Forest Concessions in Cambodia before 2001

For citation
Kim Phat, N., Ouk, S., Uozumi, Y., and Ueki, T. (2001) A case study of the current situation for forest concessions in Cambodia – Constraints and prospects. Journal of Forest Planning 7 (2), 59-67

Abstract
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Approximately 90% of industrial wood worldwide is harvested under concessions agreements. Failure to capture the problems within forest concession operations has encouraged unclear or wrong management decision making, which have resulted in change to the forest cover. Cambodia was chosen as a case study. The aim of this report was to examine the existing problems within forest concession management, which is very important for the present and future policy-decision making.
Cambodia currently has 10.6 million ha of forest cover; 4.7 million ha of which are managed by forest concessions. Owned by multi-nationalities, forest concessions play a vital role in economic development in Cambodia, whilst at the same time they protect the forests from illegal encroachment. However, illegal logging and over-exploitation of forest resources were regularly reported to have taken place both inside and outside the concessions. Wood production in Cambodia in 1997 was 3.4 million m3 (5 times higher than the sustained yield rate), 68% of which came from illegal logging. Various unofficial payments imposed on forest concessionaires and high logging production cost have put logging operation in Cambodia in a loss of $26.5-67.4/m3 of veneer at the current veneer market price. Additionally, due to the intensive illegal logging, approximately 10%, 40% and 50% of operable forests will be logged out in 10-15 years, 5-10 years, and less than 5 years, respectively. It clearly showed that forest industry crisis will be likely to occur in the next 15 years from now. The lack of clear land use policy, mapping, boundary demarcation and law enforcement provide incentive for illegal logging and corruption in Cambodian forestry sector. Therefore, all these mentioned aspects must be addressed to bring the remaining forests under sustainable use and management. Since illegal logging activities are always involved with various parties, all cooperation from individual, local, national and international institutions is required. Additionally, a pilot project on forest concession management should be initiated to provide the right direction for future management decision making.

Keywords: Cambodia, forest concession, forest management, unofficial payments, illegal logging

INTRODUCTION
Since the 1992 Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, sustainable forest management has become a core issue in sustainable development worldwide. International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has published a number of guidelines, criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. ITTO’s year 2000 objective was to harvest the timber products from the sustainably managed forests by the end of that year. It clearly showed that ITTO has failed to achieve its goal because the year 2000 was already replaced by the year 2001, and forests are still harvested on the unsustainable basis e.g. those in Cambodia. To find the reasons behind this failure, Cambodia was chosen as a case study by approaching from analyzing the current situation of forest concession operations in Cambodia. Forest concessions have been reasonably successful in encouraging forest based economic development in a number of rich developing countries. With regard to long-term sustainability, forest concessions have not been very successful in encouraging sustainable management of tropical forests (GRAY, 1999), and tropical forests still remain in a trend of decline. In 1995, tropical forests comprised of 861.1 million ha, or 24.9% of the world’s total forests. The annual rate of tropical deforestation is approximately 6.9 million ha, or 0.7% (FAO, 1997). Cambodia, a country rich in its natural resources has passed through three decades of wars, and the consequences of these wars have affected both human beings and natural resources. Forests alone, have sharply declined over recent years and this phenomenon has great impact on the society and environment. All productive forests (evergreen, mixed and deciduous forests) in Cambodia are managed under forest concession system. Failure to address the problems within forest concession operations has resulted in unsuitable management decision making, which has led to forest degradation and deforestation in recent years. The aim of this report, therefore, was to examine the existing problems within forest concession management, which is very important for the present and future policy-decision making. It was made based on the current findings of a consulting group hired by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Continuing research and immediate action must be undertaken to combat deforestation and properly manage the remaining forest area.

FOREST RESOURCE IN CAMBODIA
Consisting of 19 provinces and two cities, Cambodia is bordered by Thailand (west and northwest), Laos (north), Vietnam (east and southeast) and Thailand Gulf (west) (Fig. 1). Cambodia has a total population of 11.2 million people, approximately 92% of whom depend mainly on fuelwood for cooking energy. This indicates that not only will the environment be degraded, but a social crisis is also likely to occur if the forests are still logged at the current unsustainable rate. Two major forest types have been recognized in Cambodia; the edaphic and dryland forests. In 1997, the total forest cover was 10.6 million ha or 58% of the country’s total land area. Evergreen, mixed and deciduous forests, the only forests granted to forest concessions for commercial logging, covered 4.1 million ha, 1.4 million ha and 4.0 million ha, respectively (Table 1). In terms of growing stock, Cambodia’s forests are estimated to contain 1.4 billion m3 (all trees within DBH greater than 5 cm), of which evergreen, mixed and deciduous forests share 67.1%, 14.0% and 17.0%, respectively (Table 1). Other forests cover the rest. However, it has been estimated that the sustained yield of Cambodia’s forests is between 0.5 million m3 to 1.5 million m3 per year (DAI, 1998), and can sustainably generate forest revenue of US$ 19-57 millions per annum, based on the current average royalty rate of US$ 38/m3.
Fig. 1, Table 1

