Mekong Ecosystem Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

Mekong Ecosystem Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual CBC field manual 1.

Published July 2015 by: Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Authors: Thi Sotherean, Chhin Sophea, Vanessa Herranz Muñoz, Nicholas J. Souter Graphics and Design: Vanessa Herranz Muñoz Funded by: Oxfam America Citation: Thi, S., Chhin, S., Herranz Muñoz, V., Souter, N.J. (2015) Mekong Ecosystem Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual. CBC field manual 1. Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Fauna & Flora International Cambodia Programme and Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Acknowledgments: We would like to thanks Phean Sophoan and Lim Solinn of Oxfam America for their tireless support of this manual. We also thank Oxfam's partner NGO's for their assistance and Fauna & Flora International's Cardamom Mountain community team.

Centre for Biodiversity Conservation: Jointly managed by Fauna & Flora International (Cambodia) and the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation is a non-profit initiative dedicated to training Cambodian biologists and the study and conservation of Cambodian biodiversity. http://www.rupp.edu.kh/master/biodiversity/?page=cbc Disclaimer: The advice provided in this manual is of a general nature and should not be taken or used as site specific advice. As the manual has been developed for three countries the figures depicted within are generalizations and need to be interpreted in the context of local and national conditions and legislation. Neither the authors or publishers will be held responsible for the consequences of any actions made as a result of consulting this manual. Reasonable effort has been made to publish reliable information, but neither the authors or publisher can assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or consequences of their use. Reasonable effort has also been made to acknowledge all copyrighted material used in this manual.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/. © 2015 Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Royal University of Phnom Penh ISBN:

Available in English, Khmer, Vietnamese and Laotian.

Table of Contents Purpose

5

Legal Framework

6

Gender Perspective

10

Agriculture

13

Forests and Wildlife

27

Aquatic Habitats

38

Waste Management

46

Eco-tourism

49

Climate Change Adaptation

52

Large-scale Development

55

Payments for Ecosystem Services

61

References

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Tables and Figures Table 1: Environmental legislation in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos

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Figure 1: System of rice intensification

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Figure 2: Bat Farms in Cambodia and Vietnam

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Figure 3: Agriculture and Livestock “Don't”

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Figure 4: Agriculture and Livestock “Do”

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Figure 5: The Miyawaky Method for Restoring Tropical Forests

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Figure 6: Forest and Wildlife “Don't”

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Figure 7: Forest and Wildlife “Do”

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Table 2: Main Step in Community Fish Refuge Establishment

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Figure 8: Aquatic Habitats “Don't”

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Figure 9: Aquatic Habitats “Do”

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Table 3: Steps to Free, Prior, Informed Consent

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Table 4: Ecosystem Services

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Table 5: Ecosystem Services Concept

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Purpose of the Mekong Ecosystem Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual Many rural communities in the Lower Mekong Basin live in poverty. The majority of these communities are dependent upon natural resources for their day to day survival. Many of these natural resources are harvested from the wild and their sustainable use is dependent upon conserving the integrity of the natural systems that produce them. Examples include fish from freshwater fisheries and wild food plants, timber and rattan from forests.

A range of government and non-government organizations (NGOs) are promoting community development activities such as developing alternative livelihoods, which aim to lift people from poverty. Effective community development needs to preserve or enhance the natural systems that provide the basis for many rural community livelihoods. However community development workers tend to have expertise in social systems and economic development rather than in biodiversity conservation or natural resource management. Thus guidance on development practices and alternative livelihoods that avoid negative impacts on natural systems is needed by the civil society and development community. This manual aims to provide that guidance.

This manual has been developed in close collaboration with Oxfam America and a range of Cambodian, Vietnamese and Lao partner NGOs: Indigenous Community Support Organization, Cambodia Save Cambodia’s Wildlife, Cambodia People and Nature Reconciliation, Vietnam Northeastern Rural Development Organization, Cambodia Participatory Development Training Centre, Laos Lao Water Resources Network, Laos These organizations were surveyed to identify their information and training needs; knowledge of natural resource management issues and biodiversity conservation; and the range of alternative livelihoods they were recommending or considering for the local communities they support. This manual details a range of development activities and alternative livelihoods. So that each activity can be implemented sustainably it is accompanied by a list of Do's and Dont's; recommendations for success, and practices to be avoided. The recommended practices draw heavily from Fauna & FIora International and the Cambodian Ministry of Environment's Green Development: Guidelines for Sustainable Development in Protected Areas (Daltry et al. 2006), which was aimed at promoting sustainable development practices for communities in protected areas.

This manual also provides advice on adapting to climate change, as well as to the potential large scale environmental changes resulting from external developments such as large scale hydro-power dam construction, economic land concessions and mining. It also provides advice on taking advantage of opportunities such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbons stocks (REDD+).

This manual is the basis of a training package aimed at assisting communities undertake environmentally sensitive development. The package comprises a flip chart presentation (Appendix 1), which can be used to educate the community on environmentally sensitive development and practices. A simple reference booklet of this material has also been produced for distribution among participants who receive the training.

5

Legal Framework The core zone is a management area of high conservation value containing threatened and critically endangered species, and fragile ecosystems. Access to the zone is prohibited except to General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection Administration's officials and researchers who, with prior permission from the Ministry of Environment, conduct nature and scientific studies for the purpose of preservation and protection of biological resources and natural environment, with the exception of national security and defense sectors.

A variety of activities can impact the environment. The legal framework that influences and protects the natural environment includes laws created to regulate protected areas, which are described in detail below, and regulations such as law on land ordination and use, fisheries law or extractive activities law (Table 1).

Cambodian Protected Area Law In Cambodia, the Ministry of Environment is responsible for implementing the Protected Area Law (2008). There are a number of different types of protected areas: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

The conservation zone is a management area of high conservation value containing natural resources, ecosystems, watershed areas, and natural landscapes located adjacent to the core zone. Access to the zone is allowed only with prior consent of the Nature Conservation and Protection Administration at the area with the exception of national security and defense sectors. Small scale community use of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) to support local ethnic minorities' livelihood may be allowed under strict control, provided that they do not present serious adverse impacts to biodiversity.

National Park Wildlife Sanctuary Protected Landscape Multiple use area Ramsar Site Biosphere Reserve Natural Heritage Site

Other legislation including the Forestry Law (2002) and Fisheries Law (2006) also provide protection and are implemented by the Forestry and Fisheries administrations.

Protected areas are divided into a management zoning system to protect important conservation areas and to enable people to live sustainably (Protected Area Law, 2008).

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Table 1:Main environmental legislation in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Source: http://faolex.fao.org/ ; http://theredddesk.org/. Disclaimer: This is not a complete list of environmental

legislation in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

Legal Framework Vietnam Protected Area Law The sustainable use zone is a management area of high economic value for national economic development and management; and conservation contributing to improvement of local community and indigenous minorities’ livelihoods. Development and investment activities are permitted within this zone following a consultation process and in accordance with relevant laws and procedures.

In Vietnam, the term ‘Protected Area’ was initially understood to be prohibited forests and later as Special Use Forests (SUFs) under the provisions of the Forest Protection and Development Law (1991). Most protected areas in Vietnam are still called SUFs even when they don’t include any forest, such as cultural and historic sites, grasslands, freshwater lakes, and marine areas (ICEM, 2003).

The community zone is a management area for socio-economic development of local communities and indigenous minorities. It may contain existing residential lands, paddy field and field garden or swidden (chamkar).

The law defines SUFs as: “the forests mainly planned for forest development aiming at conservation of natural, standard specimens of the national forest ecosystem, forest botanical and animals’ gene resources, scientific research, protection of historical/cultural relics, landscapes, and tourism”

The community and sustainable use zones are demarcated to allow the people living inside the protected areas to carry out traditional livelihood activities, while still conserving forests, wildlife and water systems. In the community zone, the villagers are able to build houses, undertake agricultural activities and have schools and village facilities. This area is managed by the village and commune leaders.

There are four types of SUFs (Terrestrial Protected Areas):

The sustainable use zone outside the village can be set up as Community Protected Areas (CPAs) where local people have the right to collect material from the forest, such as timber to build homes, and forest foods and medicines. Some CPAs have been set up for small community eco-tourism businesses. A CPA is managed by local people to protect their forests for the future, and to stop outsiders from stealing their land and resources (Daltry et al., 2006).

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National Park

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Nature Reserve

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Species and Habitat Reserves

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Cultural, History and Environmental sites (Landscape Conservation Areas)

Special-use forests are managed according to three zones: strictly prohibited, ecological rehabilitation areas and service and administration.

Vietnam also has a number of Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance), World Heritage Sites and Man and the Biosphere Reserves. These sites may overlap with SUF protected areas.

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Legal Framework Laos Protected Area Law Conservation forests are set aside for conserving fauna, flora, nature, their historical, cultural, touristic and environmental value and for scientific research. NBCAs are national conservation forests (Robichaud et al., 2001) and to facilitate management may be zoned as either:

Laos' protected area system of National Biodiversity Conservation Areas (NBCAs) was legally decreed in 1993. The NBCAs have three objectives: 1) Protecting forests, wildlife and water; 2) Maintenance of natural abundance and environmental stability; and 3) Protection of natural beauty for leisure and research

Absolutely prohibited zones: areas where no extractive use is allowed, and entry is by permission only;

Protected area management should benefit NBCA residents, be participatory and implemented by local government.

Management zones: where limited and regulated extractive use is allowed by the people; and

The following activities are prohibited in NBCAs (Clarke, 1999) : ●

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Linking zones: which connect protected areas to one another, or to other types of forest for the enhancement of wildlife conservation. No hunting, tree cutting or other damaging activities are allowed.

Logging or cutting except with permission from central government for research purposes.

Harvesting non-timber forest products including hunting and fishing except with permission from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the authority responsible for the NBCA. Occupation of land, settled residence and expansion of cultivation.

Collecting or moving archaeological artifacts.

Using explosives, chemicals or poisons or pollution.

Shifting cultivation.

Surveying, mining and construction projects such as reservoirs or roads without legal permission.

The Forestry Law (1996) defines the legal status of forests in Laos. There are five forest types: 1) National Conservation; 2) Protection; 3) Production; 4) Regeneration; and 5) Degraded Forests.

9

Gender Perspective In natural resource use and management, rural women often face several obstacles including:

Environmentally sensitive development projects face the challenge of a gendersensitive implementation. In the developing world, women produce 50% of all food crops and represent 43% of agricultural workers (Lahiri-Dutt, 2014), yet earn lower incomes than male workers (Kim, 2002).

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Women play essential roles in natural resource management. For example, women participate more than men in the collection of NTFPs and are often responsible for the collection and management of water. Similarly, women's role in fisheries in south-east Asia is becoming more prominent; they are no longer just dedicated to the post-harvesting activities but are increasingly involved in harvesting fish.

Insecurity over land ownership and access.

Lower political representation and decision power within the community.

Low access to financial resources.

Difficulties in participating in training and capacity-building initiatives.

Gender Mainstreaming Introducing mechanisms to counteract these obstacles is referred to as gender mainstreaming: “the process of ensuring that both women and men have equal access and control over resources, decision-making, and benefits at all stages of the development process and projects” (Jost et al., 2014).

Climate adaptation initiatives can hinge on behavioural changes and attending to how both women and men go through these processes might be essential to their success.

Gender mainstreaming can be integrated at all stages of a development project and can take many forms, including (WBI/PRMGE, 2015):

Consequently, to increase the probability of success environmentally-sensitive development projects should take a gendersensitive approach.

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Conducting a gender analysis of the different roles, needs, priorities, and assets of men and women in respect to project, and of the impact of the proposed development on males and females;

Gender Perspective

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Case study: Strengthening the social capital of women in upland communities of Vietnam

Integrating measures or provisions into project design based on the above information to ensure that both women and men benefit from the project, to either mitigate harm or provide alternative compensatory measures.

Allocating resources, responsibilities and accountabilities to ensure that the measures will be implemented.

Monitoring and evaluating the results of project activities for both men and women.

A field initiative in Vietnam investigated the integration of social and gender analysis in natural resource management. The project worked with poor upland communities to strengthen the social capital of women in the Hue region. The main conclusions were: Giving poor farmers, including women, the opportunity to improve their understanding and address their interests builds confidence and skills. In the past the ideas, priorities and local knowledge of commune leaders and other local people were mostly ignored by rural development experts. Poverty reduction in upland areas of Vietnam is much more effective using participatory tools and fostering adaptive learning.

Long lasting results are more likely to be achieved using participatory approaches.

Development organisations must successfully engage all the stakeholders and highlight their role in the development and how they will contribute to its success.

Not all farmers have the same interest and capacity to improve their production practices and income generation; so participatory approaches must make special efforts to engage all local people, especially women and the poor. Successful new technologies can best be disseminated by structured farmer-to-farmer learning activities and by extension agencies that use participatory tools and methods.

For example, successful forest management requires a participatory and inclusive approach which needs (Colfer, 2013): ●

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Setting up interest groups of women and the poor, and improving their management capacity builds human resources and social capital in upland communities. The women’s interest group proved to be a good medium for interaction and learning. The role of the local women’s union was important in maintaining the group; therefore, strengthening the capacity of the women’s union was also important.

An understanding of the systems (including social systems) that affect forests to maximize efficiency and minimise conflict and related economic losses.

To take advantage of the expertise, knowledge, energy and commitment available of both men and women.

Capacity building for the poor and women requires a long-term effort by all involved in rural development— local authorities, governments, non-government organizations, researchers and international supporters.

To recognise the ethical issues involved and that a sense of justice also requires attending to women's forest-related needs, as well as of marginalized men (by ethnicity, class or behaviour).

Source: Sen and An (2006)

To note women’s social roles as bearers and often teachers of forest related culture.

To take account (and sometimes work to alter) relations between women and men, in decision making, labour, access, control and power, which shape the benefits people obtain from forest management.

