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Park Wide Assessment

Virachey National Park Ratanakiri- Cambodia

Prepared by Mr. Kim Sovann Technical Team Leader Community Development Component Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project

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Table of Contents Section Page Number 1. Introduction ...... 3 1.1. Purposes of the report...... 4 1.2. Collection information method...... 4 2. Location and Topography ...... 5 2.1. Geographical situation...... 5 2.2. General condition and natural resources existing in the park...... 5 2.3. Potential human impact to the park...... 5 2.4. Official boundary demarcation and extension of Virakchey national park management...6 3. Demography ...... 6 3.1. Language...... 6 3.2. Settlement and movement...... 7 3.3. Religion/belief...... 9 4. Land use ...... 9 4.1. Village boundary...... 9 4.2. Land pressure...... 10 4.3. Indigenous natural resources management system...... 10 5. Social economics of ethnic minority groups ...... 11 5.1. Agricultural system...... 12 5.1.1. Shifting cultivation...... 12 5.1.2. Wet field rice agriculture...... 14 5.2. Fishing...... 15 5.3. Non-wood forest product collection...... 15 5.3.1. Wild vegetable utilization and value...... 16 5.3.2. Wild edible fruits...... 16 5.3.3. Resin collection...... 17 Dry resin...... 17 Oil resin...... 17 5.3.4. Honey collection...... 17 5.3.5 Rattan collection...... 18 5.3.6. Bamboo collection...... 18 5.4. Wildlife hunting...... 18 5.5. Handicraft...... 19 5.5.1 Bamboo household instrument...... 19 5.5.2. Blacksmith...... 20 5.5.3. Carpenter...... 20 5.5.4 Art of weaving...... 20 6. Tourism potential ...... 20 7. Gender issue ...... 21 8. Education ...... 22 9. Health ...... 22 10. Forest burning ...... 23 10.1 Burning dry forest for improving land fertility...... 23 10.2 Burning forest for hunting wildlife...... 23 10.3 Careless activity of human...... 23 11. Institutional structure ...... 24 12. Conclusion ...... 26 13. Recommendation ...... 27 14. References ...... 29 1. Introduction

Virachay National Park (VNP) was established on the 01 November 1993 by Royal Degree and placed under management of the Ministry of Environment. In the period between early January 1998 and May 2000, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) funded the running of the park protection Page 3 of 26

management system by building up 3 National Park Protection Headquarters in district centers of Taveng and Voeun Sai district in Ratanakiri province, and Seam Pang district in Stung Treng province, and conducted some surveys in the park. These included Tiger and Elephant surveys in the three districts, and PRA in 5 villages (O tabok, Keh Koung, Reang vinh, Sorgn, and Bang Ket) Taveng Leu commune, Taveng district. Since June 2000 WWF handed over the park management to the Ministry of Environment, with a broader management system, adding Capacity Building and National Policy, and Community Development components, known as the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project (BPAMP).

The development objective of the BPAMP is to improve the capacity of the Ministry of Environment and to plan, implement and monitoring an effectives system of National Protected Areas. Toward that end, this project has two related immediate objectives. First, to develop and test proactive measures to minimize unsustainable exploitation and degradation of the biodiversity of the national and global significance in the Virachey National Park, second, to use the experiences gained from VNP to formulate institutional models for the development of the National Protected Areas system of Cambodia. The project has four closely integrated components: a National Policy and Capacity Development Components, a Park Protection and Management Components, a Community Development Component, and Project Management Component.

The objective of the Community development (CD) component is to develop, test and replicate proactive measure, which involve local communities more directly in the planning and management natural resources in the buffer and the core zone of the Virachey National Park. This component would address the development of community-based initiative directed at reducing pressure on the biological resources of VNP.

To the south of the park there are three districts located in the buffer zone of the park. People living in those districts are mainly ethnic minorities like Kavet, Prove, Tampon, Kreung and Lun. Lao group are also included in those districts, but they mainly live in the district market areas. The ethnic communities live in remote areas with poor natural living condition, illiteracy, and hold on to the traditional cultures and believes that lead them to use natural resources not only in the buffer zone also in the core zone of the park in unsustainable manner. Currently, good condition forest grown close to village sites in the buffer is nearly disappeared by many human activities by people from inside and outside the area, such as shifting cultivation, wildlife hunting, excessive and destructive non-timber forest product collection (mulva nut, bamboo resin), uncontrolled uses of illegal fishing gears, timber overexploitation, etc.

Since 1995 there are NGOs/IO working in some village located in the park territory, but their focused on community based natural resources management is limited in scope (at village or commune level), for example in Koklak commune SEILA and NTFP have been trying to protect natural resources close to village commune and agricultural areas outside the national park by creating community based natural resources management communities and agreed community rules and regulation for natural resources use. The activities of those NGOs/IO are limited to a limited area. Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Project made up its to work closely with local communities the entire park and buffer zone area to promote locally active participation in sustaining natural resources and conservation system to the park, and to diminish potential impact of the human threats to natural resources in the park.

The BPAMP needs to work in close cooperation with IO/GO/NGOs in promoting local awareness to protect and conserve biodiversity, not only at village or commune levels, but also in the core zone of the park.

Given the broad areas covered by the BPAMP, the assessment focuses on all general aspects pertaining to local living conditions that bases on natural resources in buffer zone and core zone of the park.

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1.1. Purpose of the report

Even though there is useful information about the park and the buffer zone, available in the province, this information is limited. Therefore, this was conducted in the buffer zone to help the Community Development team to understand and familiarize themselves with geography, natural resources existing in the buffer zone one as well in the park, indigenous cultures, religions, beliefs and livelihood, agricultural production activities, infrastructure etc, before string practical activities as mentioned in the detailed work plan of the project. In additional to the assessment separate PRA studies carried out in five villages in Taveng Leu commune.

The report includes base line information, for the Community Development component (CD), to identify criteria for selecting two pilot districts. The proper scope of work is to test and demonstrate model activities of community bases natural resource management for all national parks and protected areas in Cambodia. It is also to provide initiative ideas and concepts for mobilizing the technical team with specific numbers and qualifications to work with the minority communities living in the selected pilot areas. The information described in this report is also useful as a basis for PRA processes in the next dry season, especially for completing the information that was found missing during writing the PRA reports.

1.2. Method of information collection

The technical team leader of the Community Development component conducted the survey in July and August 2000 in Taveng, Voeun Sai and Siem Pang district. Due to the assessment period, during the rainy season, the surveyor spent a week in each district to gather realistic information. The surveyor frequently traveled to village sites accompanied by the team leader of the park protection and management component and his rangers. We could not go much farther because traveling in the rainy season period was difficulty as streams and floods cut many part of the access roads and forests. The methods used to collect the information were direct observation, semi structured interview, individual interviews with farmers in the field and with ranger in the park headquarters, and discussion with IO/NGOs staff at offices. Some information, on previous work also collected from the local IO/NGOs such as NTFP, WWF, IDRC, CARERE, ICC and CIDSE. Existing documents relating to VNP management, complied by IO/NGOs, was also critical for writing this document.

2. Location and Topography

2.1.Geographical Situation

VNP, located in Northeastern Cambodia, is the largest national park in the country. Covering 320,500 ha, the park extends over three districts of two provinces, Taveng and Voeun Sai districs, Ratanakiri province, and Siem Pang district, Stung Treng province. It borders Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and Ratanakiri and Stung Treng to the south and west. Two major rivers also bound Virachey on two sides, Sekong River on the west and Sesan River on the south. This national park has a unique feature different from other, as the people living in or nearby park are ethnic minorities.

2.2. General condition of natural resources existing in the park

It is observed that most of the national park is covered with evergreen forest and some parts, in the northwest, are deciduous forest. Its periphery areas consists of scattered secondary forest resulted from swedden agriculture, and in the core zone and the northeast there is some abandoned shrub land (land map cover of Cambodia 1996). With a variety of dense forest cover, the naturally favorite Page 5 of 26

habitats, they see there are so many wildlife species living in including endangered species as sun bear, leopard, tiger, elephant, gaur, banteng, and so on. Based on the direct observation and referring to the interviews with local communities and park ranger, natural resources in the park are now becoming threatened by human activities, especially by wildlife poaching. In core zone of the park varieties of natural forest is kept intact even thought having disturbances from hunters. Forests bordering and around village sites have almost been completely destroyed by logging exploited by outsiders, from the provincial town or other provinces, and shifting cultivation practiced by the local communities. Currently in Taveng and Siem Pang district-shifting cultivation is invading the park territory. Specific tree species, that provide valuable non-timber forest products such as malva nut and resins, are being killed and felled by unsustainable NTFP collection systems. However, negative human impact to the natural resources in the park are gradually reducing, due to the presence of park rangers, who are trying to promote environmental extension and take action against hunting in the three key districts.