FOREST CONCESSIONS IN CAMBODIA
Approximately 90% of industrial wood worldwide is harvested under concessions agreements, by which the government, as forest resource owner, grants rights to exploit or manage a specific area (World Bank, 1996). Forest concessions have been an established means of promoting forest-based development in Cambodia. They were reintroduced to Cambodia in 1991 as a mean of 1) bringing larger forest areas under active management, and, inter alia, reducing the extent of illegal logging; 2) speeding growth of value-added wood processing in Cambodia; and 3) increasing government timber royalty revenues, while maintaining the ban on export of logs. Until recently, 3.74 million ha of Cambodia’s forest resources were granted to 25 forest concessions, to 21 local and foreign logging companies. The concession area ranges from 34,924 ha (Cambodia Timber Product Pty Ltd.) to 467,484 ha (SL International Ltd.) (Table 2). To reflect the changes of forest conditions, local and international demands for wood, the government has frequently revised the concession contracts. The forest concession area increased from 2.2 million ha in 1994 to 6.9 million ha in early 1999, and declined to 4.7 million ha in late 1999 (Table 2).
Table 2

CURRENT SITUATION OF FOREST CONCESSIONS OPERATIONS IN CAMBODIA

The impact of timber royalty rates and unofficial payments
In the overwhelming majority of countries with tropical forests the most important monetary incentive facing forest users is the timber royalty, or stumpage fee. Timber royalties take several different forms but may be grouped into three general categories: specific royalties based on volume, per-tree royalty, and ad valorem royalties (World Bank, 1996). Specific royalties based on volume is implemented in Cambodia. Based on durability and potential utilization, tree species are economically classified into 4 grades – Luxury, Grades I, II and III, for which different royalty rates are applied (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, MAFF, 1985). In addition, there is a number of tree species, which have been temporarily classified into another class pending evaluation of their potential uses (MAFF, 1985). Luxury Grade: The wood is very durable and is used for long-term construction material. The extraction of trees of this grade is strictly prohibited. However, in the unavoidable circumstances (trees to be cleared for road and camp construction), the special permission from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is required to extract timber of this grade. Grade I and Grade II: The wood is durable. These grades are dominated by Dipterocarp trees. They are subject to commercial exploitation. Grade III: The trees are non-commercial. Trees in this grade are mainly used for fuelwood. Other: The potential utilization of these tree species has not yet been studied.
Until early 1995, the royalty rates imposed on Grade I, Grade II and Grade III were US$ 20.0/m3, US$ 14.0/m3 and US$ 11.0/m3 for domestic processing, and US$ 55.0/m3, US$ 38.0/m3 and US$ 30.0/m3 for export (if permitted), respectively. The new royalty rates, which were taken effect from 1995 are US$ 60.0/m3, US$ 40.0/m3, US$ 32.0/m3 and US$ 20.0/m3 for Grade I, Grade II, Grade III and Grade Other, respectively. Logs that were legally and illegally felled before 1995 were classified as old logs, and their royalty rates US$ 43.5/m3, US$ 29.0/m3, US$ 23.5/m3 and US$ 14.5/m3, respectively (Table 3).

Table 3
P Concessionaire, a professional logging company from Malaysia was chosen as an example for examination. The authors analyzed the average production cost of P concessionaire (one of the company in Table 2) from the logging area to the final sales. With previous and new royalty rates of US$14.00/m3 and US$ 40.00/m3, respectively, Grade II was used for this analysis. To get one cubic meter of log from the logging area to processing factory, the company spent US$ 86.90, of which US$ 34.00, US$ 15.00, US$ 14.00, US$ 2.40, US$ 5.00 and US$ 16.50 were spent for log production, barging, royalty, reforestation, transportation formalities and unofficial payments, respectively (Table 4). With log recovery rate of 59%, factory processing cost of US$ 70.00 and storage cost of US$ 8.00, the company must spend US$ 200.52 to get one cubic meter of veneer, and to get the final product to the FOB (Freight On Board), the company must totally spend US$ 227.47. Since the market price of veneer was only US$ 221.00 (in 1998), the company lost US$ 6.47 per cubic meter of veneer. With new royalty rate, the loss rose to US$ 93.78/m3 (Table 4). The FOB price of veneer was US$ 430.00/m3 in middle of 1997 (RUZICKA, 1997) and dropped to US$ 221.00/ m3 in 1998. This clearly showed that the logging operation of this company was already running at a loss (economically infeasible). As a result, this company subsequently suspended their operations in 1999. The impact of this suspension was that not only the forests are left unmanaged, but also employees temporarily lost their jobs. In the context of sustainable forest management, management must be economically feasible, socially viable and environmentally acceptable.

Table 4

Illegal logging
Illegal logging and timber tax evasion have and profound economic and environmental impact on Cambodian society. Between 1994-’95, forest revenue average 13.5% (86 billion riels) of the national budget and 1.3% (15 billion riels) of the Cambodia’s GDP (World Bank, 1996). These figures have since dropped to 2.8% and 0.3% of national budget and Cambodia’s GDP, respectively. These resulted from illegal logging and corruption in forest industry and forestry sector in Cambodia. Unless effective management takes place, the sustainability of forest resources will still remain a central issue for sustainable development. Over-exploitation of forest resources has had a major impact on current logging operations in Cambodia. In 1997, total wood production in Cambodia was 3.41 million m3 (2-7 times higher than annual sustained yield), of which 0.24 million m3, 0.36 million m3, 1.85 million m3 and 0.11 million m3 were logged in central, eastern, western and northern regions of Cambodia (Table 5). Approximately 2.32 million m3 or 68% of the total wood production came from illegal logging (Table 5). According to table 5, illegal logging occurred mainly in western and eastern regions (Fig. 1), from where the wood production was exported to the two giant wood consuming countries; Thailand and Vietnam.