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Gender Perspective What is participation? ●

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Gender implications in forest and tree management

Participation empowers men, women, boys and girls to find solutions to their own development challenges. It is an attitude and a philosophy that encourages learning, discovery and flexibility.

In what ways may human behaviours that affect forests and people’s well being hinder or reinforce your work at the field level?

1) How do men’s and women’s day to day economic roles differ, especially in agriculture, forest products and livestock?

Participation assumes equality between outside experts and community members.

Implementing and interpreting findings in participatory approaches must be rigorous so that bias is limited.

2) What demographic and gender issues affect forests and people locally (e.g. migration, population changes, access to birth control)?

Implementation should consider social-cultural settings, making comparison of results between communities a challenge.

3) What domestic roles do men and women play (e.g. cooking, hygiene, child and elder care, health, fuel wood collection) that affect their involvement in forests?

A gender-sensitive approach requires understanding the local society, and a strategy for achieving gender specific targets.

4) What patterns are identifiable in intra-household power dynamics? In what ways do men’s and women’s interests conflict and converge? Are there bargaining strategies used by each?

Source: Jost et al., (2014)

5) What are the features (e.g. collective action, access to technology, distribution of benefits, time constraints /conflicts) of locally available, alternative economic strategies designed to improve livelihoods, trees and forests? How do these differentially affect men and women?

Source: Colfer (2013)

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Agriculture Rural communities in the Mekong River Basin are largely dependent on agriculture (which includes cropping and animal farming) and fishing, both to cover their nutritional needs and to generate income. However, expanding agricultural lands and uncontrolled use of conventional agriculture techniques (e.g. synthetic pesticides and fertilizers) are threatening the Mekong ecosystem's capacity to sustain an increasing human population as well as its rich and unique biodiversity.

Sustainable agriculture includes: agroforestry, low external input farming, organic agriculture and wise use of water resources. It integrates ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation and soil regeneration.

Sustainable agriculture benefits from a healthy ecosystem in which biodiversity is an ally, not a threat, and contributes crop pollination and pest reduction through complex predator-prey relationships.

Integrated pest management techniques used in sustainable agriculture promote such relationships to maintain healthy crops and biodiverse agro-ecosystems.

Sustainable Agriculture There are a variety of sustainable practices often based on local conditions, knowledge and culture - that can increase crop productivity and quality, while decreasing the amount of resources required (including land area and water) and helping protect the environment. Farmers who adopt environmentally sustainable agriculture benefit by saving on external inputs and reducing debt.

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Agriculture Swidden Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture methods

Swidden agriculture entails clearing forest patches for non-permanent farms. The impact of swidden agriculture on the environment varies depending on the approach used.

Cultivating large cleared patches for a long period and leaving them fallow for a short period can be very destructive. This allows little time for the cleared patches to recover and leaves a fragmented and degraded landscape. The opposite practice, cultivating small parcels of land for a short period, followed by a long fallow, allows the forest to recover. This practice can be sustainable as it relies upon natural ecosystem processes to regenerate cleared fields, and uses natural biological control of insects, disease and invasive weeds.

The Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research defines sustainable agriculture as "The successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs, while maintaining or enhancing the quality of the environment and conserving natural resources".

The following approaches can be used to achieve sustainable farming: ●

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Integrated pest management uses ecosystem resilience and diversity for pest, disease and weed control, and only uses pesticides when other options are ineffective.

Integrated nutrient management balances the need to fix nitrogen and the need to import inorganic and organic sources of nutrients (e.g. by using nitrogen fixing plants, compost, mulched vegetation or green manures), as well as preventing soil erosion.

Minimal tillage (ploughing) conserves both soil and soil moisture;.

In Cambodia, traditionally managed swidden agricultural systems (chamkar) are used to cultivate rainfed rice, bananas and other crops.

Areas where traditional chamkar is practiced have a dynamic, shifting forest cover, but the total forest area remains stable. Traditional practices and rotational cycles, keeping the size of cleared areas small (~ 1 ha) and the fallow periods long (~ 8 years) can achieve a sustainable system.

Agroforestry incorporates multifunctional trees into agricultural systems.

Sustainable aquaculture incorporates fish, shrimp and other aquatic resources into farm systems, such as irrigated rice fields and fish ponds, leading to increases in protein production. Aquaculture industries however, can have a negative environmental impact if not planned and managed correctly.

Water harvesting in dryland areas can mean that formerly abandoned and degraded lands can be cultivated, and that additional crops can be grown on small patches of irrigated land owing to better water retention.

Burning to prepare land for agriculture should be avoided as it reduces soil fertility and water-holding capacity and kills beneficial soil organisms, animals and plants. An alternative to burning is mulching the old vegetation, allowing it to rot into the soil, where it will stabilize the soil and produce nutrients for the new crop. If there is no other choice, the use of fire should be agreed with relevant forest management authorities and done after the early wet season rains, when there is enough moisture in the ground and vegetation to prevent fires from getting out of control.

Integrating livestock into farming systems, such as dairy cattle, pigs and poultry, including using zerograzing cut and carry systems.

Use native species, when planting trees use native locally sourced seed, when farming fish using native species rather than introduced species such as Tilapia.

Source: Petty, J. (2008)

Land rehabilitation can be accomplished by replenishing lost plant nutrients through the use of soil-improving crops, soil conservation methods, introducing livestock for their manure and planting more trees.

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Agriculture Crop Intensification

Case Study: Wildlife Friendly Ibis Rice

Food for growing human populations can be provided by either making more land available for cultivation, or intensifying current land use to produce more food on the same area. The former often destroys, whilst the latter preserves, habitat. Sustainable intensification seeks to increase food production on existing farmland while lowering environmental impacts.

The Wildlife Friendly Ibis Rice Project is a partnership between NGOs and government agencies that links economic development and environmental conservation.

Farmers are offered a premium price for their rice if they agree to conservation agreements that protect rare water birds and other species that live around the local community.

The first agreement is a land-use plan developed by the local community which delineates the areas that farmers are permitted to clear for growing rice or other produce.

This plan limits the conversion of wetland areas to rice fields. They then develop a 'no-hunting' agreement, which outlaws the hunting and collection of rare waterbirds and their chicks. These agreements are enforced by a locally elected natural resource management committee, which guarantees a high degree of local ownership of the scheme. Since the majority of the inhabitants of rural communities in Cambodia are engaged in rice farming, the scheme has the potential to benefit a large proportion of the population within each village.

Rice Field Intensification Rice is southeast Asia's staple crop and can be intensively and sustainably grown using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI. Figure 1) (SRI-Rice, 2015). SRI is a resource-saving method of growing irrigated or rain-fed rice. It is a set of practices for managing rice-plants, the soil, water and nutrients. SRI can potentially increase lowland rice yields by 150% (J-SRI, 2012). SRI requires little external input and it uses half as much water as conventional methods and no synthetic fertilizers or herbicides. Application of SRI practices can raise household incomes, enhance soil fertility, and protect crops against climatic, pest, and disease stresses. A family that uses SRI can produce all the rice it needs on one hectare, and still have enough to store or sell. However SRI is labour intensive as less water and no herbicide makes fields more prone to weeds.

Project implementation in each village follows a number of steps. Firstly, a Village Marketing Network (VMN) is formed. The VMN purchases the rice from farmers and verifies that farmers have respected the conservation agreements, with oversight from the natural resource management committee. Transportation, processing and packaging, as well as marketing and selling the rice, is coordinated by Sansom Mlup Prey (SMP).

SMP organizes the collection of the rice from each of the participating villages, and delivers it to a millfor processing. The rice is then packaged and labeled as Wildlife FriendlyTM, and delivered to contracted retail outlets. Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia has received certification from the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN, www.wildlifefriendly.org) for Ibis Rice so the rice can be marketed under the Wildlife FriendlyTM brand. All contracts are negotiated by SMP, which is a non-profit organization. Farmers are paid when they supply their rice to the VMN, with the VMN funding the purchases from a cash advance provided by SMP; revenue earned by SMP is used to cover these advances, as well as funding their operating costs. Surplus revenue is returned to the VMNs to be divided amongst participating farmers.

SRI methods work best when farmers experiment to adapt the system to their soil and environmental conditions. The core principles, more space for each plant, more care for each plant, just the right amount of watering and organic fertilizing are also effective in improving the cultivation of other crops. Recently, Cornell University’s SRI International Network and Resources Center (SRI-Rice) was awarded the first Olam Prize for Innovation and Food Security at the Montpellier Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture for its work on SRI.

Source: Sansom Mlup Prey (2015)

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Expert advice is recommended before adopting SRI.

Adapted from: Directorate of Rice Development, Patna, 2013.System of rice intensification (SRI)- Principles and methods http://drd.dacnet.nic.in/downloads/sri-book-part1.pdf ; WASSAN, 2006. Realize full potential of Paddy Plant. SRI Method of Paddy Cultivation. http://www.wassan.org/sri/documents/English_SRIbooklet.pdf Figure 1. System of Rice Intensification

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Agriculture Crop Diversification

Agroforestry

Monocropping, growing a single crop year after year on the same land, can damage soil ecology (including depletion or reduction in diversity of soil nutrients) and provide ideal conditions for harmful parasitic species, increasing crop vulnerability to opportunistic pests and diseases. The result is a more fragile ecosystem with an increased dependency on pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

Agroforestry combines agricultural crops/pastures or livestock with woody perennial plants. Agroforestry can diversify production, increase biodiversity, enrich soil fertility and contribute to agroecosystem sustainability. Major tropical agroforestry practices include (World Agroforestry Centre, 2015): ●

The alternative is crop diversification, where a mixed variety of crops are grown together.

Crop diversification helps protect the soil from erosion and loss of fertility, supports more wildlife and provides insurance against the loss of an entire crop to pests or diseases.

Crops that may be grown together include annual crops (e.g. maize, cassava, sugarcane, soybean, sweet potato, peanut, bean, long bean, pigeon peas, rice), semi-permanent crops (e.g. banana, papaya, cassava, ginger, chilli, sugar cane, sugar palm, coconut, pineapple), perennial crops and fruit trees (e.g. jackfruit, durian, mango, breadfruit, citrus, cocoa, coffee) and herbs and spices (e.g. lemongrass, basil, cardamoms, coriander, garlic).

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Farmers are advised to use local crop varieties where possible and avoid modern high yield varieties that deplete the soil fertility more quickly or need high inputs of costly synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Farmers can also experiment with cultivating wild fruit trees, palms and other food plants from the forest, which have the advantage of being free, already adapted to local conditions, likely to be more nutritious than existing domestic varieties, and able to support beneficial native wildlife.

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Alley cropping, in which annual crops are grown in alleys between rows of woody plants. Open crown species are preferred so that they can let sun light pass through to the crops. Denser crowned species may need to be pruned to let light through, but the prunings can be used as mulch or fodder.

Homegardens, the small scale cultivation of cash crops, annual crops and trees around the home. There may be differences in canopy height or shade tolerance, and animals may or may not be present.

Improved fallows, the replacement or enhancement of natural fallow vegetation by planting trees or shrubs that help to maintain soil fertility, as well as providing useful products. The preferred species are fast-growing, woody and leguminous species which helps to increase crop yield.

Taungya, planting agricultural crops during the early stages of forest timber plantation establishment. Crops are grown every 2-3 years depending on the rate of tree-canopy development.

Shelterbelts and windbreaks, planting trees to reduce wind speed to protect humans and animals, and reduce building damage, sea encroachment and floods.

Protein banks, planting trees or shrubs that can provide protein-rich fodder, or can be pruned to feed animals.

Agriculture

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Organic Farming

Pasture under plantation, widely spaced rows of plantation trees can hold soil moisture, improving grass growth providing fodder for livestock.

Organic agriculture does not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, minimizes external inputs, relies on farm resources to improve soil fertility (e.g. animal manure, rotting vegetation, compost) and helps maintain and improve the natural systems supporting farmland.

Multilayer tree-gardens, multipurpose plants and trees in various vegetation layers (and sometimes animals), which utilize environmental resources like water, nutrients, and sunlight. This variety ensures production of different products throughout the year.

Inappropriate use of synthetic pesticides in conventional vegetable farming has resulted in cases of human poisoning. Organic vegetable producers and communities can improve their health and diet since organically farmed products contain more vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphates and fewer nitrates than conventional crops. Foods produced using organic methods can sometimes gain higher prices, because many people are increasingly choosing organically-produced foods for health and other reasons. Certified organic products can be produced, processed and marketed following a set of standards and receive approval from a certification body, increasing their marketability. Further information about organic agriculture in the lower Mekong can be obtained from:

Shaded perennial-crop systems, growing shade-tolerant species under, or in between, over-story timber or other commercial tree crops (e.g. banana-coffee intercropping).

Legumes are some of the most important agroforestry tree species as they fix nitrogen, which then becomes available to other plants.

Recommended legumes include Sesbania grandiflora, Sesbania sesban, Moringa oleifera, Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium and Senna siamea.

Vegetable Gardening

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A vegetable garden can supply communities with healthy vegetables throughout the year, as well as providing economic, educational, social and environmental benefits. Vegetable gardens can improve food security by increasing the amount of healthy food available within a community.

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Many kinds of vegetables can be grown locally including: asparagus, beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, salad greens, spinach, spring onions, squash and tomatoes.

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Cambodian Organic Agriculture Association: http://www.coraa.org/page.php?id=8 Vietnam organic: http://vietnamorganic.vn/ OrganicLao: https://sites.google.com/site/organiclao/h ome

Agriculture Permaculture Permaculture is another approach to organic agriculture.

It is based on understanding the local environment so that plant cultivation follows natural patterns and works to enrich the local ecosystem. Permaculture promotes the natural potential of cultivated areas to work with, and benefit, nature and biodiversity. Permaculture has received little scientific research attention, however many of its practices can be found in the agroecology literature (Ferguson and Taylor, 2013).