2.3. Potential human impacts to the national park

VNP extend over three districts and approximately 60 village are located in or adjacent to the park area, of which 51 village are located in Ratanakiri province and 9 in Stung Treng province. Some of the village are considered to be causing negative pressures to the park management, basically villagers living in the communes of the 3 districts that live close to the park have been exploiting natural resources like wildlife, non timber forest products (resin bamboo, wild fruits), the forest land for agricultural productions, and also fish is harvested for survival. After conducting this study three major communes, Taveng Leu (Taveng district), Koklac (Voeun Sai district) and Santephep (Siem Pang district), have found directly impacted heaviest on the park in the area. His Commune determination is based on the criteria concerning important activities of earning income for local subsistence living that completely dependent on resources in the park. Besides that there are many village located further away have some impacts to the park but which just involve in hunting, wildlife trade NFP collection. In the past decade there was illegal logging activity practiced by outsiders in non forest concession areas and the protected area of the Ministry of environment along Sesan and Sekong river and their tributaries but now the logging is reduced by the statement of Prime Minister Hun Sen on illegal logging protection and scarcity of timber in those forests. Otally, three practical actions have been currently found to have major negative impacts to the park management are: - Wildlife hunting and trade - Shifting cultivation - Harvesting of NFP (especially mulva nut)

Here are also other indirect related reasons affecting the park management system such as local poverty, collusion of local authorities and military based in or adjacent to the park to support hunters, wildlife traders and the collection illegal non-wood forest products such as eagle wood, resin and so on in the buffer zone and in the park, lack of local awareness on biodiversity conservation and poor education.

2.4. Official boundary demarcation and extension of Virachey National Park management

During the survey, local ethnic communities said that they heard of the protected area of VNP, but did not know where its actual boundary was. His issue can be one of the reasons causing human pressures on the park. During the tow years that WWF office managed the park the emphasis was on strengthening the patrolling system. Little attention was paid to local awareness promotion.

Reduce the negative impacts of humans to the park, extension campaigns of the park boundary and environmental conservation through non-formal education, village/ commune/district meetings, park rangers, self-extension (VDC, village sub-committees, ethnic elder councils and so on), should be widely conducted in all of the involved villages. To get better facilitation to the CD component of the Virachey national park in the implementation of natural resources management by local Page 6 of 26

communities, boundary demarcation between the core and the buffer zones, zoning and guidelines for using, managing and benefit sharing of natural resources in theses areas need to be implemented as soon as possible.

3. Demography

VNP consists mainly of mountainous forest areas. It is different from other national park as most of the people living in or adjacent to the park are ethnic minority groups including Prov, Kavet, Lun, Tampoun, Kreung, Kachok and Lao. Out of Cambodia's total population of 9,672,615 , the Ministry of Interios has estimated that 3.83% of the total population belong to ethnic minority groups ( Grainger, 1997), of witch 16 percent belong to Ratanakiri province and unspecified lower percentage in Stung Treng province.

Normally each group lives separately in different villages, but a few villages in Voeun Sai and Taveng districts, have 2 or 3 different ethnic minority groups living together. This case is also seen in Taveng village, Taveng Leu commune, Taveng district. Where Prov and Kreung live in the same village because both the ethnic group have similar languages and tradition.

3.1. Languages

Generally, Prov, Kavet and Kreung languages are similar (even though some words are different). In the past Pro, Kavet and Kreung have traditionally been living in separate villages but close vicinity to each other. Whereby, these group have opportunities to talk to and understand each other. A majority of ethnic men can speak Lao very well because during the civil war, most ethnic minority group fled to Lao. In Lao due to having to earn money for feeding their families men had to travel and communicate much with Lao and Chinese middlemen who speak Lao, so Lao language is now widely used in Voeun Sai and Siem Pang local district markets. In general women can speak neither Khmer or Lao because they are rarely allowed to travel far away from their villages to communicate or deal in goods local markets (see gender section on page 20).

3.2. Settlements and movements

In the mid 1950's, the Royal government of King Sihanuk forced Prov people in Taveng district, and Kavet in Voeun Sai district to move their villages, located in bamboo forest and areas along the streams mostly in the park, down along the Sesan river. The reason of the forced movement was to try to familiarize them with the Khmer life style, through demonstration of Khmer culture and education. After King Sihanuk's royal government collapsed, Lun Nol regime took over the country in the period between of 1970 to 1973. Simultaneously, in 1973, Khmer Rough liberated and took control of Ratanakiri province. Prov and Kavet people took this opportunity to go back to their native bamboo mountains as airplanes of the Lon Nol government were bombing these areas. In 1975 most of the ethnic groups including Lao and Kreung fled to live in Vietnam and Laos, but most of Kavet in Koklak commune still continued staying in the commune because they seemed to take sides with the Khmer Rough. In that year the Kavet people were evacuated from the mountainous areas to lowland and forced to do wet field rice in paddy fields nears Sesan River.

Besides settlements being moved by policy and civil war, other significant movements of minority groups is mainly caused by lost fertility in the forest land from farming. This has occurred in ethnic villages in the three districts. Another case is new settlement by the increasing population of Lao, Chinese Khmer residents and new settlement of low land people. This occurs more often in areas in or adjacent to local markets, especially in Voeun Sai and Siem Pang district towns.

Referring to the traditionally seasonal migration, each indigenous families living in and around the park has at least 3 houses, which settled in shifting cultivation and paddy field areas. Officially, Page 7 of 26

people living in each village are administratively divided into many groups, known as solidarity group leaders, which can be convened or gathered to work for public purposes. All administrative groups have their own group leaders assigned by village authorities. Solidarity group are mainly responsible to work with people living in their groups while they are gathering in official village in a short period (the period free from agricultural production) between Late December and early March of the year. Differently, from early March to late December ethnic minority people go up to live in small groups, known as shifting cultivation groups, at shifting cultivation and paddy field areas, mostly live next to tributaries of the Sesan and Sekong rivers. Number of shifting cultivation groups is differed, less or more than, the administrative group number. Each the swedden agricultural group traditionally leads by the elder of the group members. So in this point of time the elders of all swedden agricultural groups have an important role in informing or collecting people when required.

Taveng

Prov minority people are dominant in Taveng district. The district was officially established in 1995 and comprised of 19 villages, of which 15 were Prov villages and another 4 were Kreung villages. Now the number of village in Taveng has increased to 20. There is a village, Pleu Thom, in Taveng Leu commune comprising of Prove and Lun ethnic people. In 1985 the provincial governor, H.E Kham Len, officially managed permanent residential lands for all the villages belonging to Taveng Leu commune along the Sesan River. Despite the official zoning for ethnic groups, every year they stay permanently in the official villages for 4 months (January to April) and 8 months (May to December) in shifting cultivation areas outside and in the national park area. Concerning to the movement of residential lands of ethnic groups, ICC and NTFP have been trying to manage land use planning for agricultural production and sustainable utilization of NR. This will mobilize local communities to live in permanent village sites and prevent further destructive activities to natural resources in the park. Twelve families of Prov group from the original Bang village, located close to Banlung town, moved their homes to resettle in a new village in upper Tabok's Chamkar nearby the park border, Otayak outpost, in 1997. The first year of the movement they lived in Banket village, Taveng district for 2 years and later moved to Chamkar of Otabok village of Taveng district for 1 year and now stay in the new unofficial village called Yorn. They moved from the old village close to Banlung town because they had sold their residential land as well Chamkar and paddy fields to Khmer people. This group doesn't want to colonize any village even having some efforts of local village authorities because they have different culture from other Prov groups. The Taveng Leu authorities are trying to negotiate to combine them into any of the existing official village may be Tabok village that located very close.