Table 5

Forest concession holders in Cambodia usually plan to manage their forests on a selective felling cycle of 25-30 years. Their concessions are divided into 25-30 operational coupes, and each coupe is logged every felling cycle. However, after four or five years of logging operations the companies realized that, due to the intensive illegal logging, they will have no productive forests left to harvest after the next five years. The recent survey on forest concessions in Cambodia showed that approximately 40%, 50% and 10% of harvestable coupes will be logged out in 5 years, 5-10 years, and 10-15 years, respectively (Fig. 2). Thus, forest concessionaires are likely to be suspended or completely stop their forestry operations in the next five years time from now. This is really the serious problem to Cambodia’s forestry sector and national development.

Fig. 2

DISCUSSION

Reduction of log production cost
A case study of two harvesting systems in Jengai and Tembat forest reserves of Peninsular Malaysia where the slope of 5-20 degrees (similar to those in Cambodia) showed that the log production cost varies from US$14.54 to US$ 15.21/m3 (Malaysia Riggit 50.89-52.91) (AHMAD, 1998). Improvement of harvesting techniques will reduce the log production cost. Due to the fact that the labour costs in Cambodia are cheaper than those in Malaysia, the forest concessionaire in Cambodia, by improving their harvesting techniques, can reduce the cost of its current log production. Assumed that the production cost is reduced to US$ 20.00/m3 and unofficial payment is completely cut, P Concessionaire can reduce its loss to US$ -10.60/m3 (Table 6) at 1998 market. However, the market prices for veneer are elastic. The veneer price rose to US$ 258.8/m3 in January 1999 and dropped to US$ 252.2.00/m3 in November 1999. It rose again to US$ 288.3/m3 in January 2000 and dropped to US$ 226.3/m3 in November 2000 (Fig. 3). These veneer price variations have its means of US$ 259.2/m3. Giving that company is willing to risk 5% of the its business, the confidence limits for 95% probability for market prices of veneer are US$ 248.4/m3 (lower) and US$ 270.1/m3 (upper). While maintaining its log production cost at US$ 20.00/m3, the company can get profit US$ 16.8-38.5/m3 (economically feasible) (Table 6).

Table 6, Fig. 3

CONCLUSION

Forests have always been a defining element of the economy, culture and environment of Cambodia. Sustainability of the economic development requires that the remaining forests be managed on a long-term basis. Two problems were identified within forest concession operations, namely unofficial payments as a result of low wage and illegal logging as a result of non-existence of land use policy. The legal and illegal extracting of 3.4 million m3 of wood (2-7 times higher than the sustained yield rate) should be reduced to the sustained yield level, which is a key to ensure the perpetual supply of forest products. To avoid illegal logging as well as to attain the sustainable forest management requires that all allocated lands be properly marked on the map and in the field. It is also required that, for special management objectives, proper zoning be conducted inside each operational coupe of forest concessions. Since illegal logging activities involve the district, provincial and international cross-border trades, it is important that all institutions and parties involved in forest management must join hand-to-hand to combat illegal logging. The international forest policy should be established and every government should be encouraged to participate for the benefits of our planet that is already unhealthy because of human’s mismanagement of natural resources.
Harvesting systems have positive influence on log production cost. Therefore, the government should provide guidelines to forest concession holders for best harvesting practices, as to reducing environmental degradation and reducing the operations cost. In addition, to allow the forest operators with profits, the royalty rates should be flexible in relation to wood market price. This is a good incentive for forest concessionaires. With regard to unofficial payments, a law enforcement mechanism is required to ensure the non-existence of such payments so as to facilitate the smooth operations of forest concession holders.
The improvement of wood processing technology is required to increase the current recovery rate. Modern technology and equipment should be introduced, while at the same time making use of the rest of 41% of veneer producing and residues (non-commercial use trunks and branches) because this use will help reduce the removal of trees for fuelwood consumption. Approximately 92% of Cambodian population depend largely on fuelwood for daily cooking energy.
Above all, long-term political commitment to research and development is required to ensure the long-term sustainability of forest resources as well as sustainable development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The first named author would like to thank Dr. Mihoko Shimamoto, associate professor of department of social science, Hosei University, Japan for funding this research. The authors also thank Mr. Geoff Dean of North Forest Products, Australia, for editing of our English.

LITERATURE CITED
AHMAD, S., (1998) Analysis of two alternative harvesting systems of sustainable management in Peninsular Malaysia. Forestry Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur: 1-9pp.
DAI (1998) : Findings and recommendations of the log monitoring and logging control project. Reported submitted to the Royal Government of Cambodia. DFW, Phnom Penh, Report No. 2664-KH, 169pp
Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW), (1998) : Forest cover statistic in Cambodia. DFW Phnom Penh, 208pp
DFW and FAO (1998) : Report on establishment of a forest resources inventory process in Cambodia. DFW, Phnom Penh, Project CMB/95/002, 80pp
FAO (1997) : State of the world’s forests. Rome: FAO, Rome, 200pp
Global Witness (1999) The untouchables; forest crimes and the concessionaires -can Cambodia afford to keep them. Global Witness, London, 18pp.
GRAY, J., (1999) : Forest concession policies and sustainable management of tropical forest. The World Bank’s discussion paper: 1-21
ITTO (1999) : Marketing information for year 1999
ITTO (2000) : Marketing information for year 2000
KIM PHAT, N., OUK, S., UOZUMI, Y., and UEKI, T., (2000) Stand dynamics of Dipterocarp trees in Cambodia’s evergreen forest and management implications- A case study in Sandan district, Kampong Thom – Journal of Forest Planning, 6:13-23.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF), (1985) : Decision on tree classification and diameter limits for harvesting. Decision No. 50, on forest harvesting. Phnom Penh: MAFF, 1-4 (in Khmer)
PISETH, B., (1992) : Mangrove forests in Peam Krasop, Koh Kong. Undergraduate thesis, Phnom Penh, 85pp
RUZICKA., I., (1997) : Taxation and policy reform in Cambodia. Draft discussion paper, forest policy reform project, Phnom Penh, DWF: 1-24.
The World Bank, UNDP and FAO, (1996) : Cambodian forest policy assessment. The World Bank, Phnom Penh, 60pp.