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Permaculture stems from three central ethics: care for the earth, care for people, fair share and has 12 principles (Holmgren, 1978): ●

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Observe and interact. Natural systems are very diverse and foster complex interactions. A cautious approach and close observation of every action will provide solutions adapted to the local environment.

For example, when designing an agroecological system we may start by observing which native species grow best on different parts of the system, which species grow best together and what conditions they need to grow.

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Catch and store energy. Systems that collect resources when they are abundant ensures their availability in the future. This can be applied to all resources, from maintaining soil health by planting nitrogen fixing plants or using green manures, to water management systems that store waste for both people and nature during times of need, or to harvesting energy from renewable sources such as solar energy or biomass.

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Obtain a yield. Obtain yields from a variety of sources within the landscape. Plants can provide food, fibers, fuel, medicine and building materials. By enhancing natural diversity in agroecological designs and harvesting resources sustainably, high yields can be obtained.

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Apply self regulation and accept feedback. Selfregulation can minimize work by planting ground covers to reduce weeds or using self-seeding plants to reduce annual plantings.

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Use and value renewable resources and services.

Sustainable agroecological systems take into account ecosystem services. Well preserved forest areas and corridors help conserve ground water, avoid soil erosion, store carbon, promote biodiversity and provide forest products.

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Produce no waste. Waste can cause health and environmental problems. Toxic waste products should just be avoided or disposed of appropriately.

Other waste can be reused or recycled.

Design from patterns to details. Permaculture design starts by looking at landscape patterns.

Before transforming an area understand the landscape type, including hydrology, geology, local biodiversity, common habitats and social patterns.

For example, the zoning design method helps generate an overall pattern for the site to make it most energy efficient.

Integrate rather than segregate. Healthy ecosystems are supported by many elements and functions working together. Households benefit from a diversity of resources such as main crops, wild food, orchards and livestock. This increases resilience. An integrated design locates the different elements so that they enhance each other and reduce labour.

Use small and slow solutions. Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes. For example, agroforestry systems may take longer to create and require more attention to detail, but will be more diverse and resilient that cash crop monocropping.

Use and value diversity. Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the local environment. For example, biodiversity can provide pest management by maintaining predator-prey relationships. For example, bats and birds can help control insect pests; Use edges. The interface between different habitats is often highly productive and often where rare plants and animals are found. The edges of forests, ponds and fields can be used to take full advantage of this productivity.

Creatively use and respond to change. Large environmental changes such as climate change or large scale developments need to be addressed in advance by building resilient systems. By understanding how ecosystems change over time, we can also accelerate the process and create productive ecosystems faster than is usual in nature. Forest gardens are an example of this, where all the layers of the forest are established at once, rather than over many years.

Agriculture Animal Farming Communities should not release livestock into protected areas or other forested areas (especially cattle, goats and buffalo) or allow them to roam free because they may cause environmental problems. For example cattle and buffalo carry infectious diseases that can kill related wildlife such as gaur and banteng.

They can destroy agricultural crops, strip trees of bark, damage tree seedlings and other native vegetation, increase soil erosion due to overgrazing and trampling on slopes, pollute water resources, transmit water-born parasites and spread the seeds of invasive plants via their dung.

In smallholder farms, livestock can provide an important source of income. The most common domestic livestock in the lower Mekong are: cattle, chicken, ducks, sheep, goats and pigs. Activities such as processing and marketing animal products, such as eggs, can make a vital contribution to household budgets. In marginal areas with harsh environments, livestock provide a means of reducing livelihood risks associated with crop failure.

Sustainable livestock farming may reduce pressure on forest resources because by deriving an income from animal farming people may no longer need to hunt wildlife (Swanepoel et al., 2010) or exploit NTFPs.

Other domestic livestock as pigs, ducks and chickens, can spread diseases to adjacent wildlife and cause genetic contamination of wild populations. For instance, domestic chickens may mate with wild jungle fowl, and domestic pigs may mate with wild pigs. The most destructive domestic animals are goats, which are capable of eating most native plants and will even scale steep cliffs and trees to find food. Therefore, goats and other livestock should not be allowed to range freely inside forests.

Livestock can be integrated into agricultural systems to improve production and sustainability. For example, raising ducks in rice paddies provides the rice with organic fertilization; chicken in home-gardens and orchards provide manure and control insects and pig manure can be used to produce energy through bio-gas systems.

Livestock also have important social functions.

Ownership raises social status and contributes to social balance as women and children may own livestock, especially small stock such as chickens and ducks.

It is important to increase an understanding of livestock’s effect on the environment and implement sustainable livestock management.

Raising animals in stalls and growing fodder crops is less environmentally damaging and usually results in better animal health.

Development projects should be careful about introducing new breeds or types of animals near areas with important biodiversity. These can introduce new diseases that can kill both local livestock and wildlife. The owners of farm animals should build animal enclosures and perimeter fences so that the contact between livestock and wild animals is minimized.

However, important precautions should be taken with livestock, particularly around protected areas and other important biodiversity areas .

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Agriculture Animal Welfare Poultry and ducks can spread avian influenza, which is transmitted by wild birds, particularly wildfowl. To avoid this risk, domestic ducks and chicken should not be allowed to come in direct contact with wild birds. Duck ponds should located well away from natural wetlands used by wild birds. Similarly, chickens and their pens should be separated from natural areas. Pigs can also spread disease and should not be housed near natural areas or vegetable and fruit crops. The best way to avoid the spread of zoonotic diseases is to maintain adequate separation between wild and domestic animals and provide them with good levels of hygiene, health and nutrition.

Improving livestock health and welfare can help avoid sanitary issues in rural communities, as well as improve the quality of livestock products. Rural communities usually keep their animals free-range, however all animals should have a dedicated area to feed, drink and rest.

Other recommendations include: ● ●

●

●

●

●

● ●

Maintain safe and hygienic animal facilities.

Separate clean and contaminated materials such as feed and animal manure.

Provide animals with enough food and clean water at all times.

Care for sick and injured animals to avoid the spread of disease.

At night keep animals in enclosed areas that provide: - sufficient space - protection from weather (e.g. shade, protection from rain and flooding) - allow access to outdoor areas.

Pigs should be housed away from fruit and other trees where fruit bats may feed or roost, to reduce the risk of disease transmission to both pigs and people.

Slaughter animals humanely.

Transport animals keeping their basic welfare in mind (e.g. not overcrowded, providing protection from the weather, provided with drinking water, handled humanely).

Best practice animal farming can be achieved once farmers receive training in farm management, animal health, animal husbandry and other training that enables them to increase production to generate more income, but not at the expense of the environment.

Wildlife Ranching In addition to indirect ecosystem services provided by wildlife, some wild species can offer direct benefits to communities. For example, honey harvested from the wild using sustainable collection and processing methods, can contribute to community livelihoods. Some wild animals can be ranched to obtain a sustainable supply of their products while protecting their populations. In some areas of Cambodia, bat farms provide two important services, natural pest control and guano fertilizer for farm use or sale (see case study). To create a sustainable supply of edible bird's nests, a highly priced delicacy, some farmers build cave-like structures with no windows to provide swiftlets with a suitable nesting habitat. Abundant charismatic and or threatened wildlife can potentially bring tourism income.

Zoonosis / Zoonotic disease Disease and/or infection which is transmissible directly or indirectly between animals and humans.

21

Agriculture

Case Study: Bat farms in Cambodia and Vietnam The intriguing practice of farming bats for their guano occurs in Cambodia and a small neighbouring area of southern Vietnam (Furey, 2012). Creation of artificial roosts colonized by the foliage-dwelling lesser Asiatic yellow house bat (Scotophilus kuhlii), whose guano is collected for fertilizer is especially widespread in the Pursat, Kandal and Takeo provinces. Here, rural farmers hoist dome-shaped bat roosts made from palm leaves high up on trees and collect the nutrient-rich guano the bats produce for use on their crops or for sale.

In Cambodia, bat farms are constructed following the steps illustrated below (Chhay, 2012).

In Pursat province, bat roosts are built on coconut palms, rather than sugar palms, but the same methods and materials are used. In Vietnam bat houses are constructed.

People use wood to make the basic roost structure which resembles a house on stilts without a floor. Sheets of palm leaves are used to create the roof. Two rows of densely packed palm leaves are placed inside the house as roost material. A large net is placed a few centimetres off the ground under the roost to collect and air-dry the guano produced.

Research has shown that bat guano applications enhance plant growth. In one Cambodian study, compared to a chemical fertilizer treatment, three out of five plant species receiving bat guano experienced greater growth (Sothearen et al., 2014). Bats also contribute to natural pest management by consuming large quantities of insects including corn borers, plant hoppers, tobacco bud worms and oriental army worms. Herbivorous arthropods can be a serious problem for farmers consuming 25-50% of crops in some parts of the world, thus increasing the need for pesticides to control them. However, nearly 99% of insect pests may be eaten by different predators and large portions of natural control are attributed to bats because of their varied diets (Kunz et al. 2011).

Once dried, bat guano fetches about 2,000 riel (roughly half a dollar) per kilogram. With some farmers harvesting as many as twenty of these artificial roosts, this can substantially increase income. This provides a real incentive for bat conservation. In south-western Cambodia one community introduced local laws to prohibit bat hunting and impose sanctions on offenders (Furey, 2012).

The practice clearly offers great potential for promoting both bat conservation and improving local livelihoods.

Figure 2. Bat farms

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Agriculture Don't:

Do:

Agriculture

Agriculture

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Clear forests for new agricultural land. In many circumstances forest clearance may be illegal if the forest is a protected area.

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Burn natural forest areas to create field crops, grassland for cattle, hunting, and improving access.

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Re-use agricultural fields. Soil fertility can be improved by: - planting nitrogen-fixing plants (e.g. pigeon peas, legumes)

Expand rice growing into forests, wetlands and mangroves.

- planting green manure (clover, vetch or other nitrogen-fixing legumes that are dug into the soil, making nitrogen available to new crops)

Practice monocropping.

Use modern high yield crops that depend heavily on synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

- practice rotational farming by incorporating fallow periods for fields - applying animal manure, compost (including vermicompost (compost produced by earthworms)) and bat guano.

Animal farming ●

Create a sustainable agricultural system around the community that eliminates the need to expand into natural areas;

Allow livestock to roam free inside protected areas or forests.

●

Allow livestock to interbreed with wild animals.

Selectively breed rare varieties of livestock that can weaken the genepool of the domestic breed.

●

House domestic animals near natural areas.

Follow the System Rice Intensification and apply similar principles to other crops, increasing yields without using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.

Minimize the use of pesticides, herbicide and synthetic fertilizers especially in fields inside or adjacent to forests or around wetlands.

●

Practice agroforestry.

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Plant diverse vegetable gardens.

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Use organic agriculture techniques.

Animal farming ●

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●

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Use livestock manure to fertilize crops.

Feed fodder to farm animals as much as possible to improve their nutrition and productivity, and reduce their impact on natural vegetation.

Use fences to control domestic animal movement.

Follow the recommendations on basic animal welfare.

Figure 3. Agriculture Don't

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Figure 4. Agriculture Do

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Keep forest and natural habitat corridors

Forests and Wildlife The lower Mekong Basin's diverse and unique forests provide wildlife habitat and essential ecosystem services to humans. Mekong ecosystem forests are national treasures and habitats of global importance. Their conservation is important in adapting to, and mitigating, climate change, as well as helping achieve sustainable development for an increasing human population. Forests provide timber for construction, non-timber forest products and food. They control and filter water and provide flood protection. Nutrients are recycled to and from forest soils. Forests also protect the soil from erosion and prevent land slides.

Most NTFPs are used locally, but some are sold nationally or overseas. For example, the finest tree resins are exported to Japan for the lac industry.

NTFP sustainable harvesting quotas are dependent on a range of factors including species populations, local availability of suitable specimens and species growth rate.

This complexity makes it difficult to accurately calculate sustainable yields.

However, to ensure species population growth and continued availability of NTFPs some basic principles can be followed: â—?

Non-Timber Forest Products â—?

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are resources that people collect from forests or wetlands. NTFPs provide medicine, food, construction material, clothing, material for religious ceremonies and ornaments. People in southwest Cambodia use as many as 350 different species of plants, including tree resins, wild fruits, rattan, bamboo, orchids, reeds, palm leaves, roots, vines and bark.

â—?

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Establish minimum sizes and seasonal limitations for NTFP harvesting.

Harvest a maximum of 25% from each suitable plant or site (Cocksedge and Schroeder, 2006) allowing recovery before re-harvesting.

Use appropriate techniques to avoid damaging the plant and surrounding vegetation.

Forests and Wildlife Maintaining links between livelihoods and natural forests and wetlands ensures that local communities see a direct benefit from conservation. In some cases careless exploitation of NTFPs has led to the loss of a valuable resource (for example kresna trees have almost disappeared from Cambodia).

Sustainable rattan harvesting Based on eight years of research Systematics, Ecology and Management of Rattans in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam – The Biological Bases of Sustainable Use catalogues the 65 species of rattan found in the Greater Mekong ecoregion.

It describes protocols on how to inventory forest rattan, calculate sustainable yields and create rattan management plans. Some excerpts of the book are presented below:

Commercial harvesting and processing can cause severe damage to forests or wetlands (e.g. yellow vine industries are linked to access roads being cut through forests and rivers are destroyed by acid waste). It is important to discover which resources are being used, where and how they are obtained, and whether the collection and processing methods are safe and sustainable.

“Rattan palms are used for a variety of subsistence purposes, e.g. cordage, basketry, food, medicine, and thatch, and the flexible stems, or canes, form the basis of a multi-billion dollar a year furniture industry. The great majority of this material is harvested from wild populations. It is estimated that several million people use, collect and sell rattan or are involved in some way in the international rattan trade (Dransfield and Manokaran, 1994). Rattan is, without question, one of the most important and widely used non- timber forest products in the world.”

