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Watershed 1(2) Vol. 1 No. 2 Novemberatershed 1995-February 1996 People's Forum on Ecology WBurma, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam Editorial: Watershed UNDP: What do you mean by Sustainable Development? 2 News and Updates 4 Published by Towards Ecological Letters 7 Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA) Forum: The conservation debate Editor Thaweesilp Srireuang, Pati Jorni Odecho - "It is only we village people who are Witoon Permpongsacharoen conserving the forest" 8 Sathitya Sawinthorn - "We do not want people living in protected areas as they Copyright © TERRA 1995 disturb the forest " 9 ISSN 0859 1601 All materials may be used Features: without payment as long as the author and Watershed are Redefining Conservation: A Critique of Protected Areas in Thailand 14 appropriately cited and a copy Pinkaew Laungaramsri and Noel Rajesh describe the state's approach to of the publication is sent to Watershed. conservation and its failure either to protect forests or to support local communities' livelihoods Articles published in Watershed do not necessarily express the Protected Areas in the Region: Current Thinking and Practice 28 views of TERRA or of the Lao PDR - "There must be participation of village people" Editor. Burma - Forests under the gun Cambodia - "We don't want to copy any one system" Editorial Office TERRA The Legacy of Savage Development 36 409 Soi Rohitsuk Pracharajbampen Rd Chris Lang reports on the history of colonisation of Vietnam's Central Highlands Huay Khwang and its impacts upon upland communities Bangkok 10320, Thailand Tel: (66 2) 691 0718 Report Fax: (66 2) 691 0714 A "Shopping List" for Donors: Mekong Work Programme 1996 22 email: [email protected] The new Mekong River Commission launches a multi-million dollar programme while contentious issues remain unresolved Cover Photograph Karen family gathering forest products in Thung Yai Naresuan Community Voices 34 Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand Village elders describe the changing times in Kokroka village near Phnom Penh Project for Ecological Recovery Back Cover Photograph Profile: 45 Logging operations Australian NGO Community Aid Abroad (CAA) on their work with in Koh Kong province, communities in the region and their views on development Cambodia Mang Channo Guest Column 48 Mang Channo, journalist with the Phnom Penh Post, talks of why he cannot close his eyes to environmental and social injustice in Cambodia editorial UNDP: What do you mean by sustainable development? by Witoon Permpongsacharoen y understanding of the concept of sustain- tures within the river basin would have been affected which, able development - the main goal of the United as the record in Thailand shows, has not often been for the M Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - is that better. it arises from panic about the environmental crisis which in- creasingly threatens the existence of humanity. But since the Mekong development project was never imple- mented, I feel that we are still fortunate because it is not too Whether the problem is tropical forest destruction, global late to change the direction of development towards eco- warming or rivers drying up, the crisis has prompted a search logical sustainability and social justice. for the cause. Today, the UNDP is encouraging governments all over the Today, a growing number of people recognize that, in many world to change their direction towards a sustainable ap- parts of the world, the environmental crisis arises from the proach, which includes careful planning and cooperation 'success' of development strategies which place emphasis among countries, to ensure development which is environ- on intensive exploitation of natural resources for economic mentally friendly and socially just. growth, without considering the impacts on the environment and society. Personally I am excited and pleased to see these changes in direction and look forward to seeing some practical out- One example of unsustainable development which environ- comes. mentalists often raise is the construction of large dams, par- ticularly because their environmental and social impacts are This year the efforts of the UNDP were successful, we are clear and far-reaching. told. Government representatives from the four Mekong countries signed the Agreement on Cooperation for the Sus- For many years, nearly 40 in fact, UNDP has been associated tainable Development of the Mekong River Basin. with the planning of large dams in the Mekong River Basin through its support for the Mekong Committee, presently The agreement contains 5 articles addressing environmen- made up of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. tal, ecological, social and sustainable development concerns. Much of the planning for these projects is based on very Finally, many people thought, now development plans for dated concepts of development. Certainly, there was not as the Mekong River Basin would be overhauled to fit with the much environmental understanding and awareness 40 years new direction towards sustainable development. ago as there is