The Cambodian Government recently increased its support for protected areas, including two important wildlife sanctuaries. However, the management of these two sanctuaries depends on support from donors and non-governmental organisations. There is an urgent need to develop more sustainable sources of funding.

The Phnom Aural and Phnom Samkos wildlife sanctuaries are located in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains. They are covered mostly by evergreen forest that is rich in biodiversity.

Research from the International Institute for Environment and Development, in the UK, assesses the economic value of the ecological services that these sanctuaries provide in their protected state - the ‘protection scenario’. This is compared with the costs and benefits of converting land to agriculture and illegal logging - the ‘non-protection scenario’.

About 30,000 people live in the two sanctuaries, relying on subsistence agriculture, raising cattle and collecting non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for their livelihoods. These communities are among the poorest in Cambodia. Plans for different land use zones have been developed for both sanctuaries in a participatory process involving local people living in the sanctuaries. The sanctuaries are threatened by economic concessions granted by the Government for logging and commercial agriculture.

Overall, the value of the protection scenario is slightly higher than the non-protection scenario. This is mainly because the global value of carbon storage through forests is particularly high at present. However, the value of unsustainable timber harvesting is also high, reflecting the increase in timber prices over the last two years. NTFPs, agriculture and sustainable forest management have relatively low monetary value compared to harvesting timber, but they are important for local livelihoods.

The researchers reviewed the finances of the two sanctuaries and considered options for addressing the shortfall in funding:

• Options such as payments from tourism and permits for hunting and angling have little potential in the short or medium term.
• The Cambodian Government is unlikely to provide additional funding due to pressure on public finances, regardless of the economic arguments for doing so.
• The Government has not always been open about how it has used previous funding.

The best long-term option is to develop and trade in carbon credits. At present, carbon credit schemes under the Clean Development Mechanism and the Kyoto Protocol are only available for new forestation projects. However, due to growing global interest in preventing deforestation, a pilot scheme for existing forests is likely to receive funding in the build-up to the 2012 renegotiation of the Kyoto Protocol.

Even if funds are available from this source, they will not be sustainable without strong governance and an open and accountable framework. The researchers recommend that policymakers:

• improve coordination between the Government and other agencies involved in managing the sanctuaries to avoid competition for funds
• develop a national conservation strategy that will be the basis for identifying and setting priorities
• identify and prevent any threats to the sanctuaries, including logging, unregulated mining and plans to create hydro-electric dams
• enable the private sector to develop appropriate economic activities to ensure local people can earn an income
• monitor global developments on preventing climate change, in particular schemes to raise carbon credits for standing forests.

Source(s):
‘Sustainable Financing of Protected Areas in Cambodia: Phnom Aural and Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuaries’, Environmental Economics Discussion Paper 08-01, International Institute for Environment and Development: IIED, by Maryanne Grieg-Gran, Derek de la Harpe, John McGinley, James MacGregor and Ivan Bond, 2008 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: Fauna and Flora International – Cardamom Mountains Wildlife Sanctuaries Project (Asian Development Bank); UK Department for International Development (DFID); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

id21 Research Highlight: 27 April 2008

Further Information:
Maryanne Grieg-Gran or James MacGregor
Environmental Economics Programme
International Institute for Environment and Development
3 Endsleigh Street
London WC1H 0DD
UK

Tel: +44 20 73882117
Fax: +44 20 73882826
Contact the contributor: maryanne@iied.org

Environmental Economics Programme, International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK

Other related links:
'Wetlands in Cambodia – worth more than you think'

'Monitoring the role of environmental management in the MDGs'

'Linking conservation and sustainable livelihoods'