The extraction of some NTFPs is illegal under Cambodian Law because the species may be threatened or their extraction is too harmful to the environment. They include Coscinium fenestratum (yellow vine, vor romeat), Aquilaria crassna (kresna wood, klum chan), and Cinnamomum parathenoxylon (mreah prew). These NTFPs are not essential for personal use and villagers caught possessing them may be prosecuted.

“The sustainable use of rattan resources in the lower Mekong Region will require three things: data, decisions and responsive action. We need data on how much rattan there is in the forest, data on the density of different species and data on the size-class distributions of the populations we want to exploit. We also need data on how fast different rattans grow. In terms of decisions, we need to decide which rattan species to exploit, and where, and how much to harvest. Responsive action, the final and perhaps most important component, implies that we actually do what we have decided to do. If we decide that we need a 5% inventory of rattan in all of the harvest areas, we go the field and count the canes. If we calculate the number of rattan canes that can be harvested each year on a sustainable basis, we stick to this harvest quota, regardless of market opportunities, selling prices, or other extenuating circumstances. Taken together, data, decisions, and responsive action comprise a management plan.”

Communities around protected areas may not have an automatic right to collect NTFPs and may need a permit from the Management Authority to: ●

●

●

Collect NTFPs to sell (inside and outside protected areas).

“Given the inviolate relationship between the stock and yield of rattan, the first step in the management process is to find out how much rattan there is in the forest and to quantify how fast it grows. These data will be used to calculate the total production of rattan, to define harvest volumes, and, if necessary, to divide up the forest into management areas. The data also provide a baseline for assessing change in the rattan populations under exploitation, i.e. to see if the commercial canes harvested each year are being replaced by the growth of smaller rattans.”

Collect NTFPs far from their villages or in the prohibited conservation zones.

Begin collecting NTFPs from new areas.

Because NTFPs cover such a wide range of species and uses, each NTFP and community must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Source: Peters and Henderson (2014) Further information can be found at: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/search_wwf_news/?21593 1/WWF-launches-first-ever-book-on-Mekong-rattan-species

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Forests and Wildlife Traditional processing into artisan goods can provide an alternative source of income.

Women can be involved in up to 100% of the processing of NTFPs for consumption, sale or the creation of handicrafts. Forming womenrun cooperatives to share sustainable processing skills and manage small enterprises can improve market value of the products and contribute to benefit sharing (Saxena, 2012).

According to Cambodian Law, permanent residents in protected areas may have the right to collect NTFPs from nearby forests and rivers for traditional and personal use. They are permitted to collect materials to thatch roofs or medicinal plants for the family.

Normally people should collect only what they can carry in their hands or on their back, without using ox-carts and trucks.

By working together, communities and protected area management can ensure that NTFPs are sustainably managed, equitably used and collected without breaking the law.

Case Study: NTFPs at the Monks Community Forest The 18,621 ha Monks Community Forest (MCF) in Oddar Meanchey province is the largest community managed conservation forest in Cambodia. MCF leader, Venerable Bun Saluth has been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme for his efforts to conserve global biodiversity for poverty reduction.

In some cases it may be possible to harvest NTFPs sustainably and in marketable quantities, but sustainable yields first need to be determined, as well as obtaining appropriate permits.

NFTPs including liquid and solid resin are essential to the livelihoods of the MCF local community. Six types of NTFPs bring income to MCF villages: liquid resin, solid resin, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, finger root and krabao. The annual income generated selling NTFPs is higher than that generated from other sources (rice, cassava, fishing and animal husbandry) ranging 40 to 60% of mean annual household income. For harvester households, resin tapping generates on average $500 per year. Four species of trees are tapped: for liquid resin Dipterocarpus alatus and Dipterocarpus intricatus; and for solid resin Shorea obtusa and Shorea siamensis. Resin tapping needs to be carried out following the correct techniques to protect the trees, such as only tapping trees of 45 cm diameter or more. Local community patrol teams watch over the forest to stop illegal logging and hunting.

Villagers believe that effective management at MCF has lead to an increase in NTFPs mostly due to positive cooperation between all stakeholders. The collaboration between Venerable Bun Saluth, local communities, authorities and NGOs has led to successful and sustainable management of NTFPs, resulting in improved community livelihoods, while achieving effective protection of forests and wildlife.

NTFP inventories should be carried out to create sustainable management plans and establish harvest quotas, especially if there is commercial extraction.

Participatory inventories have been successfully used in some countries (e.g.

Nepal) (Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources, 2010). These inventories involve the community at every step, providing them with ownership of the resource management plan.

Source: Meas, 2014 and Meng, 2014.

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Forests and Wildlife Planting non-native tree species should be avoided, even if they may grow faster (common fruit trees such as jackfruit, durian, and mango are not native to the lower Mekong and should only be planted in and around villages). Exotic (foreign) timber trees such as Eucalyptus or Acacia have no place inside a protected area or near areas of high biodiversity. Exotic tree species are of little use to local birds and animals, and may spread into the forest at the expense of native species.

Sustainable Forestry Community protected forests should be designed and managed to provide timber for local construction. If the forests are large and people are few, collection of timber for local uses (i.e. fuel or construction) should be sustainable for many generations. Some communities may be granted special Community Protected Areas, where they can collect their own timber, firewood and NTFPs. Commercial harvesting, processing and sale of luxury timbers are not allowed in protected areas and will be prevented by the Management Authority.

Dr. Akira Miyawaki, a vegetation ecologist and emeritus Professor of Yokohama National University, has investigated both natural and long-disturbed vegetation landscapes around the world for over 40 years. He promotes forest regeneration using local natural vegetation. Dr. Miyawaki has developed a simple method of forest restoration that can not only be applied to deforested or disturbed areas, but to also increase the diversity and ecological value of production forests. The Miyawaki method (see illustration) has been applied successfully at more than 1700 locations around the world, particularly focusing on tropical forests that are suffering the worlds fastest deforestation rates.

Chainsaws and sawmills are likely to be confiscated and violators punished. Collecting dead wood is permitted in some protected areas for local use as fuel, but never on a large scale for sale or industrial purposes. Logs and fallen branches provide habitat for many small animals, and are an important part of the forest’s nutrient recycling system.

Reforestation and Restoration To mitigate the effects of deforestation and have a sustainable timber supply, when one tree is cut, two trees should be re-planted. A mixture of native tree species should be planted and the local Department of Environment or local nature conservation NGOs can advise communities on suitable species. Seeds can also be collected from nearby trees.

Community reforestation projects can be one of the most successful ways to recover deforested and degraded areas. Communities can then benefit from an increase in natural resources provided by the restored forests.

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Forests and Wildlife The Miyawaki Method For Restoring Tropical Forests

Zoning recommended to enrich production forest areas

Figure 5. The Miyawaki Method For Restoring Tropical Forests. Adapted from: Mitsubishi Corporation (2015)

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Forests and Wildlife Wildlife Wild animals have long been used in the region as traditional medicine (e.g. loris, bears) and communities still hold strong beliefs about their healing powers. Changing these beliefs can be challenging, but communities should understand that wildlife products have no special healing powers and bush meat can be dangerous for human health as it can carry disease.

Wildlife in the lower Mekong has decreased dramatically over the past few decades. Many species are at risk of extinction and once common animals are becoming scarce. Wild animals are integral to healthy ecosystems and perform essential tasks in maintaining habitats and the resources humans use. Bats, birds and insects pollinate fruit trees; monkeys, hornbills, parrots and small mammals spread seeds; wild pigs, squirrels and other rodents bury seeds that will become trees; porcupines and insects break down dead wood to be recycled into the soil.

In Cambodia hunting is prohibited. There are very strong penalties for hunting with guns, poisons, mines, explosives, wire snares or anything likely to injure a person.

There are many amazing, unique species in the Mekong ecosystem rapidly approaching extinction: tigers, elephants, gaur, banteng, Eld’s deer, Irrawadi dolphins, Siamese crocodiles, ibises, bears, wild cats and many more. They are majestic representatives of the regions natural heritage. Communities living near their remaining populations should be active participants in their conservation and become proud stewards of these beautiful animals and their habitats.

Trafficking figures ‘staggering’ The illegal bear trade continues across Asia on a staggering scale, with Cambodia leading the continent in seizures of bears and bear parts, according to a study from conservation NGO Traffic.

From 2000 to 2011, 190 seizures were made in Cambodia, out of nearly 700 seizures in Asia. Live bears made up 15 per cent of all of Asia’s seizures. Cambodia was the lead country, possibly because the bears were on their way to “bear farms” in Vietnam and China so their bile, popular in traditional Chinese medicine, could be extracted.

However Cambodia’s high number of seizures is not necessarily negative. Even though it reported 27 per cent of Asia’s seizures, Cambodia accounted for only 9 per cent of the 2,800 bears confiscated, either still alive or dead and in parts.

Ecosystem balance is maintained by a diverse assemblage of species that control each other's populations. For example, top predators such as tigers are keep populations of large herbivore in check. When top predators disappear populations of species such as wild pigs increase, causing habitat modification and problems such as crop damage.

The reason behind this is likely due to more effective enforcement thanks to NGO initiatives such as Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT), which works with the government to confiscate trafficked animals and was cited as a model program in the study.

Vuthy Ravong, team chief of the WRRT, agreed that the team was successful, noting that due to their efforts “most of the trade is going further and further underground”.

Hunting Rural communities have traditionally hunted many species for subsistence, and may still do so out of necessity, following traditions or to sell animals or their parts to the illegal wildlife trade. Communities need to know that the illegal wildlife trade is run by dangerous criminals, who often also deal drugs and weapons.

And even if the crackdown on bear traders continues, the bears’ situation is getting worse due to massive habitat loss, said Vuthy Chuon, Cambodia program director of Free the Bears.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post. August 22, 2014

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Forests and Wildlife Development organisations should discourage hunting activities and offer alternative livelihoods. Given current hunting restrictions, villagers may not be inclined to speak openly about hunting, but the subject may be approached talking about what they used to hunt. On the other hand, many forest communities have special reverence for some animal species, and many Buddhist traditions teach against killing wildlife. These traditions may help to change behaviour. Moreover, with the right motivation, former poachers can become the most skilled protected area rangers, biodiversity research assistants or tourism guides.

Case Study: From poaching to protecting, Prom Heoung, CBET Chief “I stopped illegal activities when they arrived” says Prom Heoung. Heoung and over 150 other villages have traded poaching and slash-and-burn farming for ecotourism since the Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) project was launched in the Cambodian village of Chi Phat in 2007.

Situated on the banks of the Piphot River in Koh Kong Province, Chi Phat is home to 550 families, including Heoung’s. A quiet and peaceful place today, Chi Phat was once a busy area for wildlife traffickers and loggers.

Heoung formerly set illegal forest fires for farmland and hunting wildlife to earn an income and feed his family.

In the late 1980s logging concessions exploited the forest around Chi Phat and Cambodians came from all over the country to harvest rosewood and hunt wildlife. These illegal activities were far more profitable than farming – with one cubic meter of rosewood selling for around $5,000. Tiger skins, elephant tusks, bear paws, pangolins and other expensive wildlife trophies could be easily traded for big payoffs. At its peak, thousands of families were living in Chi Phat, supplying the wants of Phnom Penh and China's rich.

In Cambodia, a new law will classify some species as Common, and communities may be granted permission to hunt them using approved methods (excluding guns). Wild jungle fowl, porcupine, wild pig and muntjac are some of the species likely to be included in the list. The law will also classify Rare and Endangered species and carry hefty penalties for anyone hunting, trapping, killing or attempting to trade these species or their parts.

However, for the past decade, people have been forbidden by law to pursue these activities. Fearing jail time, Heoung sought new opportunities to provide for his family. The CBET offered this opportunity by providing a better and more sustainable means of income for local community members through employment as guides, homestay operators and cooks. When the project started, Heoung joined as guide, leading tourists through the rainforest. With his extensive experience in the jungle, he knew every trail, tree and sound in the rainforest, the quickest way to reach the five waterfalls surrounding Chi Phat and the best spots to view wildlife. Since 2009 Heoung has served as chief of the CBET Committee, which manages the project with technical support from Wildlife Alliance.

Rangers monitor animal populations in protected areas, and can detect whether they are being affected from over-hunting around particular villages. It is also the rangers’ job to destroy any trapping or hunting equipment that they find and report to local authorities. If villagers know of hunters working in the area they should report them immediately. In case villagers find injured or orphaned animals, they must report it to rangers, who will decide whether the animals can be released back into the wild or should be taken to a Wildlife Rescue Center.

Chi Phat is one of the most successful CBET projects in Cambodia. This is due in no small part to the hard work of Heoung. His dedication to the success of the project has served as an example for the community, brought his family a good and steady income and has contributed to the conservation and sustainable use of the rainforest.

Source: Wildlife Alliance (2015)

Wild animals are not allowed to be kept as pets, inside or outside of protected areas.

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Forests and Wildlife Don't:

Do:

NTFPs

NTFPs

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●

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Clear or cut vegetation down to collect NTFPs.

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Collect more NFTPs than permitted by law or by agreed quotas.

●

Collect for illegal purposes (e.g. tree resins that are used to make explosives). ●

Cause accidental damage to the forest when collecting or transporting NTFPs (e.g. do not cut down trees to collect fruit or seeds).

Extract new NTFPs before quotas have been set.

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Forests ●

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●

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Attempt commercial harvesting, processing and sale of luxury timber.

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Clear or sell forest lands, or use them for any other purposes.

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Practice ring-barking (removing the bark in a circle to kill a tree) or poison trees.

Harvest NTFPs that have been used by the community for generations.

Collect NTFPs on a small-scale for local use, this more likely to be sustainable and has less impact than large-scale commercial collection.

