are still
challenged by poor economics, exploitative policies, and
donor-driven environmental consultancy companies, all
preaching a gospel of "sustainable development".
The struggle between man and the environment
remains a perennial question. It seems that in this time
of peace, Cambodia has more at stake than during the
darkest days of war. These "new Cambodians" are
determined to reclaim their lives and their invaluable
environment from the long shadow cast by Pol Pot.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
