Forests & Water/REF/12

KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

Nation Religion King I I I I I I

Country Report

on

Forest and Watershed Management

Prepared by

Teang Sokhom

Deputy Chief

of

GIS/RS and Watershed Management Unit

Department of Forestry and Wildlife

Contact Address: # 40, Norodom Blvd. Phnom Penh CAMBODIA TEL/FAX: 855-23-214614 Mobil phone: 855-12-840725 Email: [email protected]

1 CONTENT

Page I. Background 2 II. Deforestation 2 III. Forest Management 3 3.1 Forest Land allocation 4 3.2 Forest Concession Management 4 3.2.1 Concession level forest inventory (long term, 25-30 years) 5 3.2.2 Compartment level forest inventory (medium term, 5 years) 5 3.2.3 Coupe harvesting plan (Annual term, 1 year) 6 3.3 National Protected Areas 6 3.4 Protected Forest 6 3.5 Forest Plantation 7 3.6 Forest Community 8 IV. Watershed Management 8 4.1 Data for Watershed Management 9 4.1.1 Data available 9 4.1.2 Data not yet available 9 4.2 Watershed's Issues 10 4.3 Watershed Management Activities 10 4.4 Future Plan 10 4.5 Constrain Faced 10 4.6 Proposal 11 Annex 12

2 I. Background

The multiple demands on the land, natural and water resources of the Cambodia increasingly strain its watershed. The integrity of watersheds is, however, vital to sustainable natural resources management. Of particular interest in this regard are water regime and water quality of the river system which depend to a large extent on the conditions of the landscape in the head waters. It is only with careful integrated watershed management that these conditions can be sustained or improved for the sake of the people living in the upper and lower reaches of the river.

As in other regions of the world, the natural vegetation cover of Cambodia is being destroyed or altered to an alarming extent through human activities such as forest land conversion to agricultural land or new settlement, over exploitation of forest product, shifting agriculture, mining, etc. The consequences are widespread erosion, soil and water degradation, landslide, siltation of watercourses and reservoirs, flash floods in Cambodia, and salt-water intrusion in the Mekong Delta, etc. On the other hand, it also affects people more vulnerable to poverty in the whole catchments of Cambodia.

The forest cover is a significant renewable natural resource if the management has been carried out in a sustainable way. These forests not only play an important role in protecting the environment, sustaining water resource and water quality, mitigating flood hazard and soil erosion, but they are quite important to the socio-economic development of the country. The management of forest resources in a sustainable way can provide current, as well as future requirements of the Cambodian people which is an important objective of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). In order to achieve this goal, the government is paying very high attention on forest management practices and the elimination of illegal logging or unsustainable management activities. A component of the RGC forest policy reform shows the involvement of rural people in natural resource management through promotion of community forestry.

II. Deforestation Deforestation is a serious problem in Cambodia. Forested area has decreased from 13227100 ha or 73 % of total land area during 1970 to 10,671,939 ha or 58.79 % in 1997 with an average decline of 0.52% per year (forest cover 1996/97). The above figure shows that between 1970 and 1997, forest was removed more than 2 million hectares and the deforestation and forest encroachment activities are still going on in a considerable rate. The deforestation in Cambodia during the two decades are mainly caused by the following factors: 1. Civil war 2. Commercial over-exploitation 3. Illegal logging 4. Shifting agriculture 5. Conversion from forestland to agricultural land 6. Illegal mining Forest products are quite important as a source not only for earning foreign currency but for meeting the daily needs of rural people who exclusively depend on the natural resource of fuel wood, non wood product, food, wildlife, etc. Deforestation can, therefore, seriously affect the water regime and water quality and as well as the livelihood of the people in the catchments.

Analysis of changes in land use data from 1992/93 to 1996/97 reveals that deforestation has been occurring at an accelerating rate. According to report of MRC/GTZ and GIS & RS Unit of Department of Forestry and

3 Wildlife (DFW) shown that Cambodian land use has accelerated in the last twenty years. Land use data is summarized in table.