Use traditional methods of finding, harvesting, and using NTFPs. They are often cheaper and have a lower environmental impact than mechanical methods.

Collect NTFPs that are, or are derived from, abundant species rather than rare species.

Obtain NTFPs close to villages, rather than more remote parts of the forest.

Determine the sustainable yield, establish harvesting quotas and develop management plans for each NFTP.

Forests

Plant timber monocultures (large areas of the same tree species). They are more prone to fire, diseases and pests.

●

●

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.

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Sustainably collect timber from authorized areas and only in quantities to meet specific needs.

Harvest timber for community use from several different places, leaving as many trees standing as possible.

Keep a mixture of tree species, and do not remove every individual of a particular species.

Leave dead wood and fallen branches in the forest.

Leave very old trees alive, they produce more seeds for forest regeneration and are good for mitigating climate change.

Practice reforestation of degraded areas using native seeds and seedlings.

Forests and Wildlife Don't:

Do:

Wildlife

Wildlife

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●

●

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Hunt, trap, catch or kill any mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians in protected areas, it is prohibited by law.

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Use illegal methods such as guns, poisons, mines, explosives, wire snares or anything likely to injure a person or kill non-target animals where hunting is permitted.

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Keep wild animals as pets. ●

Attempt to sell animals or their parts to the illegal wildlife trade, these activities are prohibited and involve dangerous criminals.

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Hunt endangered species. The lower Mekong ecosystem is a part of the IndoBurma biodiversity hotspot and is home to a great number of unique and threatened species.

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Collect and sell threatened and endangered plants, such as orchids.

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Apply for permission from authorities to trap certain common species to eat or to protect crops, but only using safe, traditional methods and in specified areas.

Report illegal hunting, use of illegal hunting methods or illegal wildlife trade to rangers and authorities.

Contact rangers immediately if an orphaned or injured animal is found.

Encourage past hunters to become involved in wildlife protection and conservation.

Promote positive relationships between communities, local wildlife and their habitat by raising awareness, through sustainable NTFP commerce, eco-tourism initiatives and incentive schemes.

Figure 6. Forests and Wildlife Don't

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Figure 7. Forests and Wildlife Do

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Aquatic Habitats The lower Mekong River Basin has some of the most beautiful, complex and biodiverse aquatic habitats on earth. They include the Mekong River and its tributaries, the Tonle Sap Great Lake, flooded forests, wetlands, flood plains, waterfalls and permanent and seasonal pools.

Fish in Cambodia play a major role in food security and provide 76% of protein that Cambodians consume. Freshwater fish production is worth approximately 1.2 to 1.6 billion USD per year, which is 12% Cambodia’s GDP (Hortle et al., 2004).

Fishing in Vietnam also provides an important source of nutrition and income. Fish production in Vietnam is worth 1.7 billion USD per year (GIZ, 2014). In Laos, whilst the main subsistence activity is rice cultivation, fish are harvested from all water bodies including rice fields.

Freshwater Fisheries The lower Mekong Basin is a world hotspot for freshwater fish diversity and fish are a vitally important food source for local communities.

Fish consumption in southeast Asia is very high, with the 56.3 million people living in the lower Mekong Basin estimated to consume about two million tons of inland fish and other aquatic organisms per year, which amounts to 36 kg per person year (Sverdrup-Jensen, 2002).

There are more than 1000 species of fish in the Mekong River, of which about 100 are commercially exploited and 10 to 20 are essential to people's livelihoods in the lower Mekong Basin (Rainboth, 1996). As such, sustainable management of fisheries resources is a critical issue for both biodiversity conservation and human survival.

The demand for fish and fish products will increase as the population in the lower Mekong Basin grows and becomes more prosperous. However, the basin's freshwater fisheries are being over exploited and fish stocks are declining (Killeen, 2012).

Participatory fishery management initiatives can change behaviours that lead to overfishing and help reduce post capture spoilage.

For example, on the Tonle Sap Great Lake commercial fishing lots have been transformed into community fish reserves with specific areas set aside as fish sanctuaries.

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Aquatic Habitats

Public participation in fisheries management - where local fisheries are jointly managed by public authorities, local fishers and other stakeholders - is being favoured in all the lower Mekong Basin countries. The community fisheries or fisheries co-management approach already has provisions included in some legislation, and has been officially sanctioned in the fisheries laws of Cambodia and Laos.

Lower Mekong fish

Under participatory community fisheries management:

Some remarkable fish species can be found in Cambodia’s freshwaters, including the Mekong Giant Catfish, (Pangasionodon gigas) which can reach a length of 3 m and a weight of more than 300kg, the Giant Mekong Carp (Catlocarpio siamensis) and the Seven-line barb (Probarbus jullieni). The populations of all these species have shown sharp declines in recent years. The Giant Mekong Catfish is considered critically endangered with only around 10 individuals being caught each year. The collection of wild caught Giant Snakehead (Channa micropeltes)fingerlings for culture is now banned on the Great Lake in an effort to conserve the species and reduce the amounts of trash fish used as feed.

●

● ● ● ●

●

More than 500 fish species are found in Cambodian freshwaters. Cambodians categorize their freshwater fish species as ‘Black’ or ‘White’. Black fish live in wetlands year round and have limited lateral migrations. They are mostly carnivorous or detritus feeders with quite a number being air breathers. They include: Channidae (Snakeheads), Clariidae, Bagridae and Anabantidae. White fish are mainly riverine species that show strong lateral and longitudinal migrations. This group includes many cyprinids, various Pangasius sp., Siluridae and Cirrhinus spp.

Members collectively agree on a set of regulations.

Certain types of fishing gear are restricted.

Fish sanctuaries are set aside.

Closed fishing seasons are established.

Measures for the implementation and enforcement of these rules are created.

Stakeholders are given different management roles.

Source: FAO (2015) Profiles for Laos and Vietnam are available from:

Freshwater fisheries are threatened by a range of human practices from inappropriate waste management leading to pollution, over-fishing, destructive fishing practices, physical changes to aquatic habitats and changes to river flow.

These threats need to be reduced and managed to ensure that freshwater fisheries remain sustainable.

http://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/LAO/en http://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/VNM/en

Fishing Communities can protect their fish stocks by creating regulations to control fishing and ensure that all members benefit. They can also work together to stop outsiders from coming and destroying their fish resources. With good management, communities will be able to sustainably manage and use their fish and other freshwater resources.

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Aquatic Habitats On the contrary, over-fishing, using illegal fishing methods or not respecting the areas and periods established to protect fish populations will result in lower catches, loss of fish diversity, reduction of average fish size, and increase the relative abundance of fish species unsuitable for human consumption.

Case Study: MSC certified Ben Tre Clam fishery, Vietnam “If we harvested large clams instead of returning them to the sand flats, we would die of hunger,” says Vo Thi Binh, a clam fisher from one of the Rang Dong cooperatives who has been collecting bivalves in the Mekong Delta for more than 20 years. “We must leave them so they can spawn and we have more clams in the future. If we caught them now, what would we catch later?”

Some fishing methods that kill un-targeted fish and other aquatic animals and produce severe ecological damage are illegal in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. These include: ● pumping dams ● electro-fishing ● setting nets all the way across rivers ● poisoning ● using explosives ● using nets with a mesh smaller than 1.5 cm or larger than 15 cm

It’s an indicator of the sensitivities of locals, many of whom remember how outsiders descended on Ben Tre province in the 1980s to fish clams illegally and overexploit them. To combat this in 1997 the first Rang Dong cooperative was formed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Its members, all people involved in the fishery, were given the responsibility of managing the resource, supported by local authorities with powers to enforce legal controls.

While bringing stability, community management failed to increase the value of the fishery or lift fishers out of poverty. At about that time, WWF introduced the idea of the Marine Stewardship Council to local government, and by 2009 the fishery was fully certified. As a direct result, the cooperatives found new buyers in Europe and the United States and developed markets for shell-on clams, a more profitable option because there is less processing involved.

Fish Sanctuaries The creation of fish sanctuaries can help preserve fish stocks. Fish sanctuaries provide a place where fish can find shelter during the dry season and breed, and where fishing is prohibited. Young fish move out of the sanctuaries into fishing areas when they mature. In different areas some species of fish are endangered and have been afforded protection and it is illegal to catch them. Other aquatic animals are also protected throughout the region, including turtles and crocodiles.

“The value of the clam is much higher than it was five years ago,” says Nguyen Van Buoi, Vice Head of the Technical Division at DARD. According to WWF, wages for individual fishers have risen nearly fivefold since 2007 and, between 2008 and early 2009, the price of clams increased by 30% and the total value of landings by 165%.

As Vo Thi Binh knows, large clams that provide brood stock must be left to breed on the sand flats. An annual limit has also been set on harvesting small clams known as seed, and further environmental benefits are likely to accrue.

The main benefits, though, have been economic and social. Today, nearly 13,000 households are involved in the clam fishery compared to fewer than 9,000 in 2007.

Many are now able to pay their children’s school fees and support them through vocational training, boosting their chance of a better future.

Source: Tindall (2012)

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Aquatic Habitats Rice Field Fisheries In Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos farmers have a long tradition of a semi-natural aquaculture that is an intrinsic part of rice paddy farming.

Fish are common throughout rice paddies and migrate in and out of the flooded rice fields from adjacent rivers and ponds as the monsoon comes and goes.

Most paddy fish are relatively small species, which allows them to survive the dry season in nearby wetlands and streams from which they colonize rice fields each year. Farmers can influence the productivity of rice field fisheries by facilitating (or blocking) fish passage between fish refuges and paddies.

The connection between rice and fish is reflected in the Cambodian proverb “plant rice and harvest fish� .The presence of wild fish in rice paddies brings multiple benefits to farmers.

Community Fish Refuges A community fish refuge (CFR) is a natural or artificial pond connected to the rice fields that retains water during the dry season allowing fish to survive. Rice field fish migrate into the pond at the start of the dry season and return to the fields with the wet season floods to feed and spawn. CFRs are being promoted by NGOs and governments throughout the region to enhance fish stocks, provide food security and contribute to biodiversity conservation.

CFRs can also be re-stocked with native species fingerlings. Re-stocking is usually undertaken during the first year of the CFR to stabilize fish populations.

Fish control pests, such as insects and weeds that would otherwise adversely affect rice plants, and are an integral component of the rice field nutrient cycling system. Rice paddies also provide crabs, clams, snails, frogs and edible insects.

Table 2. Main steps in community fish refuge establishment. Adapted from: Joffre et al., (2012)

41

Aquatic Habitats

It is also important to maintain fish ponds free of pollution from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides, human and animal waste and plastic litter. If agricultural chemicals are used in the area, the CFR should be situated at least 30 m away from where they are used.

Creating new wetland habitat such as artificial fish ponds near the village can provide a reliable supply of fish and support other wildlife. Fish ponds should not be created at the expense of existing natural wetlands.

Ensure that the ponds have natural vegetation around their banks, have shallow and deep parts, and have varied curved banks rather than straight ones. Only use local species of fish and plants because they will be healthier and will not pose a danger to native fish stocks if they escape.

Physical Changes to Natural Wetland Habitats Major changes to natural rivers and wetlands should not be permitted before assessing the possible outcomes. Natural interlinking systems of waterways allow native fish and other wildlife to breed and move around.

Bank side vegetation provides food for many aquatic animals which may also be eaten by fish, meaning more fish in the wetland. This vegetation also provides shade, keeping the water temperature down, meaning fish are less stressed and may grow faster. Bank side vegetation filters water entering the wetland and forms a barrier to pollutants getting into the water. It also binds the soil helping to keep the water clear.

Dams, culverts and systems for diverting large amounts of water into irrigation canals can break vital connections between different parts of the system. This may reduce local fish stocks both above and below the obstacle.

They can also cause rivers to dry out or flood unpredictably.

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Aquatic Habitats Don't: ●

●

●

●

●

●

●

Do:

Use illegal fishing methods (e.g. electrofishing, setting nets all the way across rivers, using poisons or explosives, or finemesh nets).

●

●

Catch protected species such as turtles and crocodiles.

Catch fish inside fish sanctuaries. ●

Introduce non-native species such as Tilapia fish, Water Hyacinth or Mimosa pigra.

●

Build dams or culvert-based bridges, or divert all the water into irrigation canals.

Create square, deep ponds with no vegetation as they will be less effective in providing fish habitat.

●

Extend flooded rice cultivation into natural wetlands. Flooded rice expansion should be limited and substituted with less area and water intensive agricultural practices.

Coordinate fishing activities through community fisheries to improve fair access to resources, control illegal activities and promote sustainable resource use.

Create fish sanctuaries (no-take zones) where fish can breed, producing fish for capture in adjacent rivers and wetlands.

Create artificial ponds (CFRs) with natural features such as different depths and curved edges.

Preserve and encourage the growth of bank side vegetation.

●

Stock ponds or farm native species.

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Maintain fish ponds free of pollution.

●

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Practice small-scale fishing systems that use traditional equipment.

Use water saving and re-use systems for agricultural and home use, such as well planned irrigation, micro-irrigation or water tanks.

Figure 8. Aquatic Habitats Don't

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Figure 9. Aquatic Habitats Do

Waste Management Waste products which pollute freshwater ecosystems degrade or destroy fish habitat or directly kill fish and other aquatic organisms.

In either case pollution reduces the number of fish and other animals that can live in a wetland, reducing both diversity and productivity.

Waste plastic, batteries and other litter can release dangerous toxins as they break down.

Aquatic animals can become tangled in plastic waste and can die from eating plastic if they mistake it for food. Oil from vehicles and machines floats in water and pollutes it, endangering the survival and reproduction of aquatic organisms. Residues from the illegal yellow vine industry and from mining can poison rivers, kill fish and harm people and animals that drink the water.

