Making a difference on the ground for people and forests through the demonstration of proven practices

1. Heng Da
Deputy Country Programme Coordinator
RECOFTC Cambodia
Regional Land Forum
“Bringing Land Governance into ASEAN economic integration”
RESULT THREE
Making a difference on the ground for people and forests through the
demonstration of proven practices
RECOFTC in Cambodia

2. Mission and Vision
Mission:
To enhance capacities for
stronger rights, improved
governance and fairer benefits
for local people in sustainable
forest landscapes in the Asia-
Pacific region.
Vision:
Empowered local people are
effectively and equitably
engaged in the sustainable
management of forested
landscapes.

3. RECOFTC – Thematic Areas
 Securing Community Forestry;
 Enhancing Livelihoods and Markets;
 People, Forests and Climate Change; and
 Transforming Forest Conflicts.
All thematic areas are implemented with a focus on aright-
based approach in three principles: strong and secure right,
good governance and fair benefit.

4. History of CF Development
1994 First Community Forestry site established in Takeo
province
2002 New Forestry Law enacted enable participatory
approach to forest management to be adopted. and
opened space for CF to gain legality
2003 Community Forestry Sub-Decree approved by
MAFF
2006 The CF Prakas approved by MAFF
2010 National Forestry Program (2010-2030) enacted
with include national CF Program that committed
1000 CF over 2 million hectares of forest by 2030

5. Number of CFs against official agreements and CFMPs as of 2015
499
328
55
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1
CFMP (Community
Forest Management
Plan)
, cover area of 417,635ha
, cover area of 296,240ha
, cover area of 33,741ha

6. Where RECOFTC Works in Cambodia

7. RECOFTC contributes to CF development in Cambodia
 Developed capacity building and training materials
supporting CF development – formalization,
management planning, etc..
 Conducted capacity building needs assessment for CF
development
 Contributed to Capacity needs assessment for National
Forest Programme
 Trained more than 10,000 participants on CF
development related courses. Participants were forestry
administration officials, NGOs staff, local authorities, CF
members.

8. RECOFTC contribution to Cambodia CF development
• Establishment of over 250
community forests of the country’s
499 CF
• Formalization of 193 CFs out of
328 CFs in country
• Development of Community
Forest Management Plan for 220
CFs, of these 55 CFMPs approved
• Support establishment and
functions of CF network in nine
(9) provinces out of 21 provinces

9. RECOFTC contributes to CF development in Cambodia
• Development of the CF
programme under the
National Forest Program
2010-2029
• Development of the
Cambodia REDD+ Roadmap
and National REDD+
Strategy
• Initiate the review and
revision of Guidelines for
Community Forestry

10. RECOFTC contributes to CF development in Cambodia
• Reactivation and support to the
National Community Forestry Program
Coordination Committee (NCFPCC)
and establishment of Provincial CF
Program Coordination Committees
(PCFPCC);
• Participation in the Technical Working
Group on Forestry Reform (TWG-FR)
and Task Group on CF, the National
Working Group on Wood Energy and,
Cambodia Working Group and
Cambodia REDD+ Consultation Group

11. Lesson Learnt
 Community Forestry (CF) scheme is a key part of efforts to
reduce forest loss in Cambodia and poverty reduction.
 CF contributes to secured tenure for villagers over forest,
preventing forest from conversion to other forms of land uses
that would not benefit villagers. In addition, CF provide
opportunity for household to secure their use right (small plot
plantation etc.) through a locally accepted agreement.
 Community forest are potential legal source of timber in the
long term – community forest management plan that depict
timber harvest will be among a few sources for legal timber in
Cambodia

12. Lesson Learnt
 Majority of community forests are degraded when allocated for
villagers to manage and use that provide limited livelihoods
benefit for them.
 Some limits are found in current CF related legal frameworks in
terms of incentivizing villagers to invest in CF management in a
long run. These include the terms and duration community
forestry management agreement (15 years), minimal right of use
of the forest such as limited commercialization of timber until 5
years after officials approval of management plan, complicated
processes for villagers such as highly technical community forest
management – inventory, prolonged approval by Ministry of
Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries as potential CF area

13. Local people hold the key to
healthy forests
Thank you!