Voeun Sai

The majority of ethnic groups living around VNP are Kavet, which have been in this area for a long period of time. In the mid 1950's the royal government of King Sihanuk forced Kavet people to move their villages down and officially allocated villages and communes along the Sesan river and Olalay stream. However, they only stay in those official villages a short period per year between December to April. They spends longer time living in agricultural areas (Chamkar and rice paddies), which are located about 5 to 15 km away from the villages to cultivate rice, vegetable and hunt wildlife for subsistence livelihood. However, they do recognize that they have permanent houses at certain places defined by the government.

Siem Pang

In Siem Pang district two communes, Santepheap and Sekong, are involved in utilizing natural resources in the park. There are 6 village in Santepheap commune and 2 village in the Sekong commune, which officially settled along Sekong river on different sides. Santepheap commune is located close to the park and nearly all of its residents are Kavet. However, people living in the Sekong commune are mixed, a majority being Lao and Lun. Residential land movement of Kavet here is the same as Kavet in Voeun Sai and Prov in Taveng. Traditionally, Santepheap people only Page 8 of 26

move to live in the official villages in the period between of January to February and nearly all year round they stay at their Chamkar. There are a few families, who own paddy fields, that stay permanently in the villages. However, both the official village and shifting cultivation sites are mainly located along the Sesan river and sub water ways that provide fish sources, cooking and drinking water, and water way for traveling and transportation by boat. Lun groups like to stay far away from Lao, Chinese and Khmer people because they have different culture from other groups, and in the forest where it marks it easy for them to produce and seek food for a subsistence livelihood.

3.3. Religion/Beliefs

The ethnic minority groups in Ratanakiri traditionally in spirits (Arak) only. Annually, they celebrate several different spiritual ceremonies such as village, forestry, rice seed, rice plantation, rice harvesting, rice storage, disease treatment and wedding ceremonies. These different ceremonies are celebrated to receive happiness, avoid sickness and obtain high rice yield from the spirits. For each spiritual ceremony villages officer/sacrifice rice, local wine pigs, buffaloes, and chicken to the spirits in the hope that they will gain benefits in return. Remarkably, they never sacrifice the spirits wildlife otherwise they will get unhappiness in the villages. If someone does something opposite the beliefs, he or she is fined in from of local wine, chickens, pig, buffaloes or money if mistakes are serious. In areas nearby the national park, Prov, Kreung and Kavet have similar traditions in terms of religion, living condition, disease treatment and so on.

Celebration of ethnic ceremonies for rice cultivation

Highlanders living around VNP traditionally celebrate ceremonies for the spirits. Kavet and Prov groups conduct ceremonies at such times as;

1. Before clearing small forest under big trees on the first plot of natural forest 2. Before cutting big trees on the first plot of natural forest 3. After cutting the biggest tree on the first plot 4. Before burning the dry forest 5. Before planting the first seed 6. Before harvesting rice 7. After finishing rice harvest 8. After they all are in the official villages

Currently, there have been two non-government organizations, ICC (rural community development service) working in Taveng district, and another one Ywam (health service) working in Siem Pang district, trying to motivate local people to change their religion (animism) into Christianity. About 40 families in Taveng district and an unspecified number in Siem Pang district of ethnic people have been converted to change step by step the unsustainably traditional uses of natural resources as well equipments in order to improve the local livelihood system.

4. Land uses and land ownership

4.1. Village boundary

Generally, all the communes and villages located in or adjacent to the park have no clear official boundaries. They demarcate village or commune boundaries by recognizing traditional landmarks such as mountains, streams, river, big tree or rocks. For example, Chouy village borders Otabok village belonging to Pro group to the east which is land marked by a lake, called Narng Tro. Chan village belonging to Kreung group to the south is land marked by O Yeun stream, Sesan river to the east and natural forest to the west. This boundary recognition of village and commune territories. 4.2. Land pressure

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It is noted that land pressure or land encroachment issue more often occurs in district town areas where Lao and Khmer people are residing and markets are occupied. Lands in those areas (residential and lowland rice field) are very economic, valuable, and expensive, so many cases of boundary conflicts occur. Some pieces of residential land Voeun Sai are very expensive because this district is considered the entrance center of non-wood forest and hunted wildlife products and also because Voeun Sai is Joined to Banlung town with a better road. Prices for all kinds of land located in Taveng and Siem Pang seem to be low and stable due to bad and far condition of access roads, poor and quiet district town markets, less population, so trading of land rarely happens.

In Taveng Leu commune, people living in village Otabok, Reing Vinh, Keh Koung, Song and Bang Ket, which are located close to the park are invading the core zone of the park through upland rice agricultural practice. Shifting cultivation areas of Otabok and Bang Kat are completely in the park and the other for at least 50% of the total number of families. In average 10 families per village are involved in shifting cultivation in the park area (aerial photos for 1997 and 2000 show that land use has changes very fast.

In Santepheap commune, Siem Pang district, the same is happening. Most of the all Kavet families are engaging in shifting cultivation in core zone of the park because Santepheap commune boundary to the north is directly with the park. But it should also be note that about 10 families per village cultivate rainy season in paddy fields located close to the villages.

In Voeun Sai, due to having support for rice production improvement, non-formal education, environment extension service, rice mill and other activities of income generation from CARERE and NTFP, the number of families involved in upland rice (shifting cultivation) in the core zone of the park has gradually decreased. Chief of park protection at the Veoun Sai headquarters said that in 1999 there were more than 10 families cultivating upland rice in the park territory, but in 2000 there had been only one family still practicing.

Land encroachment for Swidden agriculture and wildlife trade are the most serious problems impact on the natural forest as well as on biodiversity. Wildlife habitat, scarcity of wildlife, natural forest and aquatic plants and animal are rapidly deteriorating in buffer and core zones of the Virachey national park and disappearing year by year. Actually, natural forest surrounding all villages (at least 15 km at all sides around the villages) in the three districts adjacent to the park has degraded and due to local demand for food security and external demands for wildlife and NFP, destructive actions are leading towards the core of the park. Land Use Guidelines to support land use and management right of ethnic minority groups should be formulated, and agricultural technique practiced by the local people should also be improved with supporting inputs. These should be provided in return for commitment of local communities to participate in protecting the remaining natural resources in the both zones. Local rights of natural resources protection, including management, should also be educated and disseminated to outsiders who to do businesses in those areas.

4.3. Indigenous natural resources management system

Natural resources within the buffer and core zone of the park are being gradually threatened by human activities. Referring to information reported by the rangers of the park and local people living in Taveng district before the declaration by Cambodian President Hun Sen to stop illegal logging in 1999, hundreds of tree for construction materials were logging in some parts of the park, especially along the streams, and the areas bordering the 3 district, Laos and Vietnam. In Taveng villages some logs are still lying on the ground in the forest, as the loggers could not manage on time to take them out.

Due to the local poverty, and low environmental awareness and education, local communities who have settled adjacent to the have little knowledge of the free market mechanism, wildlife and timber trades, long-term benefits from traditional practices of sustainable use of natural resources, so they pretend to participate in natural resources and biodiversity conservation. They go to the protected Page 10 of 26

are, to hunt wildlife, fish, collect NTFP, and cut trees. However, outsiders also utilize the forest for similar reasons, which puts heavies on the park. The local communities, however, adhere to the indigenous tradition of protecting wildlife and trees in small spirit forest areas where they think the holy forest can make their communities live in health and peace. In addition to this, the six village of Taveng Leu commune have recognized that the river and a few sub-river located in the commune territory have reliable fish sources that provide them protein food everyday if they employ good fishing practices.

The district authorities of Taveng district have appealing for help from national and International institutions that work in the district to take measures, through community forestry development program, to protect the remaining natural forest in time. The ethnic groups living around the park complained that they themselves only use small quantity of the natural resources of the park for survival, but outsiders come and overexploit them, and cause them to gradually deteriorate. Ethnic minority groups really want to protect natural resources like trees, wildlife, fish, etc from the unsustainable utilization, but they have no legal right and power to take measure to protect and manage the natural resources within a certain limited scope themselves, they added. The local authorities of the three districts also asked our team to help organize formalize natural resources management committees in their areas to protect and save on time the existing natural resources for sustainable management and for use for the subsistence living of the villages adjacent to the park.

This traditional management system is not the main goal of the project of Biodiversity and Protection Areas Management, which to intensively manage and conserve natural resources throughout the park. However, the traditional system can also be an important part of an initiative idea to protect forests and wildlife against unsustainable human activities. It can be a starting point for the promotion of local environmental protection awareness and to set up a conservation system for park through Community Forest Development Program at village, commune and district levels. Therefore the indigenous natural resources management system should be kept, improved extended with broader management task by combining with the currently organizational natural resources management system.