The addition of nutrients to wetlands can cause excessive growth of algae and other nuisance vegetation (as well as having human health impacts). Nutrients can be added as fertilizer run off from farmlands, as human sewage, food waste or animal manure. This can change the wetland and the types of fish and aquatic animals able to live there, perhaps to species that cannot be eaten. As blooms of algae or vegetation die and decompose they remove oxygen from the water killing fish and other aquatic animals. Pesticides may also pollute drinking water and kill wildlife.

Litter, synthetic chemicals and other waste can have very damaging effects on ecosystems and human health. Waste management is one of the main priorities for environmental projects. The environment of communities only recently inundated with plastics, synthetic chemicals and contaminating materials will benefit from reverting to more traditional, natural products.

Pesticides can kill aquatic insects and fish, with fish being very susceptible to even tiny quantities of pesticides in the water (Tomizawa & Casida, 2005).

Keep in mind the mantra:

Reduce ¡ Re-use ¡ Recycle

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Waste Management

Disposing of litter and solid waste

Management of toxic chemicals

An effective solid waste disposal program requires action at both household and community levels because if only a few households dispose of waste properly, the village environment may remain dirty and contaminated.

To minimize waste it is important that the whole community decides to reduce the amount of waste they produce and participate in recycling.

Toxic chemicals such as pesticides, dips and inorganic fertilizers are used in agriculture, while other toxic chemicals are commonly used in repairing vehicles. These toxic chemicals need to be stored, used and disposed of safely.

When using toxic chemicals the instructions on the container or packaging should be followed carefully (including the use of protective clothing), or if they cannot read (in many cases the instructions may be in Thai or Vietnamese) then the community should ask advice from suppliers.

This requires the development of a waste management plan. Waste may be reduced by carrying food and other purchases in reusable bags (e.g. cloth) rather than plastic bags. Plastic bags should be reused more than once. Solid waste should be sorted for recycling, burying or burning.

Recycling includes composting organic waste, reusing plastic and glass products as well as construction debris.

Old chemicals should not be dumped in the environment, as they can pollute both soil and water. If it is suspected that toxic chemicals are being illegally dumped the local waste management or environment agency should be contacted and community members should insist that action be taken. Toxic chemicals should be disposed of according to manufacturers’ guidance and if they have passed their used-by date they should be collected by trained staff and disposed of at special sites.

If there is any doubt about how to dispose of chemicals, local health and environment officials should be consulted.

Fruit and vegetable waste, animal dung and tree leaves can break down to form a valuable soil fertilizer. This can offer both a cost-saving and economic opportunity for communities.

Selling paper waste to industries that use old paper in their manufacturing processes can generate additional community income. Paper wastes can also be used for cooking to supplement firewood, helping reduce deforestation.

Source: Howard, 2002.

Some plastics, rubber and batteries release poisonous chemicals when they break down, so it is important to dispose them well away from water sources. Batteries, old tyres and litter that do not burn easily should be taken out of the area or buried deeply on flat land away from wells, rivers or ponds.

Disposal of human waste Safe disposal of human waste is essential for ensuring both human and environmental health. Plans for locating sanitation facilities and for treating and removing waste, must consider cultural issues, particularly as sanitation is usually focused on the household. Excreta disposal may be a difficult subject for a community to discuss: it may be taboo, or people may not like to discuss issues they regard as personal and unclean. In some cases, people may feel that sanitation facilities are not appropriate for children, or that children’s faeces are not harmful. In others, separate facilities may be required for men and women, and it may be necessary to locate the facilities so that nobody can be seen entering or leaving the latrine building. If the disposal facilities smell and are a breeding ground for flies, then people may not use them.

Source: Daltry et al., 2006; Howard, 2002.

Human faeces should be buried in flat land, well away from streams or wells. Guest-houses, de-mining stations, schools and other places that are used by a lot of people should invest in proper below ground septic tanks. Village bio-gas generators can be fed using fuel from animals, humans and other organic waste.

Source: Daltry et al., 2006; Howard, 2002.

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Waste Management

Don't: ●

●

●

●

Do:

Apply fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides within 30 meters of a pond or river.

●

Allow human sewage to flow directly into a wetland.

●

Throw litter into a water body, especially not batteries which may contain mercury which is very toxic to aquatic organisms.

●

Store or change engine oil or clean vehicles in or near water bodies. ●

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Keep the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides to a minimum, and if used apply carefully so as not to contaminate nearby water bodies.

Build latrines to dispose human waste below ground, as far as possible from wells, ponds and streams.

Bury non-toxic, non-biodegradable, nonrecyclable waste deep below ground, far away from wells, ponds and streams.

Dispose used oil far away from ponds, streams and wells.

Eco-tourism Sustainable eco-tourism can provide important benefits including (Leksakundilok, 2004):

Eco-tourism activities are based around an area's natural resources and environment.

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Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education (International Ecotourism Society, 2014).

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The main objective of eco-tourism is nature conservation, but is should also involve and benefit the local community. Eco-tourism initiatives can function at the community or village level to reduce the incidence of rural poverty and to promote sustainable resource use in conservation areas.

● ●

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Combating poverty and developing the economy.

Generating direct income for the conservation of protected areas.

Increase community awareness of the value of nature.

Offering increased employment opportunities and creating incentives for conservation in local communities.

Increased environmental protection.

Promote sustainable use of natural resources and reduce threats to biodiversity.

Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism in protected areas can conserve biodiversity and cultural heritage and is often controlled and managed by government agencies. These eco-tourism activities are usually restricted to certain areas within the protected area and are subject to limitations to protect wildlife. This can raise awareness and support for protected areas as well as provide funding for management.

The concept of eco-tourism is distinguished from more general sustainable tourism through the Québec Declaration on Ecotourism (2002) following these principles: ●

●

●

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Actively contributes to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage.

Includes local and indigenous communities in its planning, development and operation and contributing to their well-being.

Community-based eco-tourism enterprises are owned and managed by the community and the community takes responsibility for preserving its natural resources. Furthermore, income generated from eco-tourism activities serves to improve community livelihoods (Leksakundilok, 2004).

Interprets the natural and cultural heritage of the destination to visitors.

Lends itself better to independent travellers, and organized small group tours.

It is also important to note that tourism in natural areas can have negative consequences, including the destruction and degradation of landscapes to tourism operators drawing benefits away from communities and pushing them to exert even more pressure on the natural resources.

Any communities considering ecotourism need to treat it as with any other business. A sound business plan is required that identifies the areas attractions, human capacity, infrastructure and the tourist market that will be targeted. Considerable planning and investment is needed to make a successful ecotourism business.

The Mekong Region is amazingly diverse in biological and landscape features. The wide potential for eco-tourism in the region can be summarized in five areas: ● biodiversity and landscapes ●

protected Areas

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Mekong river and waterways

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history and culture

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human diversity

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Eco-tourism Case Study: Chambok Community-Based Ecotourism There are many things to see and do at Chambok CBET such as trekking to the 40-meter high waterfall, swimming in the pristine rivers, going for an ox-cart ride, bird watching, cycling or learning how to make traditional crafts. Tourists can also sample Cambodian cuisine in the women-run restaurant, serving locally sourced and freshly prepared food. It is also possible to go on 2 or 3 day forest treks with local guides, camping overnight in the forest. Tourists can also stay overnight with a local family, immersing themselves in the rural lifestyle.

Chambok is located on the edge of the Kirirom National Park in southwest Cambodia, an area of forest, waterfalls and rice fields. The Chambok Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) project includes 9 rural villages in Chambok commune. Chambok commune was a former Khmer Rouge stronghold. After national unification, the community returned to their homes and rebuilt their lives which were dependent on forest resources and agriculture. Since arable land in the commune was limited and this provided insufficient rice, the community relied on forest resources and forest related jobs such as logging timber and producing charcoal and firewood. As natural resource use was uncontrolled forest resources became severely degraded due to over exploitation.

Because Chambok has beautiful forest surroundings, with a high waterfall, it has become a popular ecotourism site and attracts around 10 000 tourists every year. Ecotourism has contributed to local incomes mainly through job creation. Homestay provides the largest source of income to individual households. There are 35 homestays which rotate within the commune. Indirectly, the project has contributed to establishing new jobs and opportunities for small businesses. These were partly created from the cash flow of eco-tourists who brought money into the commune and revitalized the local economy.

To protect and sustainably use Chambok's natural resources, environmental organizations, the community and authorities established a community eco-tourism site.

Chambok CBET was established in 2002 with the main goal of providing additional income for the local people and help protect the surrounding forest. Mlup Baitong, a local NGO, coordinated the work until 2010, after which time local people took over the management.

This community ecotourism project has also reduced deforestation due to better forest resources use, management and monitoring of the area by local rangers.

The community has set up a rotating patrolling team to protect the forest from illegal logging and hunting.

Patrolling activities also help to detect and prevent forest fires. As resource use is managed sustainably the community are able to use forest products such as bamboo, bamboo shoots, honey, firewood, edible leaves, mushrooms, rattan, wild fruits and traditional medicines.

Forest timber can now only be taken according to community regulations.

The beneficiaries of the eco-tourism project include management committee (MC) members, service providers and community members. The MC is made up of 13 elected members. Service providers include entrance fee collectors, tour guides, ox-cart drivers, homestay owners and coordinators, restaurant workers and souvenir vendors. About 100 men and 200 women from 300 households have been employed in eco-tourism services on a voluntary and rotational basis. The service providers receive a daily wage according to regulations.

The overall community benefits from community development activities paid for by profits from the ecotourism project which support a community fund, and from better access to NTFPs, which have been protected by the project.

Income from eco-tourism and forests products has improved livelihoods in the Chambok community while at the same time protecting the forest. Chambok CBET is a role model for natural resource management and livelihood improvement. As recognition of its success, in 2010 Chambok CBET was a Hidden Treasures Contest Winner awarded under the USAID Cambodia Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Strengthening Project .

Kirirom National Park covers an area of 35000 ha and it contains the countries the natural pine forest (Pinus merkuii) reserve . In Chambok, vegetation consists of semi-evergreen, deciduous and bamboo forests. There are about 300 native bird species and 30 species of mammals. At Chambok visitors can experience village-life and explore the area’s beautiful natural surroundings.

Source: Pichdara, 2012.

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Climate Change Adaptation What is Climate Change?

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases (GHG): carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3) are present in the earth's atmosphere and keep the earth's temperature at life supporting levels.

However, industrial development and changing human lifestyles continue to increase the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere.

Climate change is defined as any change in the average daily weather pattern over an extended period of time (typically decades or longer), due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. Climate change is happening now and affecting many of the world's natural systems.

Evidence of a changing climate can be found through increasing surface temperature (both air and ocean), decreases in snow cover and melting of ice, causing sea level rise.

Carbon dioxide is released from cutting and burning forests for commercial and subsistence farming and when fossil fuels are burnt to generate energy; CH4 and N2O are emitted from various agricultural activities and land use changes.

The temperature across southeast Asia has been increasing at a rate of 0.14 ÂşC to 0.20 ÂşC per decade since the 1960s. This is coupled with a rising number of hot days and warm nights and a decline in cooler weather (Hijioka et al., 2014). Sea levels have been rising by 1-3 mm per year and the number and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones has increased (Lasco et al., 2011).

The accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere is responsible for the greenhouse effect, the retention of heat energy inside the earth’s atmosphere. Higher concentrations of GHGs result in greater amounts of trapped heat causing global warming. This changes temperature and rainfall patterns and increases the frequency of extreme weather events, better known as Climate Change.

52

Climate Change Adaptation Climate Change Impact Climate change is a critical factor affecting future agricultural productivity because agriculture largely depends on optimal temperature and water availability. The production potential of cereal crops such as rice declines due to heat and water stress. For example rice yield declines by 10% for every 1ÂşC increase in mean night-time temperature (Peng et al., 2004).

Climate change is altering the distribution of marine and freshwater species, with warmerwater species being pushed toward the poles and experiencing changes in habitat size and productivity. Seasonality of fish biological processes is also being affected, altering marine and fresh-water food webs with unpredictable consequences for fish production (Lasco et al., 2011).

Higher temperatures increase the rate of evaporation and transpiration, which lessens water availability and quality for human consumption, agriculture and industrial use.

Global warming may cause an increase in rainfall in some areas. This can raise humidity and increase the duration of the wet seasons.

Higher temperature and humidity could lead to the development of fungal diseases and increased pressure from insects and diseases.

Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation The goal of climate change adaptation is to address climate risks and reduce vulnerability. Climate change adaptation refers to actions that people take in response to, or in anticipation of, projected or actual changes in climate, either to reduce the adverse impacts, or to exploit beneficial opportunities (Francisco, 2008).

The incidence of climate extremes has been increasing. In southeast Asia floods, droughts and tropical cyclones have caused extensive damage to life and property. Droughts combined with El NiĂąo phenomenon have resulted in massive crop failures, water shortages, and forest fires. Increasing temperature can cause heat stress in livestock.

This may cause both behavioural and metabolic changes, including the need for more water and reduced feed intake, leading to a decline in productivity.

Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) puts people at the center of their development by through training them to increase both their resilience and capacity to plan ahead. CBA is not just a response to climate events and shocks, but also a process that includes personal and organizational development.

CBA aim to enhance problem solving capacity and the ability to anticipate events and plan so that future shocks are buffered.

CBA involves mobilizing community members to assess their situation, and then act on their specific needs. Through CBA, local people are encouraged to harness their own knowledge and skills. This builds their self-reliance, drive and commitment to respond to the challenges of climate change (Lasco et al., 2011).

Changes in temperature, rainfall and CO2 concentrations are expected to affect the availability and quality of feed materials for livestock, as well as the life cycles of livestock diseases.

