Review The Existing Sectoral Policies, Strategies Related To Wetlands Agriculture, Land Use & Irrigation Centre d’Etude et de Développement Agricole Cambodgien (CEDAC) Prepared by: PEL Sokha KEAM Makarady PEL Setha and HAY Leakhena December 2006 Content Pages I. Introduction 1 1.1. Wetland issue background 1 1.2. Project background 2 1.3. Research objectives 2 1.4. Structure of the report 3 II. Process and Methodology 4 2.1. Scope and schedule 4 2.2. Methodology 7 III. Wetland definition 8 IV. Government policies and strategies 12 4.1. Government policies 12 4.2. Sector policies 20 4.2.1. Agriculture sector 20 4.2.2. Land use sector 36 4.2.3. Irrigation sector 47 4.2.4. Driving Force 52 4.3. Analysis of the legal instruments related to wetlands 54 4.3.1. Land law (2001) 54 4.3.2. Forestry law (2002) 56 4.3.3. Fishery law (2006) 57 V. Field finding of local practices 57 5.1. Agricultural production 57 5.1.1. dry season rice/ receding rice production 58 5.1.2. Animal raising 61 5.1.3. Agro-chemical use 62 5.1.4. Community of agricultural development 65 5.2. Natural resources management 66 5.2.1. Fishery 66 5.2.2. Forestry 68 5.3. Land use 69 5.3.1. Cultivated land 69 5.3.2. Land market 71 5.3.3. Economic land concession 74 5.3.4. Social land concession 78 5.3.5. Land disputes 78 5.4. Irrigation 81 5.4.1. Rehabilitation and construction 81 5.4.2. Affect of reservoir in the flooded area 88 5.5. Land brokerage 88 5.5.1. Market brokerage 88 5.5.2. Legal brokerage 89 VI. Conclusion and Recommendation 96 6.1. Conclusion 96 6.2. Recommendation 98 References Annex: 1. List of reservoir, owner and location in Stoung district, Kampong Thom 2. The ELC in the studied provinces List of Key persons 3. List of key person ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This is the report of the findings from Review The Existing Sectoral Policies/Strategies Related to Wetlands, with the field study on local practices in three provinces: Kampong Thom, Stung Treng and Kandal, conducted between March and August 2006. The research team (2 senior researchers assisted by 2 junior researchers) of Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) conducted this study at the request of and funding of MWBP-IUCN. The study team leader was PEL Sokha, assisted by the team members during the field study, Mr. Sok Vong contributed in monitoring the direction, and commenting on the drafts. Many farmers and reservoir owners in the studied villages and communes of the districts of Stung Sen, Kampong Svay, Santuk, Baray and Stoung of Kampong Thom province, Stung Treng, Thala Barivat and Siem Bouk of Stung Treng province, Ponhea Leu, Kien Svay and S’ang of Kandal province contributed their time and ideas to the study. Without their participation and valuable contributions the study could not have been completed. We would like to give special acknowledgement and appreciation to the chiefs of villages, the chiefs of communes, and members of the Commune Development Council (CDC) for contributing their ideas and the secondary data which made the study possible. The team would like to thank all key persons; as listed in the Annex 2, who gave their time for meeting and discussions during the interview and workshop. Especially, we would like to thank the provincial governors and others authorities, particularly officials of the provincial departments of agriculture, land management urban planning and construction, water resource and meteorology, and environment, fishery office and forestry administration for cooperating with us and providing opportunities for the research team to conduct the field study and interview. Particularly, we would like to thank all members of Land Action Network for Development (LAND), and Resettlement Action Network (RAN) of the NGO Forum on Cambodia for their contribution ideas on land issues and land dispute, project affected people and experiences in resolving these problems. The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of Mr. Sok Vong (National Program Coordinator of MWBP) and Mao Kosal (National Wetlands Communication and Training Coordinator of MWBP) for their valuable ideas for the study on sectoral policy review. Authors, Research team members December, 2006, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM ADB : Asian Development Bank ADESS Agricultural Development Support to seila ADHOC Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association ALF Agricultural Landless Farmer C/SF Commune/Sankat Fund CAAEP : Cambodia Australia Agriculture Extension Project CBRDP : Community Based Rural Development Program CC Cadastral Commission CCs Commune Councils CDP Commune Development Plan CD Cambodia Daily, New Paper in English CDRI Cambodia Development Resource Institute CEDAC : Centre d' Etude et de Développement Agricole Cambodgien