Formulating and Implementing a National Environmental Education and

inconsistent permit and registration systems, irregularities in financial management, and absence of consistent mechanisms to declare and manage core areas. The Government has no coordinated management plan for multiple use of the lake and the need to develop common policy objectives for managing the TSBR is acutely felt. There is hope that the TSBR Secretariat will facilitate coordination and fortify cooperation among national agencies, provincial authorities, and civil society. The secretariat’s authority is equal to that of a ministerial department. Its purposes are to: (i) serve as an information clearinghouse open to all; (ii) conduct a nationwide awareness and mobilization campaign for the protection and sustainable use of the Tonle Sap and its watershed; and (iii) effect cross-sectoral policy and strategy coordination. However, the secretariat is new and must be strengthened.

3. Community Fisheries

17. Fish stock depletion and habitat destruction could be slowed, even reversed, if communities had a sense of ownership and could self-regulate better.28 But community-level management systems and capacity are weak or nonexistent. Conflict resolution mechanisms cannot prevent violent interventions because communities and individuals have few incentives to act responsibly. Legal instruments such as the Fisheries Law and the Wildlife Protection Law have been drafted but await public consultation and approval by the National Assembly.29 Community fisheries have been created by prime ministerial decree, not because of stakeholder participation and empowerment. By the same token, DOF's Community Fisheries Development Office (CFDO) was established only recently and offers no standards and guidelines from which community fisheries could develop local approaches to natural resource management that accommodate ecosystem-wide considerations. The Government's endeavors to engage communities in natural resource management should shift further from a fish-production focus to a people focus, where the needs and aspirations of the communities are listened to and valued.

4. Resource Tenure

18. The Land Law (prepared with ADB assistance) addresses outstanding issues on land policy by establishing basic access of rural people to private tenure over land. In the five project provinces, with large areas having natural resources used by communities, a system for defining the user rights of communities is also required. In instances, such rights will be both spatial and temporal: different communities will often share rights over forestry and fisheries. The World Bank has begun to implement a land-titling project; however, the Tonle Sap region is not one of its priorities. Conflict over fisheries is escalating; it will become worse if communities do not have documentation certifying the right of occupancy or use of natural resources. Conflict can be reduced by mapping, physical demarcation where relevant, and land use planning.30 But the socialization of boundaries is complex and requires long-term commitment.

28 Generally, management of natural resources by strengthened communities leads to equitable distribution of benefits and sustainable use. Still, this assumes that overexploitation has not locked natural resources into terminal decline and made concern for food security paramount to the detriment of the environment. 29 The broad objectives of the Wildlife Protection Law are to provide a clear regulatory framework for management, use, and conservation of wildlife and habitat; establish the management authorities for wildlife issues and specify their duties and functions; define the prohibited and permitted activities and procedures regarding wildlife use; list the offenses, penalties and enforcement procedures; implement certain provisions of CITES; establish the lists of endangered and vulnerable wildlife species in Cambodia; and promote education and awareness of wildlife issues.

If the law comes into effect and is enforced, the regulation framework for wildlife conservation will suffice for most species and areas of the TSBR. However, key biodiversity areas will require vigilance and a targeted enforcement program. They are the three core areas of the TSBR and additional areas that may need to be identified, given the migratory nature of some wildlife species. 30 Maps help local people to locate their own resources and management needs.

5. Policy Framework

19. The primary focus of the Fisheries Law as regards inland fisheries management is the fishing lot system. But policy needs to consider the sustainability of fisheries and the equitable sharing of its benefits. It should also give weight to the biodiversity of the core areas and buffer zone. Importantly, policy should be developed using participatory techniques. Its technical focus should include concern for: (i) the conservation and protection of aquatic habitats on the floodplains; (ii) enforcement of fisheries legislation to avoid overharvesting; (iii) monitoring of fish catch and the status of fish and wildlife habitats; (iv) community land rights and land use within the buffer zone; (v) technical reevaluation of the location of existing fish sanctuaries and fishing lot boundaries; and (vi) making up the fishing lot system more transparent.

20. Subdecrees, proclamations, and directives or circulars will be required to implement the Fisheries Law. All need to be drafted for relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Those that relate to community fisheries management and reform of the auction system and burden books are expected to be implemented before adoption of the Fisheries Law. The subdecree on establishment of community fisheries, for example, has been circulated for public comment and redrafted for submission to the Council of Ministers. It proposes to establish a framework for community-based management, in cooperation with technical institutions and others entities. The subdecree relating to the auction system and reform of the burden books is expected to improve management of the remaining lots and make the process more transparent. But the agenda for reform is placing a considerable burden on DOF, which already suffers from institutional weaknesses and low levels of capacity.31 Urgently, the subdecree on establishing community fisheries needs to be reexamined from the following perspectives: (i) Limiting community-based fisheries management to family-scale fishing. The definition of family-scale fishing in the Fisheries Law has become obsolete and does not provide a realistic tool for present-day fisheries management. Most family-scale fishers complain that they cannot catch enough fish and must use middle-scale fishing gear. Their activities would therefore be officially excluded from community-based management areas and they would in all likelihood continue to fish there illegally. The definition of family-scale fishing should be reviewed promptly to decriminalize people attempting to provide for their families.The proposed subdecree does not provide incentives to embrace community fisheries. Community-based fisheries management should include all forms of fisheries and involve all stakeholders within the framework of a 5-year Tonle Sap fisheries management plan. (ii) Excluding participants other than Khmer nationals. The status of the Vietnamese minority, born in Cambodia but without valid documentation showing Cambodian nationality, is not clear. Such households live on and fish in the Tonle Sap and would need to participate in community fisheries management. The status of this minority should be examined and ways should be found to address their need for access and full participation in community fisheries. (iii) The requirements for registration. The registration formalities required from community fisheries need to be simplified with respect to statutes and bylaws.

21. Work on the regulatory framework is also hampered by the absence of a fisheries management plan for the Tonle Sap and an institutional anchor for it. The preparation and

31 In 2000, only 33 fishery officers out of a total staff of 1,557 held postgraduate degrees. About 310 held first degrees and 479 held diplomas or had received certificate-level training. Salaries do not provide encouragement.