Table: Forest Land Cover Change in ha Between 1969-1997

Land use 1970 1992/93 1996/97 Change Annual (from 93 to 97) change, % (from 93 to 97) Forest Areas Dry Land Forest 12,449,900 10,464,774 10,263,797 -200,977 -0.48 Edaphic Forest 777,200 427,145 408,142 -19,003 -1.11 Sub-Total Forest 13,227,100 10,891,919 10,671,939 -219,980 -0.50 73% 60% 58.79% Total Non-Forest 7,261,066 7,481,046 -219,980 0.50 Total Area 18,103,500 18,152,985 18,152,985 Source: GIS & RS Unit, DFW

III. Forest Management Prior to 1970, the forests of Cambodia were managed in a very conservative manner with little impact on forest eco-systems. Forest areas were classified into a system of forest reserves that were managed for meeting specific objectives, with emphases on sustainable production and protection, resulting in establishment of production forests, wildlife sanctuaries, research forests, and preservation forests.

In the period between 1970 and 1979, Cambodia was embroiled in civil war. During that period, all forest management activities were suspended because forested areas had been used as military bases and the access to forest areas were limited.

The 1979-1992 periods witnessed dramatic changes in forestry administration, during which the DFW lost effective control over the management of forest resources, as a result of the replacement of the regional forestry administrative structure by provincial authorities that controlled forest resources utilization. The consequence of planned economy policy of the government and the relative inaccessibility of forest areas, however, most forests continued to remain intact, with the annual harvest well below the annual allowable cut, which was variously estimated to be between 500000 and 1000000 cubic meters per year.

In early 1990, under the National Program to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia and the First Socio-economic Development Plan, a transition in land allocation to private companies and groups emerged. Emphasis was laid on commercially based development by leasing large land areas to investors. Land use allocation was done in a manner of a centrally planned economy of the RGC.

Between 1990 and 1997, the RGC granted more than 30 commercial forest concessions encompassing an area of 7 million hectares or 65%of Cambodia forests. By introducing a forest concession system, the RGC sought to delegate responsibility for forest management to private sector companies and raise much needed revenue for national development.

From the end of 1998 up to date, the RGC has been implementing the forest reform program by establishing the normalcy and order in the sector. As the result of this reform, all illegal logging activities have been eliminated, and 22 forest concessions covering area 3001470 hectares had been

4 terminated from 15 companies, and the cancelled concessions set-aside as proposed protected forests and forest estate. Currently there are 14 concessionaires with valid forest agreements, covering a total area of 3526741 hectares.

3.1 Forest Land allocation Since 1990, under the National Program to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia and the First Socio- economic Development Plan, a large numbers of forest land have been allocated to private companies for variety of purposes. The agreements have been signed for a specific of time between the government and private investors.

During 1990-98, 7 million hectares or 65% of forestland were officially allocated to forest concessions. There were other types of land concessions granted by government such as: agriculture concessions for private sector development of rubber, cashew and oil palm. Currently, the RGC has cancelled 22 forest concessions with an area of 3001470 hectares from 15 companies. Now remain only 14 forest concessions with valid forest agreements, covering a total area of 3526741 hectares or 19.5% of total area.

National Protected Areas were established in 1993 by the Royal Degree on "The Protection of National Areas". These protected areas cover a total area of 3,327,200 hectares or 18.37% of Cambodia's total area. The National Protected Areas are under the management of Ministry of Environment (MoE).

The cancelled forest concessions have been allocated to protected forests by Sub-degree with the total area of 1040828. These protected forest are managed by Department of Forestry and Wildlife (see map 1).

3.2 Forest Concession Management The Royal Government of Cambodia promoted foreign investment in the forestry sector over the past 7 years, including the log processing sector. Log production from Cambodian forests has increased dramatically since 1993 when the new government was elected. Since 1996, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) had banned to export logs and encourage to have log processing in the country instead in order to regulate forest sector development. The investors were required to enter into agreements (Investment and Timber License) with the RGC and invest agreed level capital into establishing veneer, saw milling and furniture manufacturing plan in Cambodia, transferring new technology and knowledge and employing agreed numbers of employees. In return the RGC gave them exclusive rights to logging concessions, at agreed royalty and tax rates. Both parties undertook to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreements.

The law of investment has been adopted since 1994. In that year the first concession was granted, and over the next three years, thirty-three (33) concession areas totaling almost seven million ha were granted. Unfortunately the delineation of concessions was done without any reliable resource inventory and many of the areas contained little or no operable forest types. The period from 1994 to 1998 was also one of significant uncontrolled and/or illegal logging activity, which further reduced the viability of many forest areas. As a result, in1999 and 2000 there was a first major reorganization of forest concessions, with the cancellation of 14 concession contracts, involving 11 companies and a total area of 2,437,970 ha. This has left 17 companies, and currently the RGC had cancelled another forest concession. So now, the forest concession remains only 3526741 hectares.