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Forest Management Problems in Cambodia

For citation:

Kim Phat, N., Ouk, S., Uozumi, Y., and Ueki, T. (1999) Analysis of forest management problems in Cambodia – a case study of F company. Journal of Forest Planning 5, 65-71　

ABSTRACT
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A fast growing population and the need for food and forest products coupled with the great demand for wood and rapid economic development in the developing world have brought sustainable forest management under continuous uncertainty. Deforestation in the developing world has been relatively high. But recently, it has been more widely recognized that over-exploitation of forest products and non-forest products is prejudicing the sustainability of the world’s forests. Cambodia has been chosen as a case study to test this hypothesis regarding sustainable forest management.

There are two main types of forests in Cambodia, namely dryland and edaphic forests, covering a total area of 10.59 million ha or 58% of the total land area. It had been reduced from 12.32 million ha in 1973 as a result of wars and political instability over the last 25 years. Against a background of government instability, great domestic and foreign demands for wood in recent years have resulted in Cambodia’s forests being over-exploited. To prove this, a selective 25-year felling cycle system used by F Company was analyzed with the aid of various statistical tools. The analysis shows that although the growing stock of F’s evergreen forest is as low as 82 m3/ha due to illegal logging, the company has exploited 7 m3/ha or 9% of the total stock. This was 6 percentage points higher than the sustainable cutting rate of Cambodia’s evergreen forest. This supports the hypothesis of over-exploitation. The result also shows that there is still a large number of residual trees with diameter less than 45 cm, which are available for extracting over the next 25 years if they are properly managed. Strong enforcement mechanisms for forest monitoring and control are needed to stop illegal logging, to prevent over-exploitation and to manage the residual trees for long-term availability of forest resources.

Keyword: Cambodia, forest management, selective felling, tree classification

INTRODUCTION

Tropical forests have been over-exploited to meet the great demands of fast growing population and rapid economic development in recent years. This phenomenon has put sustainable forest management (SFM) in tropical areas under uncertainty. Foreseeing the danger to the world’s forests, the world’s forestry leaders met during the Earth Summit in 1992, and pledged to promote and attain SFM. Since then, SFM has regained widespread support as a means of ensuring long-term perpetual supply of wood, and other forest products and services. Several management systems have been implemented to manage the forests, but the best-known systems are clear and selective cutting.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the underlying problems of forest management and provide a framework for SFM in Cambodia. The authors have found it difficult to find the relevant forestry documents for such a study, due to the fact that forestry documents were virtually all burned during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1978). Based on reports of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW) of Cambodia, the forest management of F Company was analyzed with the aid of various statistical tools.

CAMBODIA – THE COUNTRY AND ITS FORESTS

Covering a total land area of 18 million ha, Cambodia is bordered by Thailand to the north-west, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the south-east and the Gulf of Thailand to the south-west. In 1997, Cambodia had a total population of 10.9 million with an annual growth rate of 2.8%.

Forests covered a total area of 10.59 million ha or 58% of the total land area in 1997 (DFW, 1997). All forests in Cambodia are owned by the national government. However, a forest concession system was introduced to Cambodia in early 1991. By 1997, the government had entered into 28 agreements affecting 6.33 million ha (Global Witness, 1998) of total forest area, of which over 3 million ha were well-stocked commercially operable forests. Two forest types have been recognized in Cambodia – dryland (96%) and edaphic (4%) forests. Dryland forests include evergreen, mixed, deciduous, and secondary forests, while edaphic forests include flooded and mangrove forests. Separate management systems are applied to these forests. Two types of selective cutting system are used in Cambodia: the long system with a 25-30 year cycle, and the short, 12-15 year cycle (OUK, 1997). These systems had been adopted in Cambodia prior to 1970, during times of political stability. The long system is used to manage evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, while the short system is used to manage deciduous forests.

The most up-to-date forest resource information for Cambodia is the 1994 Land Cover Atlas prepared by the Mekong Secretariat, Forest Register 1995 by JAFTA (Japan Forest Technical Association) and the unpublished forest cover map produced by DFW in 1997. Although more recent changes may have occurred and been reported, especially along the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, no data are available to evaluate these reports. The total forest area of 11.3 million ha is divided into 4.8 million ha of evergreen forest, 4.3 million ha of deciduous forest, 1 million ha of mixed forest, 0.5 million ha of secondary forest and 0.7 million ha of edaphic forests (Table1).

HISTORY OF FOREST MANAGEMENT IN CAMBODIA

On the basis of inscriptions on ancient sculptures found in Cambodia, it is believed that forest institutions existed in Cambodia before the year 639, headed by Khlong Meprey (forest chief). The state of Cambodia has existed since prehistorical times. Cambodians built a famous temple known as Angkor Wat between the 9th and 11th centuries. Subsequently, Cambodia was colonised by France from 1863 to 1953, during which period the Ministry of Forests was established in 1898 (DFW, 1985). The first forest code of practices was established in 1903, and was subsequently revised in 1913, 1916, 1921 and 1930 to make it more adaptable to different locations. The area of forest increased from 10 million ha in 1898 to 13.32 million ha in 1965 (KIMPHAT et al, 1998). However, it declined to 12.71 million ha in 1973 as a result of the Vietnam War (1965-1975). Domestic log production increased from 108,900 m3 in 1931 to 363,100 m3 in 1969, but dropped to 63,900 m3 in 1970, the year when civil war started in Cambodia (Fig. 1).

