The government controversially issued transport permits in March without informing donors or monitors. This picture was taken near Phnom Penh in early May.
As donors and the government gear up for the six-monthly Consultative Group meeting
in mid-June, Cambodia is being forced to show it is complying with the donor-driven
forestry reform agenda.
Money from donors is likely to be squeezed by other demands, such as funding for
Afghanistan and East Timor, leaving less for Cambodia, which is looking for around
$1.4 billion over the next three years.
In its first response the government announced it has canceled the concessions of
two logging companies: Hero Taiwan and Voot Tee Pearnich. Cancellation of some concession
contracts was one of several requirements contained in a blunt letter from the World
Bank that warned of its dissatisfaction with progress on forestry reform.
However some forestry observers said the cancellations were unlikely to make much
difference on the ground as Voot Tee Pearnich did not log last year, and Hero Taiwan
is understood to have wanted to quit Cambodia for the past nine months.
The World Bank's regional head, Ian Porter, sent a strongly- worded letter to senior
government ministers stating that the lack of progress raised "serious concerns
regarding commitment to reform in the forestry sector".
In the letter dated May 2, Porter warned that the final tranche of money from the
Structural Adjustment Credit (SAC), worth around $15 million, would be in jeopardy
if reform did not proceed as agreed.
The letter was sent to the Council of Ministers' Sok An, Finance Minister Keat Chhon
and Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun, and copied to donors and diplomats.
Porter noted "well-documented increases in illegal logging, unexpected and undisclosed
approvals for the transport of logs", as well as "prolonged delays"
in cancelling some concessions and the seeming inability of the Forest Crimes Monitoring
Unit (FCMU) to follow up and prosecute offenders.
The letter demanded three actions to restore the Bank's confidence, including that
the government immediately cancel certain concessions. Politically, one observer
told the Post, the timing of the two cancellations "is perfect".
The second of the Bank's demands was for the government to justify its March move
to allow transport of logs. That action, done without the knowledge of donors and
forest monitors alike, angered and embarrassed the bank. It was on the verge of sending
SGS, a consultancy firm, into the field to carry out an inventory.
The letter demanded that until an inventory was done, all log transport "should
be suspended". The Post understands that the ban on transport of logs will be
enforced from midnight May 23.
The Bank also noted that the FCMU, which was set up more than two years ago to investigate
illegal logging, be overhauled as it had "fallen into disrepair and conflict".
The letter reminded the ministers that the monitoring system was a condition of the
SAC.
Chris Price of the UK's Department for International Development (DfID), which funds
the unit, said a review of the FCMU would start after the June donor's meeting. Both
DfID and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) would carry out the review.
The FCMU could be closed down as soon as August if the review determines its mission
is unfeasible, said the unit's new chief technical advisor, M. Pushparajah. But that,
he said, was only one of several possible outcomes.
Asked whether the govern-ment's moves would satisfy the World Bank's conditions outlined
in its letter, country head Bonaventure Mbida-Essama said the Bank had not received
official notification of the government's moves to comply with the letter. Until
that happened, he said, it was unable to determine whether the actions were sufficient.
In another development, the Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW) is understood
to have completed its preliminary assessment of a report that concessionaire GAT
logged in Kampong Thom this year in defiance of the government moratorium which began
Jan 1 this year.
Sources say DFW has found evidence that illegal logging did take place, though it
is unclear at this stage as to whether it agreed that an estimated 800-2,000 logs
were removed from one of GAT's concession coupes.
If that finding of illegal logging is contained in its final report to the Council
of Ministers, which decides on penalties, GAT could have its concession revoked,
as Prime Minister Hun Sen warned all concessionaires last year.
And there is broad agreement among forestry experts that the action taken, if any,
against GAT will speak volumes about the govern-ment's true commitment to reforming
the sector. As one forestry observer put it: "It is key to the future commitment
by the government."
Pat Lyng, the former chief technical advisor to the FCMU, which carried out the initial
GAT investigation as per its mandate, said circumstantial evidence indicated the
company was guilty of logging in defiance of the ban.
"It points a strong finger towards GAT, which at a minimum is responsible for
controlling illegal activity that occurs within their concession. And that didn't
occur."
Among the evidence said Lyng, was that logging took place less than five minutes
travel time from the GAT logging camp, on a road that has only one way in and one
way out, and which runs past GAT's log rest area and a provincial checkpoint.
One aspect of GAT's apparent illegal logging that particularly concerns donors is
that none of the logs would have been declared, as they were harvested illicitly,
meaning the government would not receive royalties.
As for the ongoing battle to determine which concessionaires have paid past royalties,
many of which are years in arrears, Dennis Cengel, advisor to DFW, said a review
process is still under way.
"Although there may not be a problem, the accounting [used to determine royalty
payments] is done in a way that is not quite clear, so the IMF and the World Bank
have both asked for clarification on receipt of royalties to government," said
Cengel.
Cambodians living in rural areas rely heavily on forests for non-timber products
such as vines, resin and food. Loss of the country's forests would likely have a
substantially adverse effect on their lives, which is why donors such as the ADB
are strongly behind the community forestry project where local people will get the
right to manage forests.
