Cambodia forest communities confront illegal loggers as authorities look away

Deforestation threatens one of the largest evergreen forests in south-east Asia but local patrols are powerless to stop loggers whose livelihoods rely on the timber

The Guardian | 13 May 2015

Activists document and inspect a consignment of illegally logged timber in Prey Lang forest, Cambodia, on 23 April 2015. Photograph: Adam Gnych

Sok Plok and his fellow forestry activists are surprisingly fast for men in flip-flops as they navigate through the thick, thorny vegetation. They have been alerted by the distant humming of tractor engines; a sound that, in this part of Cambodia, normally means illegal loggers are afoot.

They stumble out on to the dirt road just in time to intercept a shipment of timber on its way to a sawmill about 10 miles further down the road. A man known as Hee gets off the first tractor and calmly lights up a cigarette as Sok Plok explains that he and his companions are members of the anti-logging Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN). He then accuses Hee of transporting illegally felled timber. 

“I know,” says Hee with a shrug. “But I need to make a living. I get paid $50 for each load I transport.”

Sok Plok demands to know the name of his boss but Hee refuses to tell him. Meanwhile, the other activists get to work, taking notes and photographing the convoy and timber.

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A member of the PLCN documents a consignment of illegally logged timber in Prey Lang forest, Cambodia, on 23 April. Photograph: Adam Gnych

Prey Lang, which means “our forest” in the local Kuy language, spans between 130,000 and 250,000 hectares and is the largest remaining lowland evergreen forest on the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and one of the largest in south-east Asia. It contains more than 20 species of endangered animals and seven distinct ecosystems. Around 200,000 people live in and around the forest. 

 

Grassroots organisations like the PLCN grew out of local action to protect the forest a decade or so ago. Sok Plok and his team are part of a patrol set up to challenge illegal logging, and all the information they collect – photographs and details of the number of tractors and quantity of logs – is recorded on a central database. 

In April, the PLCN published a report, Our Forest Remains Under Destruction, which accused political and business elites of being directly involved in and profiting from illegal logging. The report claimed that law enforcement and forest management officials consistently failed to act and had no concrete prevention measures in place.

In April, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, told provincial governors to take responsibility for curbing forestry crimes in their respective provinces, and criticised officials who blame each other when illegal logging is uncovered.

Thy Neang, an environment ministry official who manages the Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group and works in partnership with Fauna & Flora International (FFI), said Prey Lang must be preserved.

“If Prey Lang is deforested or heavily degraded, Cambodia will lose its largest lowland forest area with high biological value, putting at risk the existence of wildlife, including the Asian elephant, banteng and sambar,” he said. “The loss of such an ecosystem would, in turn, cause changes in climate, leading to droughts and water shortages in the dry season and more floods in the wet season.

“Prey Lang is the source of the Stung Sen river, which is a major tributary of the Tonlé Sap lake,” he said. “Loss of the forest would in turn reduce water flow and reduce the value of ecosystem services ... The livelihoods of people living in the area, who are dependent on the collection of forest products including resin, wild mushrooms, wild vegetables, rattan and medicinal plants, would also be affected.”

However, as with many disputes over natural resources, the people who are caught in the middle – such as Hee – may have little choice but to prioritise short-term gain. 

Back in the forest, after some negotiation, the Prey Lang activists decide to let Hee go on his way, but only after he has promised to get out of logging. Sok Plok says he trusts Hee to keep his vow – in any case, on this occasion the activists lack the manpower to seize the timber. But it seems a flimsy guarantee: it is hard to see what alternative livelihoods are available.

“I guess I could try growing cassava, I don’t know. I just want to be able to support my family, and we are all living hand-to-mouth,” says Hee. He is transporting a tropical forest tree – Dipterocarpus alatus – that produces an oily resin used to varnish wood or waterproof boats.

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An area of deforested land in Prey Lang forest. Photograph: Adam Gnych

In some villages in Prey Lang, up to 80% of households regularly extract this resin, and for many it is the main source of income, according to research by the University of Copenhagen. Families pass trees down through the generations.

 

The other big threat to Prey Lang is ever-expanding rubber plantations. In a May 2013 report, Global Witness detailed how rubber companies “with close links to the region’s notoriously corrupt political elites, operate with complete impunity, devastating local livelihoods and the environment”.

Ernst Jürgensen, who heads Denmark’s Danmission in Cambodia and helps to train PLCN activists, said the government gave large concessions to private companies to grow rubber trees in the forest.

“The government claims this will create employment for the people of Prey Lang. In reality, that is seldom the case. Instead, we see how these companies overstep their concessions and clear more forest than they are allowed to, because there is no control or oversight,” he said.

Almost 1.6 billion people – more than 25% of the world’s population – rely on forest resources for their livelihoods. The United Nations Forum on Forests, which is meeting in New York this month, wants to strengthen existing policies to address the effective management, conservation and development of all forests. It aims to forge an international policy for the next 15 years that will be aligned with the new sustainable development agenda, to be approved in September.

As they set up camp for their second night on patrol, the PLCN activists, many of whom are farmers and foragers, share their concerns about the future. Hiem Vuthy, 25, says he is worried about the environmental consequences of deforestation. 

“I’m protecting the forest to prevent the flooding and droughts that we might get if all the trees are cut down,” he says. “I think Prey Lang is very important for my country. It’s full of valuable resources that many people use, so we should treasure that.”

But in the distance, the shrieks of birds blend with the unmistakable drone of a chainsaw.