5. Social economic of ethnic minority groups

Population density in the province is low. The north of Ratanakiri province is covered by dense natural forest and the forest land is fertile and offers good opportunities for the shifting cultivation of ethnic people who are involved in subsistence living with indigenous system. Indigenous people mostly depend on natural resources such as using forestland as agricultural lands (shifting cultivation, we field rice), NTFP collection, wildlife hunting, and fishing for their livelihoods. Ranking the ethnic groups of the three districts on their wealth, Kavet groups living in Voeun Sai are better than other as they get some support from non-government organization to promote their daily income generation. Most of their living condition depends on paddy rice combined with upland rice cultivation, so they have a shorter insufficiency period of rice that Taveng and Siem Pang people. There is one district market in each district but the abilities to absorb products produced by ethnic people are different and limited. We looked at the market located in Siem Pang, Voeun Sai and Taveng. These can nether absorb the local supply on NTFP collected by minority groups nor distribute these further to the provincial market.

Referring to the marketing system, traditionally the local market system was based on bartering and mutual support. Ethnic people living scattered around the buffer zone of the park mobilize as a small groups, live in remote areas as collective groups and help each other as much possible as when in time of difficulties.

The marketing system in highland areas need to be improved in order to absorb a certain amount of local products generating income for poor indigenous people without destroying the traditional mutual support system of the communities.

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5.1. Agricultural system

5.1.1 Shifting cultivation

As indicate earlier, indigenous people who living in villages adjacent to the park are completely dependent on natural resources especially for shifting cultivation and wildlife hunting. The main way of natural resources use, to meet food needs, is the use of forestland for shifting cultivation.

Normally, on a plot of forestland just cleared, rice can be grown with high to reasonable yield from 3 to 4 years on a leveled surface, and during 1 to 2 years on a sloping surface. Then people move to other areas. There is a difference between shifting cultivation in Siem Pang compared to Taveng and Voeun Sai.

The shifting cultivation system in Taveng and Voeun Sai is rotational in the period of at least 5 years. The rotational system means that after cropping 2 to 3 times on the same plots, soil quality of those plots are infertile that forces them to abandon at least 5 years and move to new forest sites for growing upland rice. Every 6 –10 years they move back the old places to do shifting cultivation with 1 to 2 times only.

In Siem Pang, however, a rotation rarely occurs because of the different soil types. In Siem Pang forestland is mostly cover by sand grow very fast symbolizing invaluable agricultural areas. This makes them have to abandon it and move to other sites where are more fertile year by year and rarely come back to do up land rice on the old places.

Rice is the most important staple crop for the subsistence living of ethnic minority groups. Rice yield differ depending on existing forest cover conditions in shifting cultivation areas (Chamkar). Actually, rice yield in an average year are very low (600-800 kg/ha) because of poor soil quality, no selected rice seeds, no use updated rice cultivation methods and fertilizers. Every year, shifting cultivators lack rice to eat in the 3-4 month period between May and August. It is the main reason that forces them to encroach and clear new plots of forestland for growing rice and vegetable (sweet potatoes, cassava, maize, pumpkin, wax gourd, etc.) with higher yields.

In the period of shifting cultivation indigenous people practice integrated cropping with a variety of upland rice vegetables (like sesame, corn, peanut, banana, papaya, cassava, sweet potato, gourd and so on), on the same agriculture plots of cleared forest land. The practice of putting mixed seeds of different plants in the same whole is very general for highlands in Ratanakiri and Stung Treng provinces, but is very different from lowland agriculture system. Highlanders try to use the maximum potential of shifting cultivation land by planting different vegetable having different heights at the same place. However, it is not meant that any kinds of vegetable can grow simultaneously in the same area, it depends on the long term experience of indigenous people which vegetable can be grow together in the same field and at which particular place. After harvesting upland rice, they keep the rice product in the cottages at the shifting cultivation areas and take some their official villages for eating. They return to the Chamkars to take more is the taken rice is finished. The rice kept at Chamkars is very safe from stealing, but forest fire can burn the stores down while the rice owners are staying at the villages.

Traditional shifting cultivation areas of the minority people in Koklak commune, Voeun Sai district, are along Olalai stream from the commune site up to the national park area. In 1999 there were about 10 families involved in swidden agriculture in the core zone of the park, but in the year 2000 only one family remained. The reason they preferred doing swedden agriculture along waterways is because the water source not only provides water for drinking, bathing and washing clothes but also transportation. According to Taveng rangers, among the 11 villages of Taveng Leu commune, 7 villages did shifting cultivation in buffer zone and another four (Otabok, Bang Ket, Reang Vinh and Keh Koung) in core zone of the park.

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The shifting cultivation systems of ethnic minority groups is interesting to consider and improve, as gradually expands over a considerable extent of natural forest land ethnic the buffer zone and core zone of the park. It may cause serious problem for natural resource conservation in future when the population increase, and if no sound natural resource management, land use planning and community development system are implemented.

Ethnic people themselves said that they are worried about poorer forest re-growth in shifting cultivation areas after planting rice 3 or 4 times. In some parts of shifting cultivation areas degraded forest re-grew slowly and in other parts evergreen forest completely converted to grass lands after being cleared a few times in 10 years. They also worry that in the future they will have no evergreen forest to cut for shifting cultivation. Currently, increasing grasslands, however, is not the main issue, as good natural forest still exist around their communes, people living in Santepheap commune said. People in Santepheap and Taveng Leu commune added that they now have a better understanding of the problem of upland rice cultivation caused by many issue such as long district from the official villages to Chamkars, poor yields, difficulties in protecting crops against wildlife disturbance. They even knew of projects for better lowland rice cultivation supported by CARERE and NTFP in Voeun sai district. During discussion they insisted themselves to go back to their villages close to paddy fields for growing lowland rice, if they have agricultural support from outsiders because it is easier to grow and to take care off, it is not necessary to move every year and most rice fields are located close to the village.

Presently some people know how to grow lowland rice and the others are moving in to paddy fields surrounding the village despite rice yield of lowland rice still being poor when compared to lowland rice yields produced in other provinces. The initiative idea of lowland rice cultivation with improved techniques and equipment can reduce pressure on natural forest land from shifting cultivation.

5.1.2. Wet field rice agriculture

Lao, Chinese and Khmer people initiated wet field rice cultivation. Increasingly, the ethnic minority people neighboring them have been learning and practicing this in new paddy fields around their village sites. Some interviews concerning local feelings in doing shifting cultivation and wet field rice were conducted with semi-structure interviews with minority groups in the three districts. Most of them suggested that is they are trained how to cultivate wet field rice and supported by drafting animals, they will, step by step, finish shifting cultivation and replace it by growing wet field rice, because they understand that the growing wet field rice provides higher yields and its locations are closer to villages.

Ethnic people of Siem Pang and Taveng district complained that their villages/communes comprised of many lowland fields, some already being used for wet field rice cultivation, so they really needed supports of the government and NGOs/IO to assist them in cultivating lowland rice. Lowland rice cultivation technique, drafting animals and selected seeds are the most important factors for improving lowland rice, they said. It is very critical, however, to take into account that most of the ethnic groups have a tradition of killing cows or buffalos to please their spirits. Therefore, providing drafting animals to them is very risky.

For example, in 1987 the Cambodian government granted some buffalos responding to local complaints of Siem Pang's people to have buffalos for cultivating (plowing) lowland rice. Ultimately all the granted buffalos were not used for this purpose and most of them were killed as sacrifices to the spirits and others were stolen while they were free for grassing during dry season.

Actually, as the result of support of CARERE and NTFP project in Voeun Sai Koklak communes, shifting cultivation activities has reduced, as a considerable amount of minority families gain higher rice yield from wet field rice if compared rice yields of upland forest. However, IO/NGOs have not been working across the whole provinces, therefore in Taveng and Siem Pang districts there have only been small changes. Page 13 of 26

Besides that the indigenous population is not accustomed to grow paddy rice, there are some constrains caused by natural disasters in the three districts. In Siem Pang and Taveng, paddy fields are available in all the villages, but very year most of the fields along the main rivers are flooded. In Taveng Leu commune some people tried to cultivate it by hand and at the end no rice was obtained because of the floods. To secure food security, therefore, the ethnic minority groups necessarily need doing and living in Chamkar to have enough food.

