Publisher :
Place of publication :
Publication year : 1997
Thematic : TEEB
Language : English
Note
Ratanakiri is a richly forested province located in remote Northeast Cambodia. Forestland in Ratanakiri represents
an extremely valuable natural resource that needs to be correctly managed if its benefits are to be maximised.
Despite the lack of a land use plan for the province, a number of commercial development activities are underway.
Many of these options will result in the destruction of pristine forest areas. Because local communities in Ratanakiri
are totally dependent on the forest and the rapid rate of deforestation is evident throughout Cambodia, sustainable
forest managementoptions urgently need to be identified for the area.
Over 85% of the population of Ratanakiri belong to ethnic minorities (Highlanders) who for centuries have made
their living in and around the forest. These people clear the forest for farming and collect subsistence products such
as fuelwood, medicine, food, and construction materials. Villages are based within locally recognised boundaries but
local communities have no legal rights to the land.
Foreign and national commercial interest in the forest land of the province is intense. Current concession areas
granted for timber and oil palm production encompass many of the traditional and currently farmed lands of the
Highlanders. Despite this, consultation with local people over the development of the area has been minimal.
The effects of these outside pressures are already apparent. The increased land pressure on the uplands has resulted
in shorter fallow periods between farming cycles and consequent loss of soil fertility and yields. Some farmers have
been pushed deeper into the forest to open new land for cultivation, while others are seeking out new but insecure
livelihoods as wage labourers. At the current rate, the local people risk losing their land. Urgent measures are
needed to protect their rights to their customary land.
This 18-month research study (January 1996-June 1997), was undertaken to illuminate the social and environmental
costs and benefits of different uses and management of forest land in Ratanakiri.
Forest value has been traditionally based on the commercial worth of its timber, ignoring the forest's many nontimber
values (e.g., fuelwood, food, rattan, and bamboo) and ecological functions and services (e.g., watershed
maintenance and biodiversity protection). The omission of these benefits in conventional economic analysis means
that the forest resource is undervalued. This can result in unsustainable timber extraction or the conversion of forest
land to alternative land uses, since the alternative options �appear' more attractive. This is of particular concern for
forest land in areas such as Ratanakiri where indigenous people are wholly dependent on the forest for their
existence.
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Keywords : no-build areas
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