Forest cover declined further from 12.71 million ha in 1973 to 10.59 million ha in 1997 – a loss of more than two million ha. The underlying causes of deforestation in Cambodia include war (Vietnam War 1965-1975, Khmer Rouge Regime 1975-1978, Communism Regime 1979-1989), over-exploitation since 1970 as a result of these wars and political instability, fast growing population, illegal logging and unworkable public administration (KIMPHAT et al, 1999).

TREE CLASSIFICATION

Based on durability and potential utilization, tree species are economically classified into 4 grades (Decree No. 050) – Luxury, Grades I, II and III. In addition there are a number of tree species which have been temporarily classified into another class pending evaluation of their potential uses (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 1985).

Luxury Grade: The wood is very durable and is used for long-term construction material. In the past and present, villagers have been using these trees for construction of houses, especially for newly married families. Unregulated cutting has caused the gradual loss of some species in this grade. Therefore, extraction of trees in this grade is strictly prohibited.

4
Grade I and Grade II: The wood is durable. These grades are dominated by Dipterocarp trees. They are subject to commercial exploitation.

Grade III: The trees are non-commercial. Trees in this grade are mainly used for fuelwood.

Other: The potential utilization of these tree species has not yet been studied.

CAMBODIA’S SILVICULTURAL TREATMENT SYSTEM

Selective Cutting Cycle of 25-30 Years

This system or “Under Selective Management System” is applied mainly to dense evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, which are dominated by Dipterocarp species. The average growing stock of all trees with diameter greater than 10 cm at breast height in Cambodia’s evergreen forest is 230 m3/ha with a mean growth rate of 0.33 m3/ha/year (ASHWEL, 1993) (Table 2). The forest harvesting regime is planned on the basis of pre-felling inventory data. Only 30% of the growing stock (of all merchantable trees) that fall within the allowable diameter limits (DBH≥45 cm) may be extracted (Decree No. 049). The remaining 70% of stands are left as mother trees, which will, in turn, produce seeds and seedlings for natural regeneration. These residual trees function also as shelter for young trees, and they will be extracted in the next felling cycle. This old management system is being put to use in the management of all forest concessions in Cambodia.

Note: (a) in Table 2 and Table 3 derived from equation (1) below:

s = [(1+P)L-1] x 100/(1+P)L (1)

where,

s: selective cutting rate as percentage of growing stock

L: cutting cycle in years

P: annual growth rate as percentage of growing stock

Selective Cutting Cycle of 12-15 Years

This system is applied to dry deciduous forests with the major deciduous Dipterocarp species. Dipterocarpus obtusifolius (Tbeng), Dipt. intricatus (Trach), Dipt. tuberculatus (Khlong), Shorea obtusa (Pchek) and Terminalia tomentosa (Chlik) of Combretaceae are the dominant species in this forest type. The average growing stock is 60 m3/ha with an average growth rate of 0.17 m3/ha/year (Table 3). This forest type usually generates by coppice. The management objective is to extract fuelwood and poles for local needs. Its felling cycle is set between 12 and 15 years. Because of political instability further information is unobtainable.

FOREST MANAGEMENT OF F COMPANY

Location and forest area

F Company was granted two forest concessions in 1995, one of which located in the coastal area (DFW, 1996). This concession has been divided into 25 annual coupes. The management of coupe No.1 has been analyzed. This coupe is covered mainly by evergreen forest. It has been under anarchic logging for 4 years (1991-1995).

Inventory system and growing stock

The company conducted a pre-harvesting inventory on its annual harvesting coupe, which covers a total area of more than 15,000 ha. Inventory intensity was 5% of the total coupe area or approximately 850 sample plots. All plots were 100 m x 100 m in size, systematically chosen on a rectangular basis of 0.5 km on the base line and 0.4 km on the transect line.

The result of the pre-felling inventory indicates that the volume of all trees with diameter greater than 10 cm is 82 m3/ha on average – approximately one-third that of virgin evergreen forest which averages 230 m3/ha, with a density of 298 trees/ha. This clearly shows that this coupe has been and is being over-exploited. The detailed data shows that Luxury Grade trees have an average density of 11 trees/ha and volume of 1.8 m3/ha, compared to 23 trees/ha and 4.8 m3/ha for Grade I (Table 4). Table 4 also shows that the remaining trees are mostly small in diameter and volume.

Over-exploitation

One of the most crucial considerations for forest management and investment is sustainable cutting intensity or allowable cut. For a level of harvest forest to be sustainable, each harvest must be limited to the accumulated growth since the last harvest and must leave the stand in a condition to support a resumption of growth at least at the same rate. In the selective cutting systems applied in Cambodian forests, harvesting intensity is expressed in terms of percentage of the standing merchantable volume to be removed. Forest growth in Cambodia has been estimated to be in the order of only 0.3 m3/ha/year for mixed and evergreen forests. Applied to a cutting cycle of 25 years (current management system), this has been used to establish a harvest limit of 7.5 m3/ha or approximately 30% of total merchantable volume.

According to Table 4, the total volume of all trees greater than 45 cm DBH is 32.52 m3/ha (derived from 16.83+15.69). Because trees of Luxury Grade are not included in harvest, and trees in Grade III and Other are not subject to cutting due to their unmarketability, only trees of Grades I and II (18.04 m3) can be commercially logged (Table 4). Over the inventoried area of 850 ha, about 6,243.69 m3 of 8 merchantable tree species with diameter greater than 45 cm have been recorded and are to be extracted. On the basis of the silvicultural treatment principle, only 30% of the growing stock of merchantable trees that fall within the diameter limit for harvesting is available for harvest. Thus, the volume (allowable cut) to be extracted should be 5.41 m3/ha (derived from 0.63+0.51+7.76+9.14 multiplied by 0.3, of Table 4). F company proposed to cut 30% of merchantable trees with DBH greater than 45 cm and 50% of trees with diameter greater than 59 cm, so the harvest volume would be increased to 7.34 m3/ha (derived from 2.52+4.82 of Table 5).