There are many lowland paddy fields located nearby the villages, adjacent and in the Virachey park, some of which have been used for growing rice and some are still kept intact. Some of the rice fields unofficially belonged to the local people and have not yet officially been allocated.

The cultivation of rainy season rice fields is the main factor that can reduce human pressure on natural resources in the park by providing the local communities the technique of growing rainy season rice with draft animals and irrigation system support. This idea came up after disusing on alternatives to increase rice product with local people living in areas in land around the park in the three districts. Participatory land use of rice fields needs to be developed, planned and officially allocated for local communities by the concerned institutions, including provincial, district, commune, and villages levels.

5.2. Fishing

Presently, there is no information on fish stocks being affected by the Yaly hydropower construction in the Sesan river in Vietnam (in waterways flowing in the park). But it is known that it does make a significant change in seasonal speeds of water flow and quantity of sediments in the water. There is a rumor from local communities that fish numbers are decreasing due to the use of traditional poisons, explosives and modernized fishing tools.

Generally, indigenous people living in those areas understand very well that the watercourses are the main source of fish, which provides plenty of proteins and minerals. Now they are not happy to see outsiders come and fish in their village sites with bigger fishing gear than they normally use. In the ethnic minority communes of Siem Pang, Voeun Sai and Taveng, located along Sekong and Sesan rivers, there have been the same complaints made ethnic minority groups. They have been protesting to the district authorities about outsides who use medium scale fishing nets in some streams, which has caused a decline in fish numbers and some fish species have even disappeared. There are, for example, fishing business using (so-called beg nets) in the mouths of Okapha and Otabok streams, in Taveng Leu commune, Taveng distric, which started in 1999 under authorization of the Provincial Fisheries Office. The use of these nets restricts fish migration and the food regime of wildlife that eat fish (information based on Ian G. Baird research and on the opinion of ranger based in Taveng district). Fishing businesses will be unconditionally stopped this year by the decision made by concerned local communities in a meeting on fishing issues at the commune level.

The same also happened in 1994 in Sekong and santepheap communes, Siem Pang district where Lao people used medium scale fishing nets (Yoar) in a sub-river of Sekong. These nets made Kavet and Lun ethnic minority groups unhappy as they thought it was one of the main fishing tools that reduced fish quantity and especially interrupted small-scale fishing of local ethnic people. The complaint was sent to the Siem Pang district authorities but was no response in that year. Two years later this fishing business activity was stopped by an intervention of the district authorities under the order of the former Stung Treng governor.

Fish in an important food source for the local communities, so it is very necessary to think about strengthening indigenous fishing management system with legal rights to protect any destructive fishing activities in their territories. Despite that the fishing management system of indigenous groups, especially in O kapha, Taveng Leu commune, is not official, it is very interesting to follow, and to strengthen that system though empowering and providing legal rights in protection of fish/ Page 14 of 26

aquatic resources with official recognition, fishing community regulation, and long run fisheries management plan.

5.3. Non-timber forest product collection

NTFP's are very important to the livelihood of indigenous people. They cannot produce enough rice for eating year round, so besides rice and vegetable cultivation they have to go to the forest to collect edible wild vegetables and other minor forest products for eating, and selling to generate income that can be used for buying rice, salt, medicine, etc.

5.3.1. Wild vegetable utilization and value

A wide variety of wild vegetable like leaves, fruits and roots (yam, wild potatoes) are available in the forest. Those vegetables provide sources of protein and minerals for indigenous people, especially in the 5-month period of rice shortage (April-August). Women and children in the shifting cultivation areas and in the forest nearby collect various vegetables such as bamboo shoot, mushroom, yams, vincy forest tuber, leaves etc. Some of which are valuable in markets like bamboo shoots and barringtonia leaves. For example, the price of bamboo shoots is 100-500 riel per kilogram and 100- 500 riel per cluster of barringtonia leaf. Referring to the study of NTFP in Ratanakiri, more than 60 species of wild vegetable are found.

5.3.2. Wild edible fruit collection

There are many kinds of wild edible fruits existing in the buffer and the core of the park but in this capture the assessment would like to focus on the most valuable fruit is Malva nut, which being interested by local communities. There are about 30 species of wild edible fruit found in the forest buffer and core zone of the park. Wild fruits are available nearby village sites, along waterways, in forests on mountains, around natural ponds in the park, and are collected in the dry season (from January to June). The economic fruit is Malva nut, which can be found in the three districts. It provides income to local people to be able to save or buy needed materials for household consumption. Malva nut is widely used for sweet. Indigenous people sell Malva nut to middlemen from Banlung and the district towns within the province who directly go to the villages, with a seasonal price of 7,000-10,000 riel per kilogram (the market price in 1999). Local communities and Banlung people use only a small amount of Malva nuts, and the majority is sold in Phnom Penh and Vietnam.

The problems, which causes Malva nuts to become scarce, is the felling of the Malva nuts trees for easy picking of the fruit. This happens everywhere in all the villages located in or nearby the park. The reason why indigenous people fell Malva nuts trees for collecting the fruits is because most of these tree species grow far away from the villages (10-15 km), so they do not want to spend more time to pick them up or wait until they ripen. They are also afraid that someone else may pick the nuts while they go and find other places. Malva nuts trees provide fruits irregularly, compared to other fruit trees. Reportedly, in the past Malva nut trees equally grow in the core zone covering in the three districts, but after 1999 Malva nuts in Voeun Sai district are getting scarce due to the problems mentioned above staged more serious that the other two districts. This cause Voeun Sai people have to go father to Malva tree camps located in the core zone of the park located in Taveng and Siem Pang territories.

Naturally, Malva nuts are collected in March and April. Reportedly, Malva nuts tree very their ability of providing the fruits in a 10 years cycle: year 1 : more fruits year 2-6 : less or no fruits year 7 : more fruits year 8-9 : less fruits year 10 (or year 1) : more fruits Page 15 of 26

In the collecting season of Malva nuts, ethnic minority people and Lao people go into the forest in groups for a considerable period (5-15 days) to collect Malva nuts. In the high season, a family can collect 30-60 kg of Malva nuts. The current Malva nuts collection system is however causing a problem, with less fruit being picked from year to year, with the felling of whole tree for rapid picking. However, some Lao and ethnic people are trying to pick it in a sustainable way. This has caused a conflict between Lao and ethnic minority groups of accusing each other of felling Malva nuts trees for the fruits.

The local people said that if they found Malva tree with lots of fruits, and decided not to fell, they had to wait many days until the fruits drop down, and while they want out to do something else, others would come and cut and collect their fruits. The last decade many Malva nuts tree growing far away from village have been cut down indiscriminately, but trees near villages are not. It is also interesting to hear that in the past 20 years Lao people used a non-destructive collection method, which used a stable rope to tie very tightly around a tree. As the rope tightens the transport of water and minerals to the tree trunk and braches is reduced, and following a few day its leaves and fruits are ripe and dropped. The tree, however, does not die. The traditional collection Malva nuts of Otabok village is to use sustainable methods as mentioned above and they have been trying to protect any improper method of Malva nuts collection against their traditional collection systems of outsiders.

In 2001 the provincial and district authorities in cooperation with rangers based in Taveng and Voeun Sai districts have taken measures to directly control Malva nut collection activity at the scenes. The result of the control was fruitful and less Malva trees were cut down. With the success of cooperative control, this action should be conducted every year till the local people recognize the importance and benefit of the protection.

5.3.3. Resin collection

There are 3 kinds of resin ethnic groups have collected from forest in buffer and core zone of the park.

Dry resin (shorea vulgaris) Anisoptera coslata, Hopea odorata Roxb, obtusa are the tree species, which provides dry resin year round. Dry resin is the tree region flows out from the wounding surfaces and get dry after meeting outward weather. Dry resin in not so expensive (200 riel/kg) and the amount collected each time is only about 5-10 kg, so ethnic people collect dry resin without time planning. This means that they go into forest, about 6-10 km, for hunting, shifting cultivation, collecting wild vegetable and so on, and collect dry resin if they encounter it. Dry resin is used for caulking boats and producing torches for lighting.

