Conservation in Cambodia: 1

by Phillip J. Edwards, from OBC Bulletin 27, June 1998.

Introduction
In February 1969 the first bombs fell from a US B-52 bomber over eastern Cambodia, and over the next four years huge quantities were dropped on the country, resulting in a civil war which continues to this day. The Khmer Rouge, a previously ineffective guerrilla movement, occupied Phnom Penh in April 1975 two weeks before Saigon fell to the communist Vietnamese. What followed was one of the most infamous social engineering experiments ever devised. Cities were forcibly evacuated, currency abolished, hospitals and schools closed, and anyone of intellectual standing was executed. Between two and three million people are believed to have died before the Vietnamese overthrew the regime in 1978. Despite recent defections, conflict continues between the Khmer Rouge and government forces.

In Cambodia recent history dominates everything including nature conservation. The flooded bomb craters around the airport are one of the first things you notice upon arrival, but the legacy of the war is all around, not least in the 40 million landmines estimated to have been laid. As such, physical access to the countryside is extremely limited and continuing hostilities place limits on conservation activities. Moreover, the mass execution of intellectuals has led to a shortage of educated people to implement government policies and time is thus needed to establish the base of experience that most other countries take for granted.

Sarus Crane
(Patrick Bierens)

Biodiversity
Cambodia covers an area of 181,035 km2 of continental South-East Asia bordered by Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It has a short coastline of only 435 km. The Mekong River and the Tonlé Sap dominate the country's hydrology and there are two groups of mountains those in the east comprising the western slope of the Annamite Chain while those in the south-west are the isolated highlands of the Elephant and Cardomom Mountains. From studies carried out before the war it appears that Cambodia may support about 212 species of mammal, 720 bird species, 240 reptiles species and over 2,300 species of vascular plants (1,2). The country is regionally immensely important for its biodiversity because, unlike its neighbours, natural habitats remain relatively abundant, particularly lowland forests and wetlands which have been reduced or greatly modified elsewhere.

Forests
Cambodia contains the largest extent of natural forest in continental South-East Asia (3). These support an abundance of wildlife featuring a wide range of mammals including cats, bears, primates, elephant, rhinoceroses, native cattle and deer. The fauna includes a number of species that have greatly declined or become extinct in neighbouring countries and, given the lack of comprehensive surveys, may even include rare species new to the country, e.g. douc langur, Pygathrix nemaeus, or even to science, e.g. the 'khting sipu' (snake-eating deer), horns of which have been discovered in north-east Cambodia.

Nevertheless, this habitat is rapidly disappearing. In 1965 forest cover was estimated at 13.2 million ha (73% of the land area), but by 1991 this had declined to 11.2 million ha or 62% of the land area (4). While early exploitation of Cambodia's forests was light, the rate of deforestation between the early 1960s and late 1980s is thought to have been 50,000 to 100,000 ha per annum (5). The forests in the eastern part of the country suffered severe damage during the war and substantial deforestation took place during the Khmer Rouge Government. In 1985 timber export resumed, and substantial areas of forest were cleared, particularly along roadsides to deter guerrilla attacks.

Currently, the main factors contributing to the loss of forest habitats are continuing internal hostilities, logging (both commercial concessions and illegal operations), shifting cultivation, and fuel collection. Data on the extent of these activities are sparse, although since the late 1980s logging has increased dramatically, particularly through concessions to foreign companies from Malaysia and Indonesia. It is estimated that roundwood production during 1989-91 showed a 27% increase on that for 1979-81 (6). Legal exports of wood products are believed to be matched, if not exceeded, by illegal exports, mainly to Thailand (7).

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