5 In order to achieve the sustainable management of the forest, the RGC introduced mandatory compliance requirements for every concessionaire in 2001. Preparation of long-term strategic forest management plans consistent with international standards, and renegotiating model forest concession investment agreements are features of the compliance requirement.

To ensure the forest resources will be managed in a sustainable way, currently, DFW cooperated with ADB and World Bank technical consultants had developed a manual for forest concession management plan. The selective cut system has been used in all logging activities, especially in forest concession management plan. According to this manual, the forest concession management planning system will be based upon a three tiered forest inventory and planning approach: • Concession level forest inventory (long term, 25-30 years) • Compartment level forest inventory (medium term, 25-30 years) • Coupe harvesting plan (Annual term, 1 year)

3.2.1 Concession level forest inventory (long term, 25-30 years) In this stage, a number of activities should follow the planning components: • Policy Statements and Goals, • Management Objectives • Concession Background Description • Integrated Forest Resource Inventory • Forest Zonation and Stratification • Forest Resource and Yield Calculation • Arterial Roads, Bridges & Infrastructure • Economic Viability • Environmental & Social Impact Assessment & Mitigation

3.2.2 Compartment level forest inventory (medium term, 5 years) In this stage, a number of activities should follow the planning components: • Detailed Forest Zonation by Functions • Forest Inventory & Resource Calculation by Coupes • Engineering Plan • Forest Management Specifications • Community and Environmental Issues, Consultation & Mitigation Measures • Designation, Demarcation & Management of Special Management Areas • Localization and Training • Forest Management Implementation • Financial Analysis

3.2.3 Coupe harvesting plan (Annual term, 1 year) In this stage, a number of activities should follow the implementation and control components: • Coupe Description, Harvest Plan • 100% Tree Marking and Enumeration • Technical Description, Roads, Bridges, Extraction • Prescriptions for Forest Management Activities

6 3.3 National Protected Areas The Royal Decree on the Protection of Natural Resource Areas, November 1993, designated 3,327,200 hectares or 18.37% 0f Cambodia’s total area as 23 protected areas where under management of the Ministry of Environment. There are 7 National Parks covering 871,250 Ha, 10 Wildlife Sanctuaries covering 2,030,000 Ha, 3 Protected Landscapes covering 97,000Ha and 3 Multiple Use Area covering 403,950 Ha. Figure 1 represents percentage of different types of national protected areas in Cambodia.

Figure 1: Percentage of different types of National Protected Areas in Cambodia

Wildlife Sanctuaries 1955000 ha National Park 871250 ha Multiple-Use Areas 403,950 ha Protected Landscape 97,000 ha

Wildlife Santuaries 59% National Park 26% Multiple-Use Areas 12% Proected Landscape 3%

Protected Landscape Multiple-Use Areas 3% 12%

National Park Wildlife Santuarie 26% 59%

Source: Royal Decree, November 1993

3.4 Protected Forest Since late of 1998, The RGC has been implementing the forestry reform program by establishing the normalcy and order in the sector. As the result of this reform, all illegal logging activities have been eliminated, and 22 forest concessions covering area of 3,001,470 hectares had been terminated from 15 companies, and the cancelled concessions set aside as proposed protected forests 1,040,828 hectares and the remain as forest estate. The above proposed protected forests are under the management of DFW and have been separated into 5 different types of protected forest such as: 1. Conservation of watershed and bio-diversity of the Central Cardamom Range 401313 hectares 2. Conservation of wildlife and gene resources 619465 hectares 3. Conservation area for Sarus Crane 12650 hectares 4. Zoological park and wildlife resource center 1200 hectares 5. Protected forest for fresh water 6200 hectares

7 3.5 Forest Plantation Due to the fact that some over humid and semi-humid forest are located in the regions where the dry season lasts only from 4 - 5 months and that the fall of seed grains does not coincide exactly with the beginning of the rainy season, the possibilities for natural regeneration are very uncertain. Consequently the artificial regeneration had been carried out from 1915 until 1972 in some poor forested areas on a small scale 300 - 400 ha per year. Species, used in forest plantation, are Hopea odorata, Dipterocarpus spp. Tectona grandis, Pinus merkusii, and other fast growing species for fuelwood such as Peltophorum ferugineum, Combretum guadrangulare, ect.