Oil resin Oil resin is mainly obtained from trees of Diptrocarpus intricatus, Dipterocarpus retusus, Dipterocarpus obtusifolius and Diptrocarpus tuberculatus in forests bordering shifting cultivation areas at about 10 –12 km from villages. The oil resin collection period is between December and April. Usually, they can find these tree species about 20 to 30 tree for resin collection in semi density forests and approximately obtain 15 kg of oil resin in a 3-6 day period. Most resin product collected by ethnic people in the 3 districts is sold to middlemen at the district markets with a price of 500 per kilogram. Only 2 % of the total oil resin collected is for household use such as pounding oil resin mixed with dry resin for painting boat or making torch.

5.3.4. Diptrocarpus

The high season of honey seeking is in the period between November and February. But one cannot define clearly where bees like to nest. They can find is at about a distance from 6 to 12 km from the Page 16 of 26

village sites. Honey collection is normally operated by men even when sometimes bee nests are found by women. It means that after being seen by women while they are go out to Chamkars or to collect non timber forests, when they return homes they tell fellow members of their families to take them. The method of collecting honey of the ethnic minority groups are: use fire smoke to kick the bees from nest if bee nest big or use bare hands to cut directly the tree branches the bee nests are perched on. Honey is quite expensive, 4,000 – 5,000 riels per liter. It is used for traditional medicine and sweet.

5.3.5.Rattan

Rattan is available in forest around village sites at about 5 – 10 km. Rattan can be collect in any season, but it is usually collected in the dry season when ethnic minority people are free from agricultural work. It used for producing households tools such as rope, string, mat, fence, etc. and repairing or building houses. All ethnic families mainly collect rattan for household consumption. We have not seen any huge market demand of rattan in Ratanakiri.

In areas of the buffer zone and the core zone of the park close to Taveng and Andong Meas district, Cambodia-Vietnam borders, and access roads, rattan is heavily exploited by Vietnamese and locally hired people to Vietnam because there is a big demand of rattan for processing into furniture in Vietnam. The provincial authorities permit this rattan exportation.

5.3.6. Bamboo

Bamboo is one of the non-timber forest products growing widely in the forest. It is the most useful plant to provide households are material and the lands of bamboo forest are very fertile for shifting cultivation. It is used for a ranger for household equipment, such as baskets (kapha), fishing tools, house building (roof, wall, floor), fences, blacksmith air pump, and for sale. Bamboo is an economic NTFP that provides considerable income to local communities. In the remote district towns, bamboo demand is lesser than in the provincial town. Price of bamboo in the district markets is 300 riel per bamboo. Kapha people living in Voeun Sai and Siam Pang districts get mort benefit from selling bamboos. Due to the extension of shifting cultivation bamboo are scarce in areas close to the village or commune sites. Some communities living in Taveng leu commune have initiated ideas of asking permission from the park ranger headquarter to collect bamboos in the park area. This initiated idea is a most interesting point expresses that local communities gain better awareness of the usefulness of Virachey park protection and conservation by the Ministry of environment.

As bamboo need for local household consumption are getting higher, local communities around the park should be permitted access to the park but for the purpose of household consumption only.

5.4. Wildlife hunting

Wildlife hunting is also a main occupation after rice cultivation in order to supplement the shortage of rice. Men are main actors in wildlife hunting. Sometime they take their sons along, because the wand to delegate hunting skills to their sons. The favorite areas for hunting are in the buffer and core zone of the park where there is plenty of open forest. Those, who hunt only for food, go to forest to catch wildlife only when they are from rice growing, However, it is a year round occupation for people who hunt for business. Materials used for hunting wildlife are dogs, traditional traps, machine guns and land mines. Before 1998. machine guns were widely used in the park because of civil war. However, after that year hunting with guns was reduced due to the government policy of collecting all kinds of weapons from village to national level. The use of guns to shoot certain wildlife species does however still continue in the park, by veteran indigenous hunter who have hidden there guns and by the armed forces who have the right to use weapons while on missions. Game hunted can be divided into 2 types, the first type is economic species for selling and the second type is invaluable species for eating. Page 17 of 26

The hunting condition differ in each of the three districts. In Taveng, Brov and Lun people hunt wildlife mainly for eating. In Voeun Sai district, Kavet and some Lao people are business hunters. The favorite places of hunting are in the park area. Species they hunt for selling are Sunda Pangolin, Slow loris, Sun bear, Tiger, Elephant. Most wildlife species hunted have been ordered by middlemen, who are Lao and Chiness living in the district towns. Some are taken to Banlung town market and some to Vietnam. Vouen Sai is a market gate absorbs hunted game from its own district and from Siem Pang and Taveng. Hunting and trading of wildlife in Siem Pang is the same as in Voun Sai. Hunted games, mostly hunted in the park area, are being sold in Voun Sai and some are collected by Lao and Chinese middlemen living in the district and transported to Stung Treng town market. Local hunters living in the three districts said that wildlife traps are put everywhere in the park in areas surrounding or close to water sources, like ponds, rivers, streams, etc. to catch any kind of wildlife while they go down to those water sources for drinking. Most of all the traps put in the park belong to outsider's especially Vietnamese that come from Vietnam. They also complained that wildlife in both the buffer zone or in the core zone of the park are getting scarce and asked the park ranger based in the three districts to take action to prevent and control illegal trapping in the park in the park on time. Through the assessment process, the indigenous people living adjacent to the park are aware of the law prohibiting the hunting of wildlife in the park by the presence of the park rangers at the Voeun Sai headquarters, and Taveng and Siem Pang substations. But due to the poverty they sometimes break the law and because hunters or hunting guides for outsiders.

Hunting is the one of largest problems occurring everywhere in Ratanakiri and Stung Treng Provinces and is currently threatening environmental law enforcement. To control and prevent the illegal business, controlling hunting is an emergent and important take that needs strong support and good co-management, especially among the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and fisheries, the armed forces based in the buffer and the core zone, and the local authorities at all levels.

5.5 Handicraft 5.5.1. Bamboo household instruments

All of the ethnic groups living in the three districts, especially close to the park, know how to produce hand-made household instruments by using bamboo such as bamboo basket (kapha), raft, fishing tools, and how to building hose. This not surprising as these are the daily requirement for those living far away from local markets. Bamboo household materials are easy to produce and move from place to place. In general local people produce them only of household consumption, and nod for sale.

5.5.2. Blacksmith

Blacksmith sheds are present in some village of each ethnic commune. Reportedly, Blacksmith can serve the ethnic needs for iron tools and sometimes can sell the products to local markets with higher price that the Blacksmith precuts produced in district and provincial town. Raw materials, used for producing knifes, axes, sword and so on, are obtained through an exchange system between rice or wildlife products with the Blacksmith's raw materials.

5.5.3. Carpenter

Ethnic people also have carpentering skill that exists for hundreds of years and with which they can earn considerable amount of money per year. This is the work for men after being free from rice cultivation. Carpenters can produce mortars, pestles woods boats, for sale to local fishmen in their villages and neighborhoods. In general, each carpenter can produce two boats, with total benefit of 360.000 riel per year. Mortars and pestles are produced for local household consumption, not for sale, but sometime these products can be bartered against food. Tree species used for making boats Page 18 of 26

is Hopea odarata and Nanisopea cichinchinensis available in forest near village sites, shifting cultivation areas or paddy fields. In order to bring woods for boat making from the forest, carpenters gave to ask fellow villages to help using a labor exchange system approach. Building houses in their own villages is free of charge. People help each other to build houses when living in the same village after the house owners already collected enough building materials.

5.5.4. Art of weaving clothes

Weaving art has nearly disappeared, as second hand imported clothes are good looking, easier to wear and wash, more durable, and cheaper. Traditional hand woven clothes of ethnic groups are not so popular now due to low quality, time consuming for producing and high production cost. Now ethnic people are rarely seen wearing traditional minority even in very remote areas (some old people still wearing traditional clothes are seen at shifting cultivation areas).

The traditional wearing and wearing ethnic minority clothes should be considered and encouraged to be maintained to protect the ethnic minority culture for the future though community development activities, especially gender development program.

6. Tourism potential

The Virachey National Park is home to a wide virachey of flora and fauna, including a number of regional and globally threatened and endangered mammalian species such as the Asian elephant, tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, Malaysian sun bear gaur, banteng, as well as a vaiety of ordents, bats, deer, civets, wild boar, and variety of primate species. Bird species in include the sarus crane, grey peacock pheasant, red jungle fowl, the great hornbill, and species of kindfisher, crow, adjutant, stork, and heron. Reptiles include the reticulated python, king cobra, moniter lizads, and trules. The park also possesses a wide variety of forest types including bamboo, mixed deciduous, semi- evergreen and evergreen forests, to open grasslands. The park is also unique in terms of the ethnic minorities living in and around.

