Ream National Park, Cambodia

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Ream National Park, Cambodia impacted severelyonnaturalecosystems. high levels of localresourceexploitation have where areas, Cambodia’s sixcoastalprotected to Such considerationsareespeciallycritical their practicalapplication. whole, and there are asyetfewexperiencesof a as country been institutionalisedforthe planning. Neithersystemhashoweveryet component ofnationalprotectedarea key a as buffer zoneshasbeenestablished of concept the several protectedareas,and conservation approacheshavebeenpilotedin resources. Totheseends,community-based area protected park-dwelling populationson address the high relianceofpark-adjacentand and managementapproachesishowto laws emerging these A majorchallengefacing under reviewbygovernment. for ProtectedAreasManagementiscurrently five national parks,andadraftSub-Decree in developed Management plansarebeing enabling national policyandlegalframework. conservation measures, andtodevelopan making effortstosetinplaceon-the-ground the Ministry ofEnvironmenthasbeen designated under RoyalDecree.Sincethen, were areas landscapes andmultipleuse national parks, wildlifesanctuaries,protected network wasre-establishedin1993when23 starting toberebuilt.Aprotectedarea slowly are war, Cambodia’sprotectedareas civil After theirvirtualdestructionduringthe Protected Areanetwork Re-establishing Cambodia’s wetland protection opportunity costsof balancing thelocal CAMBODIA: REAM NATIONALPARK, VALUATION #3:May2003 CASE STUDIESINWETLAND Integrating Wetland Economic Values into River Basin Management Figure 1: Ream National Park Ream National Park In 1995 Ream became the first National Park to be inaugurated in Cambodia after the civil war. It is located in Sihanoukville Province on the south west coast of Cambodia, and covers an area of approximately 21,000 hectares. Ream is dominated by the estuary of the Prek Toek Sap, featuring extensive areas of mangroves and associated rear mangrove forests and mudflats. Low hills rise to the west of the river, covered with lowland Rural poverty is widespread on the coast of and dwarf evergreen forest, and isolated hills Cambodia, with more than half of the also occur to the east of the river. The northern population classified as poor and lacking in and eastern portions of the park contain basic amenities such as food, water and freshwater marshes in association with adequate housing (ADB 1999). Most mangrove and rear mangrove formations. households have limited access to alternative Ream also encompasses the uninhabited islands sources of income and subsistence, and often of Koh Thmei and Koh Ses (totalling 6,000 see the existence of protected areas as a direct ha), situated to the south-east. Beaches, rocky threat to their livelihoods. shores, seagrass beds and coral reefs are found along its islands and mainland coastal areas. It is clear that if Cambodia’s renewed efforts at conserving protected areas are to succeed, then Ream National Park lies close to the major consideration of the economic needs of local towns of Kampot and Sihanoukville, and is communities will be a critical factor in relatively well-served by infrastructure, management planning. This case study including Cambodia’s main highway National describes an attempt to assess the economic Route No. 4. As well as providing an important value of local resource use in Preah Sihanouk set of products for local consumption, park (Ream) National Park, a coastal protected area resources are used commercially. The area in in Cambodia which is piloting both a and around the park is an important fishery management planning process and community area used by both local communities and by approaches to conservation. The study aimed commercial trawlers and push nets, and also to demonstrate the high reliance of community supports some level of tourist activity. Large livelihoods on park resources and to quantify parts of the mangrove area has been cleared for the high local opportunity costs of switching aquaculture developments, including prawn from activities that degrade wetland and crab farming. As a result of prolonged biodiversity. The study underlined the human activities, parts of Ream show signs of importance of factoring community concerns intensive use. It is currently estimated that over into park management planning, as well as one third of the Park’s area has been heavily integrating protected area concerns into socio- modified or transformed by farming, logging, economic development planning in mangrove cutting and clearance for surrounding Provinces, Districts and aquaculture, charcoal burning and other Communes. resource exploitation activities (IUCN 1997). The National Park as a local (De Lopez et al 2001), 25% are involved in timber harvesting and 18% collect wild plants economic resource for food, medicines and handicrafts (DNCP Almost 30,000 people or 5,500 households live 1996). In total, farmers gather more than 50 in the 5 Communes that overlap or border different wild products from the park, and use Ream National Park, and population growth more than 200 species of plants for medicines. rates are estimated at nearly 3% (DNCP 1996). Nearly 30 species of marine fishes, crustaceans Four of these Communes are located on the and shells, and 8 species of freshwater fish, are boundary of Ream, and a total of 13 villages also harvested from Ream. have land lying within the Park’s boundaries. Although formerly communities were widely dispersed, settlements became increasingly Valuing the community costs and concentrated along the roadside following the benefits of the Protected Area upgrading of National Route No. 4 during the Ream is one of the five National Parks in 1960s. This concentration increased during the Cambodia where a draft management plan has Khmer Rouge era, as villages grouped together been developed, and where community as a security measure. The park-adjacent and management arrangements have also been park-dwelling populations now include a mix piloted. Between 1997 and 1999 the Ministry of of more recent immigrants (most who came to Environment, with the support of UNDP, the area during or after the Khmer Rouge era), implemented a project to support the and longer-term settlers. The incidence of rural preparation of a zoning and management plan poverty is extremely high, and per household for Ream National Park, construct park cash income is estimated at less than $1/day facilities, train park staff, and develop (ADB 1999). Few households rely on a single institutional arrangements for Park livelihood source: the majority of the management. This was followed, between 1999 population combine different economic and 2000, by a set of ADB-funded activities activities so as to spread risk and to generate which aimed to further develop the sufficient subsistence and income to survive. management zones and guidelines for Ream National Park, and to demonstrate a process of With few other sources of income and community participation in marine and coastal employment available to them, and a shrinking resource management. natural resource base outside the park, local livelihoods depend intimately on protected area As part of the latest phase of the management resources (DNCP 1996). Most household planning process, draft guidelines have been income is generated from farming, fishing and developed for three proposed management forest products collection, and almost all of zones of the park (GEC et al 2000). The bulk these resources come from the National Park. of the National Park is designated as a strictly Just over a quarter of households depend on protected core zone, comprising the two farming as their main source of income, islands and the mainland forested, wetland and cultivating a total area of just under 3,000 hectares inside the National Park. Between a quarter and a third of the population are involved in fishing as their main form of livelihood, with almost 500 boats operating within and close by to the Park. It is estimated that up to 84% of these fishing and farming households gather firewood from the Park mangrove area. Here all natural resource important economic resource for adjacent exploitation is prohibited. The smaller buffer communities and for the Sihanoukville zone along the coastline to the east of the park Provincial economy. Household and village- and the wetlands around the Prek Toek Sap level surveys found that almost all local allows for traditional community access and residents depend on Park resources in some subsistence-level resource use according to co- way for their basic subsistence and income, to a management arrangements and community net value of some $1.2 million a year or an regulations developed by recognised groups average of $220 for every household living in and approved by the Ministry of Environment. and beside the National Park (Box 1, Box 2). In Within the community development zone to an area where the median family income is the north of the park, rural development estimated at only $316 a year, a third of families activities and settlement are permitted, earn less than $200, and where half of including village exploitation of forest and households can barely provide for their own fisheries resources. subsistence (De Lopez et al 2001), this figure is extremely significant. The park provides land, Despite their exclusion from certain areas and resource and services which together natural resource exploitation activities, the contribute fisheries and agricultural sector participation of local communities in coastal income of more than $0.5 million a year each, and marine
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