The following table indicated the general situation of forest plantation before 1972:

Table 1: Areas Planted until 1972

Pine Ecalyptus, Teak, Other Total (ha) (ha) (ha) Deciduous (ha) (ha) Area planted until 1972 225 24 2,136 3,085 5,470

From 1985 to 2001, the Department of Forestry and Wildlife has reforested 8,923 hectares. The annual tree planting target ranges from 280 hectares to 830 hectares. The department of Forestry and Wildlife also encourages people to participate in tree planting, and provides over million seedlings of various species every year to people, especially on National Harbor Days, the occasion of religious ceremonies etc. The main species of seedlings supplied are: Acacia auriculiformis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Tectona grandis, Dipterocarpus alatus, Hopea odorata, Pinus merkusii, etc. It is obviously seen that the reforestation rate of DFW did not equal to the deforestation rate due to the limitation of budget. DFW really need assistances from outside to increase the forest plantation rate to meet the requirement of forest rehabilitation.

Up to now, there are 55 nurseries have been established within 19 provinces. Most them are quite old and need to repair. Some nurseries have no land to plant any more; they produce seedlings for distributing to the communities near by. Species produced by the nurseries are: Hopea odorata, Dipterocarpus spp. Tectona grandis, Pinus merkusii, and other fast growing species for fuelwood such as Peltophorum ferugineum, Combretum guadrangulare, ect.

DFW with technical assistance from JICA experts have developed a National Strategic Plan for forest rehabilitation in Cambodia. JICA is also continuing to assist the DFW on a Technical Cooperation Project for a period of three years starting from December 2001 onward. The objectives of the project are to strengthen the capacity of the institution and staff of DFW in order to effectively implement forest administration and to upgrade technical procedures necessary for reforestation and transfer of knowledge to each target group.

To achieve the above objective, JICA has actively promoted technical cooperation, invested in human resources development and provided the equipment necessary for implementation activities in conjunction with DFW. JICA is funding the construction of a training center, providing technical advisors, and a number short term experts, as well as equipment for operation of this center.

8 Currently, DFW have carried out a three years project "Indochina Tree Seed Project" which funded by DANIDA (Denmark). The purpose of the project is to provide genetically suitable seeds of good physiological quality from well-managed seed sources of priority woody species to meet the need for tree planting activities in Cambodia.

3.6 Forest Community Community forestry is an approach for integrated forest and land use management intended primarily to benefit the local people of the forest. A large part of local people's living based on forest resources. So the increase of population will also increase pressure on forestland and forest resources. In order to conserve and reduce the pressure to the forest resources, many NGOs cooperate with DFW try to set up forest communities. Up to now, 163 forest communities have been established within 16 provinces cover the total area of 68478 hectares. Against the need of local communities and forest resources conservation, forest communities have been set up by NGOs and DFW before the available of forest community law or regulation and the forest resources have been managed under different management plans. So far FAO have carried out a community forest management plan that defines specific activities and time frames. It is prepared with the community after analyzing the user needs, the condition of the forest. The process is as follow: • Participatory mapping • Block division and sub-block division based on forest productivity and the objective of the users • Land allocation based on indigenous forest management system and village location • Participatory forest inventory • Data analysis and discussion with community members • Draft management plan • Review and finalize management plan with community • Submit management plan to provincial forestry office for approval.

Community forest management plan include: objective, forest types and condition, forest product harvesting, natural regeneration, forest rehabilitation need, land use and land allocation, distribution of benefits, management activities, bio-diversity consideration, roles and responsibilities.

Although all forest communities have their own management plans but those management plans seem not fully answer to sustainable management. It is very important to have a community forestry law or regulation for all forest communities to implement. Currently, DFW have drafted a forest community sub-degree. The draft sub-degree of community forestry is still on the process of consultation with all stakeholders to get feed back.

