Contribution to Watershed Management Planning for Prek Thnot Watershed 2019 -2029
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Contribution to Watershed Management Planning for Prek Thnot Watershed 2019 -2029 Institute of Forest and Wildlife Research and Development (IRD) 22 December 2018 Phnom Penh, Cambodia PREFACE The Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) was developed, under the financial support of APFNet, as a contribution to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s efforts of combating the degradation of the environment. The Institute of Forest and Wildlife Research and Development (IRD) considered the landscape approach to be more appropriate in addressing the environmental issues affecting the country, particularly, Prek Thnot watershed. The loss of the forests in this watershed has affected downstream areas and made the low-lying communities more vulnerable to the onslaught of climate change. We are not prepared to respond to the competing and often conflicting land use demands from various stakeholders in Prek Thnot causing sporadic land developments that led to the loss of the forest cover. The IWMP was therefore developed to serve as a guide to decision makers and resource managers on the judicious use of the land. This IWMP aims to balance economic consideration and carrying capacity of the watershed. While the IWMP was rigorously developed by applying the sciences of watershed management (the scientific and technological criteria), series of consultation and consensus building with the stakeholders who will be affected by the development (social acceptability criteria) and seeing guidance and support from the political leaders in Kampong Speu (political acceptability criteria) are important processes of legitimization this IWMP has gone through, which is the hallmark of developing this IWMP. It is fervently hoped that by using this IWMP, there will be a more organized development of Prek Thnot watershed and ultimately, the impact of climate change will be mitigated. Sokh Heng Director, IRD i Acknowledgement This project was made possible through the generorus funding and technical support of the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation [APFNet]. The invaluable support of the Forestry Administration is particularly acknowledged. The role of the members of the Project Steering Committee is underscrored who provided technical guidance during the coruse of implementing the project. The successful formulation of this plan is creadited to the people of Kampong Speu and other stakeholders of Prek Thnot Watershed for participating in the consultation workshops and for providing inputs in developing the plan. ii Table of Contents PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... viii 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF PREK THNOT WATERSHED ............................................................... 2 2.1 Importance of Prek Thnot Watershed ................................................................................... 2 2.1.1 Economic Importance of Prek Thnot Watersheds .......................................................... 2 2.1.2 Ecological Significance of Prek Thnot Watershed ......................................................... 3 2.2 Terrestrial Component........................................................................................................... 3 2.2.1 Geology and Soil Characteristics ....................................................................................... 3 2.2.2 Topography ..................................................................................................................... 3 2.2.3 Land Use and Vegetative Cover ..................................................................................... 3 2.3 Water and Hydrologic Component ....................................................................................... 8 2.3.1 Climate and Precipitation ............................................................................................... 8 2.3.2 Lakes, Rivers and Streams ............................................................................................ 10 2.3.3 Hydrology ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.4 Stakeholders, People and Economy .................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 Demography ................................................................................................................. 16 2.4.2 Investments and Economy ............................................................................................ 16 2.4.3 Livelihoods and Poverty ............................................................................................... 16 2.4.4 Infrastructure and Settlements ...................................................................................... 17 2.5 Management Issues and Gaps in Prek Thnot Watershed .................................................... 17 2.5.1 Non-point Pollution and Watershed Disturbances ....................................................... 18 2.5.2 Conflicting and Incompatible Land Uses ..................................................................... 19 2.5.3 Inefficient Land Use Plans ........................................................................................... 20 2.5.4 Flooding ........................................................................................................................ 20 2.5.5 Periodic Drought........................................................................................................... 21 2.5.6 Land Tenure .................................................................................................................. 22 2.6 Legal Framework ................................................................................................................ 22 2.7 Responding to the Gap ........................................................................................................ 28 3.0 Description of the Plan ............................................................................................................ 30 3.1 Land Use Planning and Watershed Carrying Capacity ....................................................... 30 3.2 The Planning Process .......................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1 Consultation Process and Public Involvement ............................................................. 32 3.2.2 Field Data Collection .................................................................................................... 33 3.2.3 Allocation Modeling ..................................................................................................... 33 3.2.4 Validation of the Land Use Allocation ......................................................................... 40 3.2.5 Analysis of Proposed Land Allocation and Incompatible Land Uses .......................... 42 3.3 Vision .................................................................................................................................. 44 3.4 Goals.................................................................................................................................... 44 3.5 Expected Impacts and Benefits ........................................................................................... 45 3.5.1 Economic Benefits ........................................................................................................ 47 3.5.2 Source Hydrological Impacts ....................................................................................... 47 3.6 Expected Challenges and Barriers ....................................................................................... 52 iii 3.6.1 Limited Awareness ....................................................................................................... 52 3.6.2 Resistance to Technology Change ................................................................................ 52 3.6.3 Social Cost and Sustainable Funding ........................................................................... 53 3.6.4 Poverty and Limited Livelihood Opportunities ............................................................ 53 3.6.5 Skills ............................................................................................................................. 53 3.6.6 Land Speculation .......................................................................................................... 53 3.6.7 Weak Institutional Collaboration.................................................................................. 53 3.7 Strategies and Proposed Programs and Milestones ............................................................. 54 4.0 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 60 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................