But the clock is ticking. Pat Lyng estimates the country's forests could survive
for another five years "or maybe longer" if sustainable forestry is not
introduced.
The biggest problem, he said, was that no one actually knows how much illegal logging
has been going on, and consequently how much forest is left. However he felt the
prevalence of illegal logging had sharply reduced over the past few years, although
he thought much had been forced underground to avoid detection.
"It is hard to predict now what is actually going on illegally, until you can
actually tie it down," said Lyng. "But it is easily 60 or 70 percent down
- and that's a huge impact."
One recent example where the system has not worked is Tumring Commune in Kampong
Thom. Last year the government granted 12 square kilometers of land to the Chup Rubber
Plantation Company for a new plantation. Chup then engaged neighboring concessionaires
GAT and Colexim, from whose concessions the land was taken and where the villagers
live, to clear the area's forest.
Despite Prime Minister Hun Sen's promise last year to the villagers that no resin
trees would be lost and that they would get access to community forests, the timber
companies have felled hundreds of the villagers' resin trees with impunity. As the
trees have gone, so has any chance of the villagers earning a living.
The situation is so serious that the World Food Programme has been asked to examine
the food needs of Tumring's villagers as their supplies are unlikely to last beyond
July.
And in another development, concessionaire Samling International has pulled out of
its concession in Mondolkiri, one of two it was awarded. Forestry observers said
over-logging meant neither was viable.
Henry Kong, Samling's country head, admitted the Mondolkiri and Koh Kong concessions
were "severely depleted" but maintained there was still room for sustainable
logging in them. He blamed "anarchic third parties" for the problem.
He said Samling has not yet submitted its forest management plan (FMP) or environmental
and social impact assessment (ESIA), both required under the agreed new regulations,
as it was waiting to see the outcome of renegotiations with the government over the
future of logging. Kong confirmed the company would quit Cambodia if those negotiations
were not satisfactory.
"I can't say how long [it will take], but we are waiting for some indication
from the government that the negotiations will be positive and it will be meaningful
to submit an FMP and ESIA," Kong said.
"We will definitely not stay on if the conditions are not conducive for a sensible
business venture here, because our exposure is too big [internationally]," he
said. "We will not agree to survive by shady or unethical business means to
stay alive, because we stand to lose much more from our reputation abroad. Our investment
in Cambodia is less than 10 percent of our investments abroad."
He confirmed Samling was also considering suing the government for several million
dollars for the costs it incurred building roads into the Mondolkiri concession,
from which it has now withdrawn all machinery while it awaits the government response.
Kong denied the road was built illegally through the Snuol Wildlife Reserve, as some
have charged.
"That is not correct," he said. "The part of the road through the
wildlife reserve was already in existence, so we only upgraded it," he said.
Speaking in his capacity as head of the Cambodian Timber Industry Association, Kong
said he had some reservations about the recent attack on Global Witness country head
Eva Galabru, who was beaten up at night outside her office.
"Global Witness is not entirely blameless in their attitude and in their reporting
style. I think [it] could improve in this area and thereby gain valuable support
from the private industry," said Kong. "We do not really know who is behind
the attack, but we are assuming it is related to the controversies relating to the
timber industry."
Although Samling has not submitted its FMP or ESIA, nine of the remaining 15 logging
concessionaires have done so, in line with the agreed new forestry regime.
Colexim, Chendar Plywood, Everbright, Timas Resources, Samrong Wood, Yurisako, Pheapimex,
GAT and TPP are all believed to have lodged their documents with DFW.
The DFW's forest planning specialist Yann Petrucci will lead the teams which will
analyze the companies' FMPs. That will involve an inventory, on a random sample basis,
of trees remaining in their concessions. Two teams of six people each began heading
into concessions May 22 to examine the inventories submitted by concessionaires,
which will help analyze the amount of forest left in Cambodia.
"We are going to check the same places they did the inventory in the field and
see if they have made a good inventory," said Petrucci, adding that he was confident
the teams, made up of DFW employees, would act independently in their assessments.
"It is very easy to see if there has been manipulation of the data if you know
how it is done in the field," he said. "For each company it will take ten
to 15 days. This is the first stage and in a few months we will see if the inventories
were well made."
Dr Jurgen Hess, team leader of German aid arm GTZ's forestry project, said there
had been some improvements in forestry, although there were several weaknesses in
the overall policy framework.
"There is a lot of capacity missing. When you talk about the code of practice,
for example, most people don't know exactly what is written in this code, and they
hardly know how to apply this code on the ground, especially at the district and
province level," he said.
Hess said he had the impression that the government wanted to look into the sector
in "a broader sense" to strengthen areas such as community forestry, conservation
and protection, and reform of the concession management system.
"There is [government] willingness to reform the forest sector, by looking into
it in a broader sense and by establishing linkages from the forest sector to other
sectors like agriculture or land management," said Hess. "It is a question
of what you can achieve and it needs time."