today. Nor was there the popularization of the term sustainable development. But my question then and now is what changes will be made to transform the old proponents and plans into a model of Having reviewed the old plans, I can say with absolute con- sustainable development. Can it even be done? fidence that the kind of development originally proposed by the Mekong Committee could never have lived up to the Since the agreement was signed, I know of the following standards recently set by the UNDP for sustainable devel- changes: opment. If the old plans had been implemented, thousands of hectares of primary forests would have been destroyed, The principle of consensus among countries and hundreds of thousands of village people would have has been replaced by the principle of sovereignty. been displaced from their land. All diversity of life and cul- In other words, each of the member countries now Page 2 Watershed Vol. 1 No. 2 November 1995-February 1996 editorial has the right to undertake projects within their terri- ment has signed an agreement to buy hydroelec- tory, which may or may not affect the Mekong, with- tricity from Lao PDR, and consulting firms, con- out seeking approval by consensus with the other struction companies, public utilities and financial countries. institutions from an array of countries are seeking opportunities in Mekong dam-building. Names have changed. The Mekong Commit- When I consider these changes, I begin to feel uncertain. Is tee is now the Mekong River Commission. Its new there some misunderstanding about the concept of sustain- logo says, “for sustainable development.” able development which both the UNDP and the newly- founded Mekong River Commission claim to uphold? A citizen of Japan was appointed head of the Mekong Secretariat, reportedly in the hope that he And I wonder whether my hope for change - for a process of would attract funding to the Commission from Ja- development that emphasizes participation and the demands pan and the Asian Development Bank. of local people who, everywhere and every day, depend upon Mekong ecosystems for their means of livelihood - will be The original plans for a series of large dams on disappointed or not. the Mekong have been 're-engineered' into a series of 9 to 11 “run-of-river” large dams. What I see from the new trend in cooperation between the lower Mekong countries (which may soon be expanded to include the upper Mekong Basin as well), the UNDP, ADB, Many groups are using every available forum World Bank and donor governments, and the dam industry, in Asia, and creating new ones, to lobby for financ- is a development blueprint based on the economic and in- ing and construction of large dams within the dustrial growth of Thailand and the expansion of business Mekong River Basin. The Asian Development Bank opportunities for these same players. and the Japanese government are lobbying for in- vestment by the private sector, the Thai govern- UNDP, is this your idea of sustainable development? Watershed Vol. 1 No. 2 November 1995-February 1996 Page 3 news and updates Cambodia's forests sold to Asian timber barons espite a log export ban in April Cambodia’s remaining forest - 3. 75 mil- national biodiversity conservation this year, the Royal Cambodian lion ha. area and a controversial resettlement DGovernment has granted mas- plan have made the World Bank reluc- sive logging concessions to foreign Cambodian forestry officials are worried tant to insure the project. (See Water- companies. The contracts, mainly with by the deals, as the contracts break for- shed Vol 1 No. 1, "Nam Theun II power Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai com- estry department regulations. Currently, deal signed" for environmental and panies, are exempted from the ban as the forestry department allows one tree social impacts.) ‘masterplans’ for ‘sustained yield’ man- in every three with a circumference of 60 agement are to be prepared by the com- centimetres or more to be cut, while the Leuane Sombounkhan, Vice-Chairman panies, according a Ministry of Agri- new contracts allow companies to log of Lao PDR’s Committee for Planning culture press statement. every tree with a circumference of more and Cooperation, said Vientiane re- than 40 cm. Under Samling’s contract, mains confident that the World Bank In September, Panin, an Indonesian the company need only replace each tree will support the project. "They have firm, won the largest deal for 1.5 million it fells “if natural regeneration does not requested further project studies. This hectares (ha) in Rattanakiri province, occur.” is a good sign that they are still willing which has the largest tract of primary to support the Nam Theun II project," forest left in the lower Mekong Basin. After the Panin deal was announced, En- stated Leuane. Samling, the Malaysian logging giant, vironment Minister Mok Mareth said he recently signed a contract for a 0.8 mil- did not trust any logging company 100 In response to the Lao government’s lion ha hectare concession covering five per cent and believed that, "...if we are request for assistance with Nam provinces.
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