Using equation (1) above, and based on Table 4, F’s mean growing stock is 82.13 m3/ha, and F’s actual cut on a 25-year cutting cycle is 7.34 m3/ha or 8.94% of the total growing stock. This rate is 5.5 percentage points higher than the average sustainable cutting rate of Cambodia’s evergreen forest (Fig. 2). This practice is unacceptable and will cause forest degradation. Enrichment planting is required.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Forest management in Cambodia is strongly influenced by regional dynamics of wood demand and supply. Rapid deforestation in major wood exporting countries in south east Asia, such as Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia has forced Cambodia to move from being previously a minor wood exporter to becoming a major wood exporter to the region in recent years. Shortage of human resources, financial constraints, and government instability, especially along the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, has encouraged illegal loggers from inside and outside the countries to over-exploit forests without concern for the future of Cambodian people, whose economic development depends mainly on forest resources. The over-exploitation (5.04%) of forest products being practiced by F Company causes the forest degradation, and if the remaining forest is not properly protected and managed, deforestation is likely to occur. Until recently, professional foresters have been concerned with the management of forests for the sustained yield of wood production alone. While based on sustainability principles, it is not a long-term sustainability. Thus, forest managers should formulate appropriate methodological guidelines for assessing long-term sustainability. Besides the exploitation of commercial tree species, the company should also extract the trees of the third and other grades for fuelwood production as done prior to 1970 (DFW, 1985), because approximately 92% of Cambodian population still depend mainly on fuelwood for daily cooking energy and warmth. This practice would reduce the clearing of wood inside forest concessions by nearby villagers for fuelwood.

The results of this study indicate that the number of residual trees with diameter less than 45 cm in all grades in the forest remains high (Fig. 3). Under legal management this forest can provide more wood and environmental services for present and future needs. The Luxury Grade, very distinct species, and Grade I – the commercial species – remain a very small proportion of the remaining trees, which makes enrichment planting necessary.

The study concluded that over a period of 25-30 years, the trees with diameter less than 40 cm should reach minimum diameter for harvesting. Thus the recommendation is that all trees with diameter greater than 40 cm can be extracted as long as they meet the silvicultural guidelines. While further study of growth rates of specific forest areas is strongly recommended, more data collection, storage and analysis is needed to evaluate whether or not the present forest management practices are sustainable.

While cooperation with neighboring countries is required, strong enforcement mechanisms for current forest monitoring and control are needed to stop illegal logging, to prevent over-exploitation of forest products and to properly manage the remaining trees. The participation of local, national and international communities is required to provide financial and technical assistance the management of Cambodia’s forests on a sustainable basis.

Above all, while establishing a national forest planning system, the government should provide a long-term commitment to research infrastructure in terms of fieldwork facilitation, documents and technical and financial assistance. To effectively manage the forest on a sustainable basis, forest certification schemes such as FSC, and ISO 9000 and 14001 should be introduced.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Authors would like to thank Mr. Dan Howell, of Howell It Is, and his wife for editing our English.

LITERATURE CITED

ASHWEL, D., (1993) : Aspects of management of biological diversity in Cambodia. Paper presented at seminar on Cambodia’s forest resources 15-17 July, 1993. Report of UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia), Phnom Penh, 1-11

Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW), (1985) : History of forestry management in Cambodia. DFW 1985, Phnom Penh, 129pp (in Khmer)

DFW, (1996) : Forest operation plan of F Company. DFW, Phnom Penh, 51pp (in Khmer)

DFW, (1997) : Forest resource assessment in Cambodia. DFW’s forestry report, Phnom Penh: 1-18

Global Witness (1998) : Going places. Cambodia’s future on the move. A briefing document of Global Witness, London, 77pp

KIMPHAT N., and UOZUMI Y., (1998) : Present status and problems of Cambodia’s forests. Chubu Forestry Research 46: 213-216 (in Japanese)

KIMPHAT N., OUK S., UOZUMI Y., and UEKI T., (1999) : An outline of the causes of deforestation in Cambodia. Transactions of Japanese Forestry Society. No. 109: 142-146.

Decree No. 49 (1986) : Classification of tree species and diameter limits for harvesting. Government of Cambodia, Phnom Penh: 1-4 (in Khmer)

Decree No. 50 (1986): Tree species classification and diameter limits for harvest. Government of Cambodia, Phnom Penh: 1-4 (in Khmer)

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF), (1985): Decision on tree classification and diameter limits for harvesting. Decision No. 50, on forest harvesting. MAFF, 1985, Phnom Penh, 1-4 (in Khmer)

OUK, S., (1997) The enhancement of sustainable forest management in Cambodia. Report presented at the 22nd session of International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) and associated committees in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, May 1997. DFW, Phnom Penh: 1-13

The World Bank, UNDP and FAO, (1996) : Cambodian forest policy assessment. The World Bank, Phnom Penh, 60pp.