53

Climate Change Adaptation

Case Studies: Community-Based Adaptation in Bangladesh, Malawi and Cambodia CBA in Bangladesh: Adaptation to local risks In Bangladesh communities are adapting to local climate change risks. In flood-prone areas smallholder farmers have adapted to waterlogging by constructing floating vegetable gardens or baira. In this system, bamboo frames are placed around water hyacinth and more plants are added until a compacted floating mat is produced.

Soil, animal manure and rotting vegetation are then placed on top of the floating mat to act as the growing medium. Vegetable seedlings such as cauliflower, tomatoes and other leafy vegetables and gourds are then transplanted onto the baira. Baira farming provides food and income for local households.

In drought-prone areas some farmers are digging miniponds for small-scale water harvesting . These 5m x 5m x 2m ponds are constructed in the corners of the farm.

Farmers use them to store rainwater to supplement irrigation. In areas with clay soils relatively little capital (total cost ~40 US$) is required since no cement is needed and family labor can be employed. In areas with sandy soils the cost of construction may be significantly higher due to the cost of cement (Lasco et al., 2011).

CBA in Malawi: Gender and adaptation In Salima, Malawi, an initiative of the Salima Women’s Network on Gender pooled together individual women farmers to maintain community gardens. This has helped the women farmers provide food for their households.

Through regular meetings, the women have been able to share tools, seeds and knowledge on diverse farming methods, and members have been able to increase farm production to more than they could have grown individually. Excess food is sold at locals markets providing additional income. Women in Salima now have greater food security and are better able to adapt to future climate change.

CBA in Cambodia: Management of water and fish resources for improving community livelihoods Two villages in Kampong Preang Commune (Battambang province), Os Touk and Kach Rotes, were assisted by the management of water and fish resources for improving community livelihood project. There were 797 households and 3,573 people (1,891 women) from the two villages who depended primarily on rice farming and fisheries for their livelihood.

Food production was limited as the community could not plant rice until enough rain had fallen at the start of the wet season. Dry season rice could not be grown due to a lack of water. However the commune did have an existing canal network that had been constructed between 19761978. However most canals were shallow and dried during the dry season due to long-term sedimentation.

To adapt to these water management challenges the community prioritized rehabilitating the irrigation canals, which could store water for improving agricultural production and drain floodwater from the villages. Two canals of 9400 m in length were renovated. This has made more water available and has improved rice production as irrigation is now possible before and after flood recession in late October. The farmers have also started using a drought resilient rice variety, which has improved the use of irrigation water and harvest duration.

The community also renovated a natural lake (Boeung Thlan) to provide for fish refuge. The 5 hectare Boeung Thlan was enlarged to an area of 10000 m2. This has benefited the community by allowing for increased fishing during the wet season.

Source: UNDP Cambodia, 2013.

Large-scale Development When the annual flood inundates large areas of the lower Mekong Basin it brings life to a delicate ecosystem, creates irreplaceable habitats for biodiversity and provides food and livelihoods for millions of people. Climate change is already changing rain and temperature patterns, and the flood regime is also being altered by upstream hydropower dams.

While governments need to promote environmentally and socially sustainable progress, communities need to become resilient and adopt small-scale environmentally sound developments that bring long term benefits.

Free, Prior, Informed Consent When a large-scale development project is proposed, communities in the affected area have to be informed first and asked for their consent, free from any pressure. This is the right to Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) which is described in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and has to be respected by all signatory countries. Safeguards also exist for other project-affected communities to ensure their consent.

Large development initiatives seek to increase economic growth. However, the combination of large hydropower dam development, loss of forests and agricultural land to economic land concessions (ELC) and increased pollution and land degradation from the mining industry could have catastrophic long-term environmental and social consequences.

Coordinated trans-boundary management that ensures long-term environmental sustainability and food security is one of the regions most significant challenges (MRC, 2011).

55

Large-scale Development

Table 3. Steps for communities to exercise their right to FPIC. Adapted from: Hill et al., (2010) and Zorrilla et al., (2009).

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Large-scale development Hydropower Dams

Large hydropower dams can have negative impacts on freshwater biodiversity and social risks. Freshwater species and ecosystems are among the most threatened. Dams are a principal threat to freshwater biodiversity through the loss of habitat involving modifications to the natural flow regime.

Population increase has led to growing electricity consumption and demand, which requires a greater investment in power generation and supply capacity. The energy situation is very different in each of the lower Mekong Basin countries, although abundant, unevenly distributed resources and large potential for renewable energy generation have been recognized. Large scale hydroelectric power generation is one of the main technologies being developed to meet energy demand, particularly in Laos, but also in Vietnam and Cambodia (OECD/EIA, 2013).

River levels downstream of large hydropower dams can change dramatically as water is released to generate electricity. This can quickly flood riverside infrastructure such as houses and gardens, particularly gardens grown on the riverside. Community development infrastructures downstream of a hydropower dam needs to be located away from the river's edge.

Hydropower schemes harness the energy from flowing water to generate electricity. The volume of flowing water and the height it falls determines how much electricity can be generated. The changes in water flow and impact on ecosystems depend on the scale of the hydropower facility, whether it produces energy on-site or diverts water off-site, whether they create a reservoir and also the manner in which they are operated.

Large Hydropower Dam Impacts on Biodiversity The impacts of large hydropower dams on fresh-water biodiversity include (McAllister et al., 2001): ●

●

●

Micro hydropower plants have a capacity of between 10 and 200 kW, which when implemented sensitively can provide sustainable power to rural communities (World Bank, 2015).

●

●

Run-of-river dams, with little or no storage capacity may have small effects over the seasonal timing of flow, but the run-of-river classification of some facilities has been challenged. Large hydropower development is expected produce profound changes in hydrology, reducing and delaying wet season flows and increasing dry season flows, to a larger extent than climate change (Hecht and Lacombe, 2014).

●

●

●

●

●

57

Changing river sediment levels can affect species adapted to the natural level.

Blocking the movement of migratory species up and down rivers, causing species extirpation or extinction.

Filtering out of woody debris which provides habitat and sustains a food chain.

Changing conditions in rivers flooded by reservoirs: running water becomes still, silt is deposited, and temperature and oxygen conditions become unsuitable for riverine species.

Possibly fostering exotic species which often displace indigenous biodiversity in novel habitats such as reservoirs.

Reservoirs may be colonized by species which transmit human and animal diseases.

Flood plains provide vital habitat to diverse river species during high water periods in many river basins. Dam management that stops flooding will impact diversity and fisheries.

Modification of water quality and flow patterns downstream.

Changing the normal seasonal estuarine discharge can reduce the supply of entrained nutrients, impacting the food chains that sustain fisheries in inland and estuarine deltas.

Loss of riverbank forests adjacent to the rivers which become submerged following dam construction.

Large-scale Development

Beside the impacts on fresh-water biodiversity, hydropower dams can also have negative impacts on local human populations.

The construction of dams and related infrastructure leads to the loss of agricultural land, forest, fishing grounds, grazing lands and other resources on which communities rely for their livelihoods and cultural practices.

Guidelines for Content of an EIA Report (Ministry of Environment, Cambodia) The following sections should be in a full EIA report: ●

●

●

The 12 large hydropower dams proposed for the lower Mekong main channel could cause the loss of 16% of the fish catch, tributary dams might reduce it by 10-26%, and their combined effect could mean the loss of 6070% of fisheries resources by 2030, posing a very high risk to food security (Orr et al.

2012).

●

●

Displaced communities risk loosing valuable traditional knowledge which destroys part of the world’s cultural heritage. Cultural assets that may be lost in dam construction include underground remains of buildings or places of cultural, spiritual, or religious meaning. These sites may be ancient or created and used by recent generations (cemeteries, places of worship, symbolic markers etc).

●

●

●

Furthermore, the World Health Organization has reported that reservoirs created behind dams are often breeding grounds for waterborne illnesses (such as malaria and cholera) and potentially toxic bacteria. Increased outbreaks of malaria “seem intimately related to hydrological changes brought about by major irrigation and hydroelectric schemes” (Namy, 2010).

A basic introduction to the project and the EIA process.

A description of the laws, rules and regulations that may apply.

A description of the project. For example, how big is the concession, what will be grown there and how many people will be employed.

A description of the local environment, including a list of all possible aspects of the environment that may be affected by the project. This includes a description of the local soil quality, water resources, forests, habitats, biodiversity, wetlands and ecology.

A description of local communities, including the number of people, their social background, occupations, means of livelihood, presence of cultural/religious heritage sites, water and land use, education, public health and whether indigenous people are present in the area.

A record of all consultations held with stakeholders, including relevant authorities, NGOs and local people.

A description of the predicted effects on the environment and local communities, and strategies for reducing those effects.

An Environmental Management Plan – which is a detailed plan for: ●

●

●

●

●

Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) are recommended prior to undertaking large-scale developments.

avoiding or minimizing harm to the environment dealing with any resettlement and compensation issues restoring the livelihoods of affected people.

A description of the benefits compared to the negative impacts of the project. This should be an analysis of whether the positive aspects outweigh the negative.

Conclusions about the project and recommendations the relevant ministries should consider when deciding whether or not to approve the project.

Source: Grimsditch (2013)

58

Large-scale Development

Economic Land Concessions (Cambodia)

ELCs were intended to promote development, economic growth and poverty alleviation in Cambodia. However due to difficulties in implementing the legislation granting new concessions has been suspended since 2012.

ELCs which failed to start by this date have been cancelled and others are under review.

Economic land concessions (ELCs) in Cambodia allow private companies to lease state land for large-scale farming or industrial agriculture.

They usually involve using modern machinery, chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce large amounts of a single product. ELCs can be granted for plantations such as rubber, sugar cane, corn, cassava and also for raising animals such as pigs, or for building factories to process agricultural products.

New policies further underline the protection of villager's farming lands, community and protected forests and graveyards and “spirit places�. Criteria for issuing property titles to the farming and indigenous communities that occupy lands have also been added.

ELCs cannot exceed 10 000 ha of land and are leased to companies for up 99 years (70 years is typical). The company granted the land concession does not have ownership or unlimited rights to the lands, just a right to use the land for a fixed time according to the terms of a government contract.

ELCs are regulated by the Land Law (2001) and several subsequent sub-decrees adding further conditions to their development, as well as provisions included in environmental legislation (see legal framework).

ELC plantations use large areas and require extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides. This can kill beneficial soil organisms, damage soil structure and productivity, kill wildlife and can be washed into streams or rivers causing water pollution and leading to damaging impacts in rivers. By using these chemicals, soil productivity decreases sharply after only a few years.

Resettlement can also cause social problems.

When people are displaced they become poorer as they lose income sources and often incur debt, which can seriously threaten their food security. Increasing debt and poor health put a lot of pressure on families, which can lead to domestic violence, alcoholism and other negative behaviour. Intimidation by security forces and company staff, forcing people to leave their homes has also been reported. Sometimes armed forces have been used to clear concessions and evict people living or farming in the concession area, which has lead to violence and human rights abuse.

Moreover, concessions in areas where indigenous people live have led to the loss of their sacred lands, burial grounds and spirit forests.

Before ELC approval, environmental and social impact assessments, and where applicable, resettlement agreements must be completed and ratified. There must be also a public consultation with local authorities and residents. Access to private land must be respected and there must not be involuntary resettlement. In addition, protocols are required to manage waste and pollution and ensure the health and safety of workers and people living in the area.

Traditional user rights of communities in forested areas must be respected to allow collection of NTFPs. Furthermore, the forestry law prohibits the cutting of resin trees traditionally tapped by local communities.

59

Large-scale development

Underground Mining Mining often requires enormous amounts of water. Thus, mining often dries up the local water supply very quickly, making agriculture and livestock production difficult or impossible. Drinking and cooking water can also become scarce. As forests are destroyed, communities may no longer find edible plants, medicinal herbs, other NTFPs or fish.

Therefore, local food production drops and sustainable activities like tourism are affected because the area is no longer attractive to tourists.

Underground mining involves digging and drilling into the ground to remove valuable minerals. Mining conditions are different depending on location, size and type of mining operation. Large-scale mining is done in very large open surfaces or deep underground and is operated by large corporations, while smallscale mining is mostly run by local people.

Large-scale mining operations can cause greater damage because they require clearing large amounts of land and digging huge pits and tunnels. Small-scale mining however, particularly if undertaken by many, can also be harmful for people and the environment.

To prevent health problems caused by mining, conditions for mine site health and safety need to be created through: ● Fair wages for mine workers and reasonable work hours. ● Safe work conditions. ● Health and safety training. ● Appropriate workplace health and safety regulations and protocols.

Communities should ensure they have access to information about mining projects and FPIC processes are followed (Oxfam America, 2015).

Vietnam and Laos have established environment protection funds (VEPF, Vietnam; EPF, Lao PDR), which collect revenue from mining operations and other industries for biodiversity protection and community development projects.

To ensure that mining does not harm the environment, communities and their allies should monitor water and air near mine sites for pollution.

Agreements should include clear terms on: ● Fair and just compensation on resettlement. ● Actions planned to mitigate impacts on people and the environment. ● Revenue/benefit sharing conditions such as contributions to environment protection funds.

When a mine is closed, the mining company with oversight from the government mining authority is responsible for restoring the site to make it safe for future use. Thus mining company and mining operators should: ● Remove toxic materials, machinery and mining structures. ● Fill holes, close off tunnels, fence dangerous areas and clearly mark these areas with signs. ● Restore healthy soil and re-vegetate with native plants. ● Restore damage waterways. ● Treat polluted water for as long as necessary.

When poorly implemented mining can have negative environmental consequences; from clearing land during the construction process, to leaving large areas degraded and polluted many years after operations have finished.

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Payments for Ecosystem Services What are Ecosystem Services?

security and economic growth, including food supply, timber, regulation of air quality,clean water, opportunities for recreation, tourism and education, climate regulation and essential underlying functions such as soil formation and nutrient cycling. Human society relies on these services for raw material inputs, production processes and climate stability (Smith et al., 2013).

