Master‘s thesis The Exploitation versus Conservation Dilemma Preparative Research towards a Comprehensive and Extensive Environmental & Social Impact Assessment– Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia Aris David Thomasberger Advisors: Dr. Sigrún María Kristinsdóttir Dr. Gabriela Sabau University of Akureyri Faculty of Business and Science University Centre of the Westfjords Master of Resource Management: Coastal and Marine Management Ísafjörður, December 2015 Supervisory Committee Advisors: Dr. Sigrún María Kristinsdóttir, Dr. Gabriela Sabau Reader: Catherine Chambers, PhD candidate Program Director: Dagný Arnarsdóttir, MSc. Aris David Thomasberger The Exploitation versus Conservation Dilemma: Preparative Research towards a Comprehensive and Extensive Environmental & Social Impact Assessment– Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia 45 ECTS thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of a Master of Resource Management degree in Coastal and Marine Management at the University Centre of the Westfjords, Suðurgata 12, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland Degree accredited by the University of Akureyri, Faculty of Business and Science, Borgir, 600 Akureyri, Iceland Copyright © 2015 Aris David Thomasberger All rights reserved Printing: Háskólaprent, Reykjavík, December 2015 Declaration I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of this thesis and it is a product of my own academic research. __________________________________________ Student‘s name Abstract Following years of civil war and economic stagnation in the late twentieth century, Cambodia’s strong commitment to economic development today often collides with introduced measures of environmental protection, resulting in frequently occurring interest conflicts of exploitation versus conservation. By conducting a preparative research towards a comprehensive and extensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of a planned tourism development project within a proposed Marine Protected Area, the presented study provides evidence of a particularly distinct dilemma of exploitation versus conservation. By applying methods of qualitative data collection in combination with the review of documents, the researcher identified potential environmental and social impacts related to the planned development. A lack of communication between the stakeholders was found to be the main reason for the estimated unwanted consequences, presumably resulting in major implementation setbacks of both development and conservation project. The researcher found that a revision of the development plan and the conservation plan under the consideration of the study’s findings could lead to future mutual conservation-development benefits as well as to an improvement of the local population’s livelihood-situation. Furthermore, the study identified the tool of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment as a suitable instrument of linking the conservationists’ and the developers’ interests. Foreword Benefitting from the position of being born and raised in the comfort and safety of a developed country, I had the possibility to enter higher education and pursue my personal interest in the field of environmental related studies. Growing up and having access to all necessary information needed to take a look at the bigger picture, I had the chance to consider further subjects beyond my country’s borders. This widened my field of local related topics to international and complex issues, affecting environment and populations of other countries, especially of those countries on whose shoulders the life in comfort and security I grew up with in my developed home country is often pressing on. Throughout my study career and repeated involvements in environmental projects in Cambodia and its neighbour countries, I developed a strong interest for the country’s culture, history and environment. Inevitably, I found myself relatively quickly confronted with the numerous problems and conflicts that Cambodia is facing in its rush to catch up with its dynamic Southeast Asian neighbourhood and its effort to raise from one of the poorest countries in the world to a stable and internationally respected economic power. The most prevailing issue that I observed throughout the time in Cambodia is the conflict between ideas of resource use, involving a number of trade-offs explained in this study. I have seen different cases in which long-term efforts, work and commitment went completely in vain, resulting in failed and abandoned projects caused by the uncertainty of exploitation or conservation. Depending on the situation, it seems for the most part to be an unintentional disinformation of stakeholder and decision-maker regarding the full range of impacts and consequences of a proposed action, which leads to unnecessary waste of committed effort on both sides, the exploiter and the conservationist. Table of Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................ xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................ xiii Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... xv Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Exploitation versus Conservation Dilemma ............................................ 1 1.1.1 Ecosystem Services and Humanity ................................................................ 1 1.1.2 Exploitation of Ecosystems............................................................................ 3 1.1.3 Measures of Ecosystem Protection ................................................................ 4 1.1.4 Exploitation versus Conservation Dilemma in Cambodia ............................. 5 1.2 Motivation ...................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Objectives, Research Questions and Aim ...................................................... 8 1.4 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................. 10 Literature Review ................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Cambodia – A Post War Situation ............................................................... 11 2.1.1 Historical and Political Context ................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Economic Transformation and Liberalisation of Markets ........................... 14 2.1.3 Environmental Transformation and Protected Areas ................................... 17 2.2 Economic Land Concessions – Backgrounds, Benefits and Downsides...... 22 2.3 Environmental Impact Assessment .............................................................. 28 2.3.1 Origin, Evolution and Diffusion of Environmental Impact Assessment ..... 28 2.3.2 Environmental Impact Assessment in Developing Countries ..................... 30 2.3.3 Environmental Impact Assessment in Cambodia ........................................ 31 Study Area ............................................................................................................ 35 Academic Framework ......................................................................................... 38 4.1 Preparative Research towards Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ................................................................................................... 38 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 44 5.1 Participant Observation – Setting the Stage ................................................. 44 5.2 Informal, Unstructured and Semi-Structured Interviews (Primary Data) .... 47 5.3 Review of Documents (Secondary Data) ..................................................... 51 5.4 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................... 52 5.4.1 Language ...................................................................................................... 52 5.4.2 Sensitive Issue .............................................................................................. 52 5.4.3 Number of Conducted Interviews and Time Spent in the Field .................. 53 ix 5.4.4 Unavailability of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments .............. 53 Results ................................................................................................................... 54 6.1 Baseline Assessment .................................................................................... 54 6.1.1 Biophysical Environment ............................................................................ 54 6.1.2 Human Environment .................................................................................... 69 6.1.3 Management and Uses ................................................................................. 76 6.2 Conservation Plan Assessment .................................................................... 79 6.3 Development Plan Assessment .................................................................... 83 6.4 Perception Assessment ................................................................................