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Implications of Climate Change Agreements on Forest Management in the Greater Mekong Sub-region

- Discussion paper 2009 -

Nophea Sasaki, Tsuneaki Yoshida, Hirokazu Yamamoto

Abstract: Concerns over the rapid increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, under which 5.2% reduction of the global GHGs emissions was committed. More reduction commitment is expected for the new climate change agreements as new pledges of 80% reductions were recently announced by the G8 countries. Climate change agreements are likely to benefit the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) financially and technologically in various development fields, particularly forestry if GMS countries are well prepared. In this report, we discuss the current and future climate change agreements and propose prioritized multidisciplinary research in forest management and its roles in sustainable development in the GMS. Within the context of climate change agreements, our prioritized research includes 1) multidisciplinary research to analyze the implications of climate change agreements on forest management; 2) multidisciplinary research to analyze the baseline scenarios for the implementation of forestry related projects; 3) basic research to improve understanding of forest and non-forest ecosystem functions and services; 4) multidisciplinary research to create eco-business opportunities in forest sector; and 5) basic research to improve understanding of the roles and benefits of various stakeholders so as to ensure long-term sustainable development.

Keywords: Great Mekong Sub-region, forest management, climate change agreements, ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation

For citation
Sasaki, N., Yoshida, T. & Yamamoto, H (2009) Implications of climate change agreements on forest management in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Strategic Research Framework of NREMC and GMS/UniNet on NREM. Mae Fah Luang University. November 2009. Chiang Rai: 177-186.

1. Introduction
Forest management is defined here as management activities that ensure perpetual supply of ecosystem services from natural forests and forest plantations. In this report, countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. China’s Yunnan province is excluded due to the lack of data to support our arguments.
Global deforestation is responsible for the release of about 1.5 to 2.2 PgC annually (IPCC 2007, Gullison et al. 2007, Houghton 2003) or about 25% of the global emissions. Additional to losing ecosystem functions, forest degradation additionally emit about the same amount of carbon although such data are commonly limited in the tropics (Gibbs et al 2007). Furthermore, change in species composition resulted from overexploitation or illegal logging can strongly affect the amount of carbon stocks in the forests of up to 600% (Bunker et al. 2005). Rapid deforestation and forest degradation in the GMS have been reported (FAO 2006, Sasaki 2006, Meyfroidt & Lambin 2008). Deforestation and forest degradation have adverse impacts on ecosystem functioning and services, on which a large proportion of GMS population depend for subsistent agricultural cultivation, food, meat, fuelwood, traditional medicines, cultural practices, many other countless traditional practices. Thus, long-term sustainable development in the GMS would be ensured only if appropriate forest management is undertaken taking advantages of the world’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions as well as to help developing countries achieve sustainable development.
As part of the global efforts to reduce carbon emissions by various sources, world leaders adopted in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) committing developed countries (Annex 1 countries) to reduce carbon emissions. As the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) is approaching, new discussions and negotiations for post-Kyoto agreements or new climate change agreements have started. Under both periods of the climate change agreements, financial and technological incentives are made possible to all signatory developing countries. In forest sector, afforestation and reforestation under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, avoiding deforestation and degradation, and enhancement of carbon sinks under the anticipated climate change agreements (to be reached in December 2009) are the eligible activities for financial and technological supports available to developing countries in order to reduce emissions and promote sustainable development in developing countries.
Nevertheless, in order to obtain such incentives or supports from developed countries, a number of questions must be addressed. Here, we discuss the climate change agreements and their implications on forest management and sustainable development in the GMS. We also propose research agenda for the region so that maximum benefits from the new climate change agreements could flow to supplement the existing resources for managing forests for multiple purposes.

2. Climate Change Agreements and Forestry
Foreseeing the danger of the rapid loss of forests and their ecosystem functioning, the world community adopted the Kyoto Protocol to UNFCCC in 1997 and became effective in 2005. This protocol commits Annex 1 countries to reduce about 5.2% of the global carbon emissions compared to the 1990 emission level or baseline. In order to fulfill this commitment, various options may be used by Annex 1 countries. These options include domestic measures and the use of such Kyoto Mechanisms as Emission Trading, Joint Implementation, and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CDM directly involve the participation of developing countries (non-Annex 1 countries) that will act as hosting sites for all CDM-related projects, ranging from energy efficiency to renewable energy projects, and to afforestation and reforestation (refer to CDM-AR hereafter) projects. The latter CDM-AR is the focus of our report (see Fig. 1 for explanation). Financial compensation is made possible based on the amount of certified carbon sinks (known as certified emission reductions, CERs) gained through CDM-AR activities. CERs can then be traded or transferred to Annex 1 countries so that they can be credited in the reduction commitment.
Additional to CDM-AR agreements, the Bali Action Plan adopted in 2007 at the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) to UNFCCC recognized the importance of avoiding deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries (including all countries in the GMS) and its contribution to sustainable development (Sasaki & Putz 2009). The Bali Action Plan also addressed the important issue of enhanced carbon sinks as well as ecosystem functioning in tropical forests through forest conservation and/or improved forest management (Fig. 1). Together with the REDD, this enhanced carbon sinks activity is termed as REDD-plus. The REDD-plus is likely to be part of the new climate change agreements which will be concluded at the COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Fig. 1 Current and future climate change agreements and tropical forestry (click here)

A part from compulsory markets, the climate change agreements also encourages the creation of carbon voluntary markets where carbon credits gained from the CDM-AR, REDD or REDD-plus in GMS (as well as in other developing countries) may be traded. Despite huge potentials in terms of financial and technological supports in forestry, so far until recently, only one REDD project was initiated to protect 60,000 ha of natural forests in Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia. To provide potential markets for carbon gains from forestry projects, global carbon market trends are described below.
Globally, about 0.8 billion MtCO2e (metric ton carbon dioxide equivalent) was traded in 2005 or about $9.4 billion in monetary values. These figures increased rapidly to 5.0 billion MtCO2e in 2008 or about $92.4 billions (Fig. 2). CDM’s traded values share about 17.2–28.9% of the total traded values. More volumes are expected as the world leaders pledged a drastic reduction of 80% at the at the G8 Summit in July 2009.