Ecosystem services (ES) refer to the diverse benefits that people derive from the natural environment. Biodiversity and ecosystems provide society with a range of services, from reliable flows of clean water to productive soil and carbon sequestration.

They provide many critical life support functions and benefits for human wellbeing,

Table 4. Ecosystem Services

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Payments for Ecosystem Services

What is Payment for Ecosystem Services?

A PES scheme is a voluntary transaction where a well-defined ecosystem service or land use is bought by at least one service buyer from at least one service provider if and only if the service provider secures service provision (conditionality).

Over the past fifty years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of human history. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) offers local monetary compensation for the production of valuable ecosystem services. This allows the value of ecosystem services to be accounted for in decision-making at both the local to international levels.

Types of PES schemes ●

●

Like other environment economic incentives, PES aims to change the behaviors that have led to the degradation of many of the world’s most valuable ecosystems. PES is intended to induce land-owners to incorporate the economic value of ecosystem services into their financial decisions. The benefits of such mechanisms for poverty alleviation and equity lie in the emergence of market mechanisms for ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration or biodiversity conservation.

This creates new income-generating opportunities for landholders (Arriagada & Perrings, 2009).

●

Public payment schemes: through which government pays land or resource managers to enhance ecosystem services on behalf of the public.

Private payment schemes: self-organized private deals in which beneficiaries of ecosystem services contract directly with service providers.

Public-private payment schemes: that draw on both government and private funds to pay land or other resource managers for the delivery of ecosystem services.

PES can function at a range of spatial scales, including: ●

●

The defining characteristic of PES is that external ecosystem service beneficiaries make direct, contractual and conditional payments to local landholders and users in return for adopting practices that secure ecosystem, conservation and restoration (Wunder, 2007).

●

Those who provide ecosystem services- like any service- should be paid for doing so.

Ecosystem services providers are compensated for safeguarding ecosystem services, thus ensuring their ongoing provision.

●

International: For example REDD+, whereby developing countries that are willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation are paid by developed countries for doing so.

National: For example the Environmental Stewardship Programme (Australia), a governmentfinanced scheme in which about more than $400 million a year is paid to farmers and land manages on behalf of the public in return for more environmentally-sensitive farming.

Catchment: For example, downstream water users pay for appropriate watershed management of upstream land. These schemes tend to be privatefinanced, for example, where a water utility pays upland land managers on behalf of its customers to implement certain measures designed to stabilize or improve water quality.

Local/neighbourhood: For example, a scheme whereby residents collectively fund a warden or environmental organization to manage local green space for biodiversity, landscape and recreational value.

Source: Smith et al., 2013

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Payments for Ecosystem Services

However, the PES concept is not without its critics. The main critiques and counterarguments are laid out in the table below.

These arguments serve as a reminder that PES schemes need to be part of a policy framework that provides protection for biodiversity, as well as for the communities involved.

Table 5. Adapted from: Schroter et al. (2014) (ES – Ecosystem service)

63

Payments for Ecosystem Services

REDD+

What is REDD+?

REDD+ stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. REDD+ initiatives are being developed in Cambodia (4 projects), Vietnam (4) and Laos (7) and involve agreements between governments and other organisations (e.g. NGOs, private companies) which often require new policies, and even institutions and legal frameworks.

REDD+ is a framework through which developing countries are rewarded financially for any greenhouse emissions reductions achieved associated with a decrease in the conversion of forests to alternate land uses. Having identified current and/or projected rates of deforestation and forest degradation, a country taking action to reduce those rates will be financially rewarded relative to the extent of their emissions reductions.

REDD+ includes:

To benefit from REDD+ projects communities need to be involved from the start, whilst also providing sustainable, long-term support. At selected forests scientists will need to undertake carbon stock assessments. The whole process can be complex and a long term commitment is needed to implement a REDD+ agreement.

●

reducing emissions from deforestation

●

reducing emissions from forest degradation

●

conservation of forest carbon stocks

●

sustainable management of forests

●

enhancement of forest carbon stocks

Source: Parker et al. (2009).

Case Study: REDD+ Pilot projects in Cambodia Cambodia developed a REDD+ plan in 2009-2010 and signed a UN-REDD National Programme in 2011.

Cambodia has three pilot REDD+ projects (Oddar Meanchey, Seima and Kulen Promtep).

WCS Cambodia is the lead technical partner for the Seima Protected Forest (SPF) REDD+ project. WCS has cooperated with FA at SPF since initial wildlife surveys in 2000. An important lesson from the REDD+ process is that improved resource security, including land tenure, was a more valuable benefit to the local community than financial incentives (Evans et al., 2012). REDD+ consultations with local communities should minimize expectations of direct benefits and focus on indirect benefits such as improved protection of existing livelihood assets. This improved protection should be put forward as one of the main benefits of REDD+ available to local communities.

These benefits will flow from the most basic project activities, which can be funded even in lower income scenarios. The eventual scale of direct financial and development benefits from REDD+ in SPF is uncertain due to weak current prices for credits and doubt about market demand. Furthermore the Royal Government of Cambodia has yet to establish a formal benefit-sharing system for the site, although it is likely to be modelled on the system at Oddar Meanchey, where 50% of ongoing revenues are earmarked for the community.

Improving forest protection and community access are important to the local community and can be used to gain initial agreement on undertaking a REDD+ project. This can be more important to communities than the direct benefit-share arrangements (e.g. payments) often put forward as the main community benefit of REDD+.

Sources: Cambodia REDD+ (2015); Evans et al. (2012).

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MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

Appendix 1: Community Training Environmental education game: “Wheel of Environmental Mapping” 1. Explain the purpose of the game Some activities can be bad for the environment as well as for people. Other activities can improve livelihoods and be beneficial for the environment. Through this game we will discuss both types of activities, map where they occur in the village and propose community-led activities that promote environmentally friendly practices or are aimed to change environmentally damaging activities.

2. Play!

- Choose 4 teams of approximately the same number of people, according to where they are sitting.

- Let the teams choose 2 or 3 representatives (set gender and age balance).

- The team representatives will draw the base village map, situating village, farming areas, forest, river/water features and road.

- Write the name of the four training sections (Agriculture and Livestock, Forests and Wildlife, Water and Waste Management) in four pieces of paper and let the teams choose one randomly from a “lucky draw”.

- Explain that the team describe the meaning of the graphics and how they might relate to their community by using the map. Give all four teams 15 minutes to study their section. The facilitators can answer questions, encourage debate within the teams and complete explanations.

- Randomly choose what team starts.

- Spin the Wheel (See next page).

- Fall on a section or game. At each section, the team representatives will explain the graphics and talk about them with the rest of the participants. The facilitators will encourage participation, complete explanations, answer questions and use the DO sections to provide alternatives to the DON'T, particularly for any difficult or controversial issues.

- The team representatives will mark relevant sites on the village map if the recommendation is already being followed somewhere, at sites where they think the recommendation could be followed or at sites where information about them would be useful.

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MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

“Wheel of Environmental Mapping” Instructions - Cut out - Punch through the centre with a pin / nail and stick the wheel to a wall - Place a pointer at the top of the wheel - Spin!

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MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

Appendix 2: Community Training Field Trial Workshops in Cambodia In May 2015, a team of 6 facilitators travelled to three rural communities in Pursat and Battanbong provinces (Cambodia) to test the training materials and methodology developed for the Mekong Ecosystem Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual. The trial workshops took place at communities living on the edges of the Cardamom Mountains, where livelihoods are mainly dependent on agriculture and forest resources: Tumpor and Pcheouk Chrum communities (Pursat) and Teok Thlek community (Battanbong).

The training methodology (See Appendix 1 of the manual) was designed as an interactive environmental education game called “Wheel of Environmental Mapping”, with the goal of creating a dynamic, engaging and fun atmosphere, while learning the “Do” and “Don't” recommendations of the manual. The “wheel” acts as a conduit to alternate fun activities and conversations about the environmental recommendations, which are then placed on a map of the community area to promote practical actions. During these workshops, the environmental messages are studied by teams of participants who then explain them the other community members.

Thus, participants internalise and make messages their own to be able to deliver them to an audience. This interactive methodology is aimed at empowering community members to take the lead in communicating environmental messages during the workshop and beyond, and collectively find their own arguments and solutions for the most controversial issues.

Materials The materials used for the workshops were: - The “Wheel” - A large piece of paper and color markers to draw a community area base map.

- Six A1 canvas posters with the “Do” and “Don't” recommendations of the three major sections of the manual.

- An A3 booklet with all the “Do” and “Don't” graphics.

Objectives The objectives of testing the “Wheel of Environmental Mapping” training materials and methods were to answer several questions: 1. Is it feasible to apply the methodology in a real-life setting? Does it need any modifications?

2. Are the graphics understandable for the community members, even for illiterate persons who can not read the accompanying text?

3. Which recommendations do the participants know already? Do they apply them?

4. Which recommendations do the participants disagree with and why? How can the facilitators argument for them?

5. How can the recommendations be turned into real-life changes of practices and new activities?

6. How do the participants feel about the methodology?

MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

Trials All trial workshops lasted approximately two hours in the early morning and early afternoon, during times of the day when participants were available to be away from their daily routines.

Tumpor Community During this first trial, drawing the village area base map took longer than expected because several community members participated and they discussed the locations of different features with the rest. In the initial methodology, the four main sections were assigned to the four teams to study one at the time (as they fell on the wheel), which left everybody else idle for too long and distracted from the purpose of the workshop. The large presence of young children also acted as a distraction.

At this site however, the workshop served to highlight waste management issues that participants were keen to find solutions to and communicating them to the rest of the community. Noticing this interest, more time was spent on the waste management section, writing down the problems and the potential solutions with further suggestions provided by the facilitators. Thus, participants internalise and make messages their own to be able to deliver them to an audience. This interactive methodology is aimed at empowering community members to take the lead in communicating environmental messages during the workshop and beyond, and collectively find their own arguments and solutions for the most controversial issues.

Participant explaining recommendations at Pcheouk Chrum Community

Pcheouk Chrum Community Reflecting on the development of the previous trial, the team decided to use a “lucky draw� variant of the game to assign one section and one fun activity to each team at the start of the workshop instead of using the wheel. This workshop also had to be shorter (approximately one and a half hours), so to save time the mapping was not introduced.

Using this system all four teams studied their graphics at the same time, aided by one facilitator each, and activities progressed faster and more smoothly. Less children were present at this workshop and the activities succeeded in engaging them as well. The issue of wildlife consumption was controversial at this site and facilitators spent longer discussing reasons to stop this practice. Public health arguments, including real stories from other countries of lethal virus outbreaks connected to wildlife consumption (e.g. Nipah virus from fruit bats in Malaysia, intoxication from using loris as medicine in Lao) seemed to be particularly effective.

MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

Teok Thlek Community At this workshop, the team tried a combination of the “wheel” and the “lucky draw” games. The “lucky draw” was used at the start to assign sections and activities and the “wheel” was used to carry out the activities in a random order making workshop progress more dynamic. Participants at this community however, were generally older with and as a whole more interested in learning than in playing, so fun activities were brief and there was a short snack break instead. The map and recommendations served to highlight community concerns about the chaotic and unsustainable agricultural conversions going on in the area. Participants were keen to learn more about sustainable agriculture and tell other community members, and they asked to keep some of the posters to display at their community centre.

Studying the graphics at Teok Thlek Community

Conclusions The conclusions extracted from the field trials relating to the original questions were: 1. Feasibility: The final methodology applied using both the “lucky draw” and the “wheel” worked best and keeping all participants engaged and achieving a fun atmosphere for learning. The mapping was difficult to achieve but was important to relate to real-life issues; to use it more effectively the workshops would need to be developed during at least two sessions. Rapidly adapting workshop progress to each community’s feel, characteristics and interests was particularly important in achieving practical conclusions and results.

2. Clarity of the graphics: Most graphics were understandable without the text or with a little help from other participants and the facilitators. Participants pointed out the most difficult graphics which were subsequently modified. It was also essential to count on facilitators with further knowledge (i. e. at least manual contents) of the issues to answer questions and provide appropriate arguments.

3. Previous knowledge: Communities where environmental NGOs have been working for a long time had extensive knowledge of the basic recommendations and this methodology allowed them to achieve community consensus and consolidation of that knowledge. Some of the recommendations were already being followed and some new solutions were proposed by the participants to their communities.

MEKONG ECOSYSTEM Environmentally Sensitive Development Manual

4. Controversial recommendations: Some participants did not agree with some recommendations (e.g. to stop illegal wildlife hunting for consumption or traditional medicine). In this cases, further arguments and more in-depth knowledge from the facilitators was essential to start changing attitudes. In other cases, the participants expressed that they could not apply the recommendations for various reasons. In response it was useful for the facilitators to provide feasible alternatives, often already present on the “Do� recommendations and their respective chapters of the manual.

5. Changes of practices and new activities: The workshops set the stage for real-life changes of practices by identifying issues of concern at the communities and eliciting solutions from the participants themselves.

Further coordination and support on site would be necessary to turn their ideas into action. The workshops also served to identify the community members who were the most engaged, would most likely pass the knowledge on to others and would be the most appropriate leaders for new activities and projects. Longer courses to allow placing recommendations on the village maps and planning changes would likely result in environmental interventions and new projects at specific localisations.

6. Methodology: The participants felt empowered when they could share their knowledge with their peers. By giving them the center stage they were engaged and kept focus and attention throughout the workshops. This method allowed for the participants to find their own internal motivations and reasons to follow the recommendations instead of the traditional format of external experts providing information, which may make use of arguments that do not feel relevant to the communities. In addition, the game set up provided a light-hearted atmosphere that made participants feel at ease to discuss difficult issues and may have made the workshops a more original and memorable experience, thus enhancing learning. Some participants stated it was most fun they had ever had during an NGO training.

Dancing at Pcheouk Chrum Community