CEPA Culture and Environment Preservation Association CMDGs Cambodia Millennium Development Goals D&D Decentralization and Deconcentration DANIDA Association for Technical Cooperation Danish DSR : Dry Season Rice DWR : Deep Water Rice ELC Economic Land Concession EU : European Union Ex-Com Executive Committee FA Forestry Administration FC Forestry Community FGD Focus Group Discussion FiA Fishery Administration FiC Fishery Community FWUC : Farmer Water User Community GM : Gross Margin GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)- German Technical Cooperation H Household Ha : Hectare IFAD : International Fund for Agriculture Development IUCN International Union Conservation Network KD Kandal Province Kg : Kilogram KGT : Kampong Thom Province KSP Koh Sontepeap, the Khmer New Paper, It means Island of Peace LAND Land Action Network for Development LICAHDO Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Right LMAP Land Management Administration Project MAFF : Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries MLMUPC : Ministry of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction MOE : Ministry of Environment MOEF : Ministry of Economy and Finance MOWRAM : Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology MRC : Mekong River Committee MWBP Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Programme NALDR National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution NCC National Cadastral Commission NGO : Non Government Organization NIS : National Institute of Statistic No : Number NPRS National Poverty Reduction Strategy NR : National Road OLMUPCC : Office of Land Management Urban Planning Construction and Cadastre OXFAM GB Oxfam Great Britain, an International NGO PAP Project Affected People PDA : Provincial Department of Agriculture PDA : Provincial Department of Agriculture PDP : Provincial Development Plan PIMD Participatory Irrigation Management and Development PLG Partnership for Local Governance PLMUPC Provincial Department of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction PRDC Provincial Rural Development Committee RAN Resettlement Action Network RDP : Rural Development Program RGC Royal Government of Cambodia RGC : Royal Government of Cambodia RK Khmer newspaper of Rasmey Kampuchea RR Receding Rice or Recession Rice RS Rectangular Strategy RSR Rainy Season Rice SCIRIP : Stung Chinit Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Project SEDP II Second Socio-Economic Development Plan STF Seila Task Force SLC Social Land Concession SLR Systematic Land Registration SRI System of Rice Intensification STR Stung Treng Province WB World Bank WCS Wildlife Conservation Society WFP World Food Program Non-English words: Chamka Land which is used for growing crops other than rice Krom Samaki “Solidarity group” formed during the 1980s as a form of collective farming I. Introduction 1.1. Wetland issue background 1. Importance of wetlands in Cambodia: Wetlands are important for national economy as they are for local livelihood. In regards to productivity, Cambodia’s inland waters contain one of the world’s most productive inland fisheries. Approximately 4 million people depend on inland fishing for their livelihoods as either their primary or secondary source of income and employment. Wetlands provide water for cropping and animal production including fishing. Rice paddies, aquaculture ponds, including reservoirs and irrigation systems, are some of the man-made wetland types occurring in Cambodia. 2. Threats to wetlands in Cambodia: Human activities place pressure on wetlands through activities such as wetland conversion for other uses. In Cambodia, wetland conversion is increasingly a threat, and wetlands are have been reclaimed and are lost to urban development, as the case in Phnom Penh municipality. A significant amount of Cambodia’s wetlands have been lost to rice production, particularly recession rice fields; it had increased 27 percent between 2001 and 2006 (see, diagram in 29).G In Kampong Thom province, the acacia plantation is gradually increasing in the Tonle Sap floodplain through granting the economic land concession (ELC). 3. Wetland management in Cambodia: Management in Cambodia’s wetland falls under a number of sectoral agencies with policies and laws specific to their mandates and coordination amongst them remains poor. At least three sectoral agencies have major authority and legal framework for wetland management including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM). The Cambodia Mekong River Committee (CMRC) has the role of coordinating, planning and management of wetland resource use. Regarding to Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve and coastal zone environment, the MOE has made concerted efforts on biodiversity conservation in the three core