Fig. 2 Trend of global carbon markets (2005–2008) (click here)

Although CDM markets have been increasing, only developing countries such as China and India share a large proportion of CDM-related projects. Countries in the GMS share only a small fraction of CDM projects (Fig. 3). This may be because the GMS lacks suitable human resources to negotiate or apply for such projects or deal with fast-moving development of climate change discussions. Therefore, research on the inter-linkages between climate change agreements and their roles in, especially forest management and sustainable development should be carried intensively in the GMS. In so doing, the GMS could be in a better position to compete with other developing countries, especially for the new climate change agreements whose forestry-related projects will be huge.

Fig. 3 Locations of CDM projects in Asia and the GMS (click here)

3. Implications on Forest Management in the GMS
According to FAO (2006), the GMS countries have a total land area of 193.9 million ha, of which about 48.1% (93.2 million ha) are covered by forests in 2005. Forest degradation has been reported in all countries, but only forest cover in Viet Nam increase over the 15 years between 1990 and 2005 (Table 1). With our rough estimate over the same period, deforestation is annually responsible for the gross release of about 156.5 million ton of carbon (about 537.7 million MtCO2e). Increase of forest in Vietnam led to an increase of about 70.6 million ton of carbon (about 259.1 million MtCO2e).

Table 1 Forest area change some countries in GMS (1990-2005) (click here)

The loss and gains in Table 1 offer various opportunities for managing forest resources under the current and future climate change agreements. Afforesting and reforesting on deforested land before 1990 are classified as CDM-AR activities whose carbon sinks could be eligible for credits and financial support. Depending on the outcome of the climate change agreements to be reached in December 2009, plantings of trees on recently deforested lands may also be eligible. In order to take advantages of such agreements, GMS should be able to provide historical land use change and methods for carbon accounting from and implementing the all plantation activities in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner.
Historical land use data are also important for implementing REDD activities under the future climate change agreements. Such data should include the rate of deforestation and the drivers of such deforestation. Data for degradation is much more complicated requiring remote sensing technology for large scale assessment and monitoring. But when it comes to small scale project, field assessments on the resource uses and forest inventory must be conducted. Preventing carbon emissions from further deforestation and degradation will likely be compensated in the new climate change agreements.
REDD-plus activities require complicated approaches. All degraded forests must be categorized according to the degrees of degradation (see Sasaki et al. 2009). Available forest restoration techniques may then be applied to each category of degraded forests. These techniques include but not limited to reduced impact logging plus liberation treatments or RIL-plus (Peña-Claros et al. 2008), liberation treatments (Villegas et al. 2009), enrichment plantings, and assisted natural regeneration (Shono et al. 2007).

4. New Research Agenda for the GMS
Baseline determination of the afforestation and reforestation projects of the CDM, REDD and REDD-plus is very important in the climate change negotiations, negotiations for funding, project approval or disapproval. During the negotiations leading to the approval of a project, the following parameters are essential: “measurable, reportable, and verifiable” carbon sinks. All climate change related projects must be measurable, reportable, and verifiable but these activities are difficult to generalize and therefore they require technology, capable human resources, and knowledge of particular sites where the projects are proposed or will be implemented.
Afforestation and reforestation do not always produce the forests of our choice. Plantations are sometimes established in the expense of non-forest ecosystem services such as the loss of underground water; the important source for drinking water and agricultural cultivation. Research on producing environmentally non-destructive tree species (hybrid species) for use as planting tree species on deforested land or degraded land should be promoted throughout the GMS because, in one way or another environmental consequences in a country would affect others.
Forest restoration through either reduced-impact logging, enrichment plantings or natural assisted regeneration also require careful assessment of forest conditions, choices of silvicultural treatments, logging practice, wood processing technology, and/or species to be planted.

5. Effective Research and Dissemination of Results
Under any conventions, government agencies act as signatory partner and as the focal point for international communications, approval or disapproval of any projects requiring the government’s endorsement for funding. Government agencies, on the other hands are not capable enough to discuss with potential project developers due to the lack of up-to-date knowledge of the fields being discussed. In contrast, while university researchers are able to provide such expertise, they are not aware of any government’s plans because they are not coordinated or invited to join the government’s expert teams to discuss with other partners in concerned.
It seems that coordination between government agencies, and donor and development agencies is currently strong in the GMS, but somewhat weak between universities, and government agencies, and donor and development agencies. Since all communications and financial flows will have to go through the government agencies, the above three types of agencies should be well coordinated in order to achieve maximum benefits from the climate change agreements.

6. Conclusion
The GMS has huge potentials of obtaining financial and technological supports from the current and future climate change agreements if the region is well prepared to do so. CDM-AR, REDD, and REDD-plus will likely be a major climate change package in the new climate change agreements. Promoting research on baseline determination, measurable, reportable and verifiable methods, techniques, and technologies is of great essential. The region should then identify the stakeholders of forest resources, their roles, and train them to participate in the management taking into consideration the climate change agreements and financial assistance that would otherwise not available to those stakeholders. To ensure long-term success in implementing the climate change related projects, research experience in the GMS should be shared on a regular basis through the GMS Academic and Research Network. Sharing experience across Southeast Asia and other tropical countries could improve GMS’s capacity in dealing with problems that arise from the implementation of the climate change related projects across the globe.

References (click here)