IV. Watershed Management The Royal Decree on Watershed Management, January 1999, designated Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF), especially DFW as an institution carries out forest management activities in all watershed catchments to ensure the forest resources have been managed in a sustainable way in order to protect soil erosion, flood, landslide, etc. About three forth of Cambodia lays in flat land, only one forth is mountainous area. The highest elevation is 1813 meters above sea level and the lowest elevation is 5 meters above sea level. There are total 43 watershed catchments in Cambodia in which 32 watershed catchments lay in Mekong Rivers Basin equal to 89.76% of total area of Cambodia and 11 watershed catchments are outside

9 Mekong River Basin (see map 2). According to the data of watershed classification project shown that slope bigger than 30 degree cover the area of 61015 hectares or 0.33% of total area of Cambodia and Watershed Class 1 and 2(1) cover only about 5.8%. Most of the water heads are covered by evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest, deciduous forest or wood and shrub land, etc. Only 7.8% of people live near or next to the water heads of watershed catchments and more than 90% of populations live in the flood plan (see map 3). From 1970 to 1997, Cambodian forest has been lost more than 2 million hectares and the deforestation activities still going on with a considerable rate. Now natural disasters happen nearly every year in all catchments of the country. 4.1 Data for Watershed Management 4.1.1 Data available GIS/RS and Watershed Management Unit of DFW has analyzed and compiled some data related to watershed management such as: Watershed classification, elevation, slope, digital terrain model, done by watershed classification project funded by Swiss government, forest cover, contour lines, river next work, roads and population. These data and information are available within the DFW. 4.1.2 Data not yet available The available data and information are not sufficient for watershed management. It really needs more data and information such as: rain fall, soil type, geology, soil erosion, siltation, and water regime and water quality for each watershed catchment. Currently, there is a project on "Changes of Water Circulation in Mekong River Basin" funded by Japanese Government through Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute of Japan cooperates with DFW. This research project will start from 2002 and terminate in 2006. The research work will cover a number of components such as: 1. Historical Mapping on Water Content of Natural Vegetation in Mekong River Basin 2. Estimating ground rainfall and developing a model of soil water supply in forest area 3. Development of prediction models on the variation of the storage of water resources by using water storage capacity data of forest soils 4. Clarification of influences on water transfer processes among soil-plant-atmosphere continuum through forest management practices (Evaluation of effects on water transfer processes among soil-plant-atmosphere continuum by forest management practices) 5. Inference to spatial and temporal variations of water flow in forested catchments (Modeling hydrology of forested watershed)

______(1) Watershed Class1: Areas with very steep slopes and rugged landforms, commonly uplands and headwater areas. Critical areas for water and soil resources management Watershed Class 2: Areas with steep slopes, usually at higher elevation. Landforms are general less susceptible to water and soil degradation than under class 1.

10 4.2 Watershed's Issues During the last ten years, natural disasters have been increasingly happened nearly every year through out the whole catchments such as: • Flood • Draught • Water regime and quality of all main streams have been changed • Soil erosion and siltation

4.3 Watershed Management Activities Due to the lack of experience, human resource, equipments and budget, GIS/RS and Watershed Management Unit have carried out some activities related to watershed management such as: 1. There is no permission to log on the areas where watershed class 1 and class 2 are. 2. There is also no permission to log on the areas where slope bigger than 30 degree. 3. Buffer the rivers not allow to log.

4.4 Future Plan It is clear that watershed management is the mandate of DFW. It is quite important to have natural resources in the watershed catchments managed sustainably. There are a number of activities that DFW planned to carried out in the future: • Cooperate closely with Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute of Japan carry out the research project on "Changes of Water Circulation in Mekong River Basin" • Collect data and information for every watershed management. • Define the issues in each watershed catchment and prepare management plan for individual catchment.

4.5 Constrain Faced At the present, DFW is facing a number of constrains in watershed management sector such as: • Lack of human resource • Lack research equipment • Lack of budget for implementing watershed management. • Lack data and information

4.6 Proposal The environmental impacts caused by improper watershed management, not only affects the host country but also countries in the region and as well as the global. DFW think that watershed management should be done carefully and properly in order to minimize the impact to the environment. In this case, DFW really needs assistances from experienced and developed countries to cooperate with DFW to improve the present's watershed management plan. The following are the needed assistances from developed countries: • Develop human resource in watershed management through providing scholarship in this field. • Provide experts to work and train DFW's staff. • Provide research equipments

11 Annex

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