RECOFTC in Cambodia

Project: Capacity Building for Sustainable Forest and Land Management

The birth of community forestry in Cambodia dates back to 1992, following its initiation by the then-Department for Wildlife and Forestry. Major milestones in the implementation of CF in Cambodia were the endorsements of the CF Sub-decree in 2003 and the CF Prakas (Rules and Guidelines) in 2006.

To take on the momentum and to carry CF further, RECOFTC is implementing the Capacity Building for Sustainable Forest and Land Management Project (CBSFLMP), funded by the Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF) and administered by the World Bank (WB). The US$1.76 million project has a duration of three years and is being implemented in five cantonments by RECOFTC in partnership with the Cambodian Forest Administration (FA). Cantonments are the FA's administrative units, and the provinces within the five target cantonments are Ratanakiri, Kratie, Kampot, Takeo, Pursat, and Kampong Thom.

The objectives of the project are to help communities through innovative approaches to manage forest resources sustainably and to guide them through the CF registration process. The project works with the existing 99 communities in the five cantonments managing some 70,000 hectares under CF and seeks to increase these figures.

The project has three main components:

A. Community Forestry Field Training Program

Through a series of Training of Trainers events at the beginning of the project, capacities of trainers in training delivery, facilitation skills, and CF implementation and management are strengthened. Under the project these trainers will then train Community Forestry Committee members, Forest Administration field staff, NGOs and local government representatives in CF laws, regulations, and management systems.

B. Piloting Community Forestry Partnerships for Implementation

Community forestry has been piloted in Cambodia over several years through the efforts of many national and international organizations. These efforts have generated a broadening base of support for the approach and contributed significantly to the passage of the supporting national Sub-decree and Prakas for CF. The established legal framework is complemented by a Community Forestry Unit within the Forest Administration. This component complements Component A through experiential learning for newly appointed government staff, NGOs, and local government partners who share responsibility for supporting CF implementation at the village and commune levels. Existing CFs will be guided through the CF registration process and new CFs will be initiated in order to double the number of existing CFs in the five provinces.

C. Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, and Dissemination

Accurate and timely flows of information are necessary to build and maintain confidence in highly decentralized natural resources management programs. Activities under this component provide support to communities to develop forest and land management and monitoring systems.

A strong point of critique of Cambodia’s CF system is that almost all existing CF sites are located in degraded areas, which limits income-generating opportunities for local communities. This is directly contrary to the aim of CF to improve the livelihoods of participating communities. It is the challenge of the project to ensure that high-value forest areas are included in CF areas and that communities can improve their livelihoods through sustainable CF management and secured access and use rights.

The project is well-timed, as the Prakas (CF Rules and Regulations) need to be field tested and already existing CFs need to be formalized for communities to enjoy greater user and access rights. RECOFTC’s institutional policy is to work in partnership with a range of stakeholders. This project pursues increased collaboration between various CF implementing partners and will build and strengthen the capacities of the Forestry Administration, local governments, NGOs, and communities. The lack of capacities in sustainable forest management is seen as a major obstacle for the successful scaling-up of CF in Cambodia. In recognition of advanced levels of government decentralization in Cambodia, the project will work in direct partnership with local governments and support these in decision-making and forest-planning processes.