Even though the park consists of considerable natural objects and cheap charge of tourism service fee can attract foreign tourists to come and visit but the amount of tourists is still very few a month (tourists mainly come and visit the park in dry season) due to poor infrastructure: long distant from the district centers, no road for driving vehicle and hard trip by motor boat during dry season (one day trip into VNP is not possible), constant rains during rain season. There are only two of the 3 entrances, Taveng and Voeun Sai districts, tourists more ofter pass and get into the park via water ways.

The park protection component is responsible for this tourism service and the tourism change is being divided into two parts. The first is allocated to use for rehabilitating or fixing equipments in the substation and another part is distributed to rangers who guide tourists to visit in the park. The park protection component is planning to develop strategy to create infrastructure in the park in the near future that is the main reason to increase amount of tourists and income source. Is this strategy developed and implemented this component would has fund to run the park management itself after the project finished.

7. Gender issue

During the direct observation many highlanders discussed among themselves about the roles and responsibilities of men and women in their communities. Due to the differences of cultural and agricultural system, gender development of Lao, Chinese and Khmer are very different from ethnic minority groups, and there are also differences among ethnic groups themselves.

In ethnic minority societies, women always abide by their husbands and more offer stay at home to take care of the children, husbandry and to keep households. Besides housekeeping take women also have important takes in shifting cultivation such as cutting, clearing and burning forest, panting Page 19 of 26

maintaining, and harvesting rice, earning additional income such as non -wood forest product collection (mulva nut collection). However, they are less often do business at district or commune markets because they cannot calculate and speak neither Khmer or Lao men make all financial decision. In general, because they are very busy, and have little time, and opportunity for education and exposure, women are mostly shy and that makes them go away fro discussion meetings, educational class, business, and association with development and management agencies. For example, women in Chouy village, Taveng Leu commune, spent nearly one year making clothes. The husbands then sold those clothes at the local markets without discussing with the wives whether the prices of the clothes were reasonable or not. Moreover, ethnic men have the rights to sell and buy everything such as food, women clothes, household consumption materials and so on. Men have more opportunities than women to go out to different communes or district for work (such as military laborer and so on) associated with Khmer and Lao people that them general basic knowledge of current living condition practices.

Women are can integral part of the society, so encouraging them to participate in implementing community development plans is very important. So far in Koklak commune, CARERE and NTFP have been trying to go women more involved in society works through reducing workload activities, right to make decision, earning daily income, non-formal education and so on.

While preparing community development plans, gender development should be considered based on the ethnic culture and habits. We know that the current roles and responsibility of women are mostly concerned in cultivating upland rice, husbandry, household keeping and taking care of children, so encouraging women with supportive activities which can urge them to become more involved in income generation and decisions at family and society levels is very important. Through educating women who more often stay closely to their kids, they will also help to further educate and promote children on environmental awareness of protection and conservation biodiversity within and in the park are as well benefits get from natural resources conserved.

8. Education

In general nearly all ethnic minority people, men and women, in Taveng, Voeun Sai and Siem Pang districts are illiterate. There is a difference with regard to children, in age of attending school, living in the three districts. As to Taveng and Voeun Sai approximately 70% of the total children in age between 8 to 16 year old attended primary school. There are two types of schooling for children: non-formal and formal educations. The non-formal education operation is supported by IO/NGOs including ICC in Taveng district (Taveng Leu and Taveng Krom communes), SEILA and NTFP in Voeun Sai district (Kok Lak commune). The formal education operation is mostly supported by the Cambodian Royal government and some support from the IO/NGOs. Most of the primary schools for children operating in the villages of Siem Pang, Taveng and Voeun Sai are run by the government (salary for teachers). Local communities provide additional supports such as school as preparation by using common village guest house or school under tree shades, houses building and rice for teachers families 'who are willing to work in their villages. Villages living villages, which run formal education, said that it was difficult to have an additional teacher sent by the government to their villages while they have not enough rice for eating themselves. This local education service has just stated since year 2000, so all children can speak, write and read Khmer language only a little.

In Siem Pang, Sekong commune, 90 percent of the total children attended schools because they stay close the schools and their parents are mostly Khmer, Chinese and Lao business people that are aware of importance of education. Children living in village belonging to Santephap commune located at the other side of the Sesan river opposite Sekong commune have never have the opportunity to go to school because of on primary school in that side, and the difficulty of crossing the river, and poorer living condition of Santephap's people so that children have to go along with their parents to Chamkars during the Rainy season. Therefore all children in Santaphap commune can neither speak or read and rite Khmer language. Page 20 of 26

Notably, nearly all ethnic women can not speak Khmer because they rarely go to the markets for doing business. Most ethnic men can speak Khmer very well because they have more chances to deal with businessmen at local markets as women stay at villages, but only a few can write and read Khmer language. Besides Khmer language some ethnic men in Voeun Sai and Siem Pang can also speak Laos because during Pol Pot regime they fled to stay at Cambodia Laos border and there have been many Lao groups living around them. Chiefs of some villages of the three districts cannot write and read Khmer language so well but because of human resources shortage they are still encouraged to be village chiefs.

9. Health

There are only health centers in the district towns and health posts in some commune close to the towns. This service has been developed by the government in cooperation with IO/NGOs. There are no health services such as health post, clinic at village level in the three districts adjacent to the park. In Taveng, under the support of ICC, two local midwives of every village were selected to be trained for serving birth giving in their original villages. In Vouen Sai, some local midwives of some villages under development of HU (Health Unlimited) were trained and some local people were also trained to be local physicians. Local health maintenance groups were developed through the trained resources persons. In Siem Pang , an international organization known as Ywam is trying to improve local health in six village (3 villages in Sekong commnue and other 3 in Santaphap commune) through health service at district level operatic by the district facilitators selected from the district health office.

Despite giving district health centers, many local health groups, health extension programs conducted and health protection equipment such as mosquito nets distributed, health condition of ethnic minority communities is still poor as they still drink raw water, sleep without mosquito nets and have no toilets. As the result, they easily suffer from different sicknesses like diarrhea, fever, malaria, tuberculosis and cholera. The health service centers as well as the local health maintenance groups have not enough medicines for curing diseases. This combined with the poverty and the unawareness of ethnic minority communities make them hold on to the traditional treatment practices.

Traditionally, if anyone gets a disease the patient's family arranges a ceremony to sacrifice to the Arak (the sprit) to cure him or her. If the patient is still ill or getting more seriously ill. he or she is rushed into the district hospital. When the patient doesn't recover, a sacrificial ceremony is prepared again until the patient gets better or dies. Some time patients get better health by using herbal medicine treatment of local healers or a after the sacrificing. Moreover, health is also a main issue that traditionally forces them to move their residential sites to other places if a number of people dies by disease in a short period. This is because they think that the spirits do not want them to live in the old areas anymore.

Health improvement for ethnic minority groups is recommended to be included in the community development strategies that can help them to live in certain fixed locations, and will address poverty caused by the cost of health care (sacrifices, government, NGO/IOs, private health care).

10. Forest burning

In general during the dry season uncontrolled forest burning occurs everywhere, including upland and flooded forests areas. Forest burning in Ratanakiri, especially in the buffer zone of the park, has negative impacts not only on natural resources but also on the properties and culture of ethnic minority groups. Foe examples, every year forest burning destroys houses, household consumption material and rice products that they keep traditionally at their shifting cultivation areas. Concerning to residential land migration, forest burning causing village fire is a major factor to make ethnic minority groups move their residential site to another place due to their belief that the spirits don't Page 21 of 26

want them to live in this area and so they have to change to a new place. Forest burning in Ratanakiri, especially in the buffer zone of the park, is often caused by reason such as:

10.1. Burning dry forest for improving land fertility

In the short period between Early April and mid June, ethnic minority people cut and burn the dry cut forest to have ash as natural fertilizer on the ground. At this period of time, tree leaves and branches dropped, grasses, and thatch surrounding shifting cultivation areas, are also very dry and easily catches first while ethnic farmers are lighting the dry forest areas in their Camkar. Up to now no in attribution involves in promoting activities against the fire in those districts.

10.2. Burning forest for hunting wildlife

There are some wildlife species that live holes of trees or use tree holes to escape predators and hunters. The traditional methods of catching these types of wildlife are felling down whole tree, smoking out or burning down the trees in which wildlife hides. After catching wildlife from the burn tree, hunters rarely put out the fire, which spreads through the nearby forest areas.

10.3. Careless activity of human

The last case of forest burning is careless activities by human such as throwing cigarettes into dry litters, leaves or grasses, cooking food, lighting small fires at night to protect themselves against dangerous wildlife e.g. tigers, and so on.

All these issue that cause forest burning should be considered and action taken to prevent forest burning during the dry season through an extension campaign of forest burning protection conducted by local authorities, existing IO/NGOs and rangers bases in the 3 districts.

11. Institutional structure

The following is a brief description of some of the key government and non-government international institutions working or going to work in supporting community development in the district close to the Virachey national park.

Village administrative structure

There is a difference between ethnic minority and Khmer administration. Khmer societies only respect one way of governmental administration management from provincial down to village level. But in ethnic minority societies, especially at village level, people must respect both governmental and traditional management systems and they have close interaction in the current ethnic living condition. Two managements systems need to be described,

- Governmental administrative management system: It is the same structure of the government implemented by all levels of authorities throughout the country. For the system chiefs of district, commune and village play very important role to lead local communities to respect and implement duties through top-down approach determined by the government.

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District governor

Commune chief

Village deputy Elder group chief

Conflict resolution committee

Solidarity Solidarity Solidarity Solidarity group group group group

- Traditional administrative management system: It is the indigenous management system that exists for long time already and has been actively respected by ethnic groups. Elders play an important role at village level to solve social conflicts, lead social works such as land use (movement of residential and shifting cultivation areas), preparing traditional ceremonies, demarcation boundary of villages. For social conflicts, elders first try to solve the problems, if the problems cannot be solved they send the conflicts to village chief and further to commune and district authorities if conflicts are too serious.

SEILA program (provincial structure)

SEILA program (the provincial development structure)

The SEILA program is a community development program, implemented by the provincial rural development Committee (PRDC) that consist of the department of Rural development, Environment, Agriculture, Education, Women's Affairs, Health and others, actively working in Koklak and Phnom kok communes in Voeun Sai district. The development activities that have been put in place in the commune are organizing and building capacity of village, commune and district development committees, local development planning and funding, road building, non formal education, wet field rice cultivation skill training, rice seed supply and rice banks. Taveng district is also one of its target areas in which SEILA start to organize VDC, CDC and DDC in the 2001 dry season.

Village development committee (VDC)

Village development Committee is an official committee crested by SEILA and IO/NGOs, which is recognized by the government under responsibility of the Ministry of Rural Development to serve all development activities at village level. In general, the VDC comprises at least 2 female members. Most villages belong to Voeun Sai have already organized VDC, but in Taveng and Siem Pang districts only a few villages have VDC at the moment.

Non-government organization

All IO/NGOs in Ratanakiri and Stung Treng work in close collaboration with relevant provincial, Page 23 of 26

district, commune and village institutions. The following is brief descriptions of the activities of the Io/NGOs that are working in the districts localed close to the Virachey National Park.

1. ICC (world concern): Has been active since 1996 supporting local communities in Taveng Krom (seven villages) and Taveng Leu (two villages ) communes with non-formal education, rice bank and wells. ICC also aims to expand activities in the near future including agricultural support and micro credit.

2. World wildlife Found (WWF): Began providing support to the provincial environmental department to conserve wildlife and nature resources in the park in early 1998 and finished in mid 2000. Its efforts were focused on strengthening capacity of the park rangers through training and supplying basic equipment for ranger patrols and park management.

3. NTFP project: This project has been working in Koklak commune, Voeun Sai district. NTFP is helping minority communities to manage and protect natural resources, support sustainable agricultural issue, and non-formal education. NTFP has also been planning to work with local communities on Land Use Planning together with ICC in Taveng district in the near future.

4. CARERE/IDRC: This project has been supporting the PRDC and SEILA trying to help local communities to improve income generation through fund support to improve food security, health and education, and to protect natural resources surrounding village using local management systems and through actions of promoting local environment awareness, and establishing community forestry.

5. YWAM: Is working to improve health of local communities and to promote Christian Religion in four villages of Santephap commune and other four in Sekong commune.

According to the above mentioned IO/NGOs activities, Voeun Sai district has received more input from different IO/NGOs to develop local income generation, and rehabilitate and protect degraded natural resources within village or commune level. In Siem Pand and Taveng there is only one international organization involved. All IO/NGOs working in the target districts are very important in helping the biodiversity and protected areas management project, ethnic through supporting community development activities and providing information and as good partners trying to meet local needs.

12. Conclusion

For decades, most of the ethnic communities living in and adjacent to the VNP have not had the opportunities to revive support from outside, they are in poor living conditions and completely dependent on natural resources surrounding them. With increasing pressures, they are using resources in a more and more unsustainable way . Currently government agencies and IO/.NGOs are trying to organize and empower the local self management system in order to overcome the problem and work on making forest products secure and sustainable. Through this field assessment, major problems causing hardship of ethnic groups and leading to increasing pressure to the park are identified as follows:

- Poor extensive agricultural production caused by infertile agricultural lands, natural disasters (flood, draught), limited natural forest lands for agriculture, no use of draft animal, no use of the innovative agricultural technique and improved seeds, and no irrigation system.

- No land security, immigrants that occupy land

- Unsustainable use of natural resources by outsiders (NTFP, fish, wildlife, etc.) Page 24 of 26

- Very poor infrastructure: no access roads to villages, no school at village level, no health insurance

- Illiteracy: about 10% of the total children has attended primary school

- Poor environmental awareness

- Poor governmental social services

The constraints mentioned above show that it is necessary to establish community development and community based natural resource assessment programs in VNP and to study general issue, such as ethnic social economics, and use patter, anural resources utilization and so on. The results of the studies can be the base line information to identify and prepare a flexible plan to reduce local poverty and to encourage active participation of ethnic minority people to protect and manage natural within commune and regional level.

13. Recommendations

In order to improve management system of the park the below issues should be considered as the participatory approaches to be adopted by all stakeholders involving in the Virachey natural resources use and management:

- official boundary demarcation of buffer and core zone areas of VNP are not clear, and the Ministry of Environment needs to consider re-demarcating, and install boundary signs along borders of the buffer and core zones

- After installing boundary sign, extension campaign on the boundary demarcation and park protection management should be conducted.

- Environment education program, by using posters portraying pictures of the surrounding environment, concerning to biodiversity and protected areas management, should be developed in respect to the ethnic culture and knowledge.

- Referring to illiteracy in ethnic communities, non-formal education should be developed to educate minority people to ending and writing in Khmer or ethnic languages. It is a major factor that enables ethnic people to understand the purposes of the project's efforts trying to manage natural resources in the park.

- Supportive factors to reduce local poverty, generate local income, improve local health, improve techniques and materials for wet field rice cultivation, rice bank, vocational training opportunities, gender development and so on, are also very important. These are the significant incentives that being widely used across the country to get active participation of local communities to manage natural resources in sustainable manner.

- Organizing community based natural resource management system like fisheries and community forestry that can help the government to manage natural resources in the buffer zone of the park. Rangers of the park should be selected from minority groups that they themselves can create a self-monitoring system and promote environment awareness of local communities

- Environment law enforcement of and co-management among local authorities, IO/NGOs, and communities living in and around the park in managing natural resources and taking actions against the lawbreakers are still poor, so the both factors needed to be improved and strengthened further. Page 25 of 26

- The next step after this assessment is PRA conduct in selected communes.

References

1. Kara page in cooperation with Chou Sopheak, 1999. Socio-economic information report: Population living in and at near Virachey National Park, Northeast Cambodia.

2. Document of the World Bank, report No. 20040KN: Project Appraisal Document on proposed learning and innovation credit.

3. WWF report on PRA in Keh Koung, Sornh, Bang Ket, Reang Vinh and Otabok villages, Taveng Leu commune, Taveng district

4. The ethno-ecology, Land use, and Livelihoods of the Brao-Kavet, Voen Say, Ratanakiri province, Northeast Cambodia, by Lan Baird

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