Threats to these fragile systems have long been recognized, and as Cambodia emerged from years of conflict, pressures on the country’s natural resources and sensitive areas began to increase. In response to this, a number of “protected areas” were created Royal by Decree, with the aim of protecting a number of ecologically and culturally important areas.
A protected area is a clearly defined space that is recognized for its natural, ecological and/or cultural value, and is given extra protection in order to achieve the long term conservation of wildlife, nature, ecosystems and cultures contained within.1 The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) developed the Protected Area Management Categories System for defining, recording and classifying protected areas and their objectives. This system is recognised globally as being a crucial element of the struggle to protect the world’s ecologically sensitive areas, species and cultures:
- Protected areas remain the fundamental building blocks of virtually all national and international conservation strategies, supported by governments and international institutions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. They provide the core of efforts to protect the world’s threatened species and are increasingly recognised as essential providers of ecosystem services and biological resources; key components in climate change mitigation strategies; and in some cases also vehicles for protecting threatened human communities or sites of great cultural and spiritual value. Covering almost 12 percent of the world’s land surface, the global protected area system represents a unique commitment to the future; a beacon of hope in what sometimes seems to be a depressing slide into environmental and social decline.2
Cambodia first defined its Protected Areas in a 1993 Royal Decree, and has since issued more detailed guidelines on how the country’s protected areas must be managed in the form of the 2008 Protected Areas Law. Cambodia’s protected areas are under the administration of the Ministry of Environment under the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection.
Cambodia’s Protected Areas
The 1993 Royal Decree on the Protection of Natural Areas recognized 23 protected areas, which at the time covered more than 18% of the country’s total land area3. The Royal Decree divides the areas into four distinct categories: Natural Parks; Wildlife Reserves; Protected Landscapes; and Multi-purpose Areas. Subsequent sub-decrees have added additional sites to Cambodia’s protected areas list and altered the size of the original 23 areas, and at present there is no publicly available list of all protected areas and their boundaries. The list below contains the 23 recognized protected areas as established in the 1993 Royal Decree (full maps can be viewed here ):4
1. Natural Parks: Areas reserved for nature and scenic views. To be protected for scientific, educational and entertainment purposes:
• Kirirom, Kampong Speu and Koh Kong (35,000 hectares)
• Bokor, Kampot (140,000 hectares)
• Kep, Kep (originally 5,000 hectares, later amended to 1,152 hectares)
• Ream, Kampong Som (150,000 hectares)
• Botum Sakor, Koh Kong (171,250 hectares)
• Phnom Koulen, Siem Reap (37,500 hectares)
• Virachey, Ratanikiri (332,500 hectares)
2. Wildlife Reserves: Natural areas preserved in their natural conditions in order to protect wildlife, vegetation and ecological balance:
• Phnom Aural, Koh Kong, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang (253,750 hectares)
• Peam Krasop , Koh Kong (23,750 hectares)
• Phnom Samkos, Koh Kong (333,750 hectares)
• Roneam Donsam, Battambang (178,750 hectares)
• Koulen Prum Tep, Siem Reap and Preah Vihear (402,500 hectares)
• Beng Per, Kampong Thom (242,500 hectares)
• Lumphat, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri (250,000 hectares)
• Phnom Prich, Mondulkiri and Kratie (222,500 hectares)
• Phnom Namlear, Mondulkiri (47,500 hectares)
• Snuol, Kratie (75,000 hectares)
3. Protected Landscape Areas: Areas to be maintained as scenic spots for leisure and tourism:
• Angkor, Siem Reap (10,800 hectares)
• Banteay Chhmar, Banteay Meanchey (81,200 hectares)
• Preah Vihear, Preah Vihear (5,000 hectares)
4. Multi-purposes Areas: Areas necessary for the stability of the water, forestry, wildlife, and fisheries resource, for pleasure, and for the conservation of nature with a view of assuring economic development.
• Dung Peng, Koh Kong (27,700 hectares)
• Samlot, Battambang (60,000 hectares)
• Tonle Sap Biosphere, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang and Pursat (316,250 hectares)
As mentioned above, since the 1993 Royal Decree was passed a number of additional protected areas have been created by sub-decree. These include the temple sites at Banteay Chhmar and Sambo Prey Kok, a wildlife sanctuary at Anlong Pring, and multiple use zones at Boueng Tonle Chhmar and Stung Sen. Some existing areas have also been resized by sub-decree. More details can be found here.
According to the Royal Decree on Protected Areas, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) is responsible for the management and supervision of the country’s protected areas in cooperation with the other relevant institutions.5 This is confirmed by the Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management, which gives the MoE authority to enter and inspect protected areas if activities therein are thought to be affecting the environment.6 The sub-decree on the role of the MoE elaborates on the responsibilities of the ministry to prepare and implement policies and management plans for protected areas, and to propose new areas to be included in the protected areas system. The MoE also has the responsibility to cooperate, consult and advise other ministries on the protection of those areas.7 A short “prakas”, or declaration, was issued by the MoE in 1994 which prohibited a number of activities within protected areas8, but a full law on protected areas was not passed until 2008.
The 2008 Protected Areas Law
The 2008 Protected Areas Law defines the framework of management, conservation and development of protected areas and aims to “ensure the management, conservation of biodiversity, and sustainable use of natural resources in protected areas.” The law reinforces the MoE’s responsibility to administer the protected areas, including the right to patrol and crack down on illegal activities, inspect license and permits for development and economic activity in protected areas, and conduct awareness raising and education in order to engage the public in the proper management of protected areas.9
The Protected Areas Law introduced a new system of zoning in order to effectively manage the conservation and development of protected areas. According to the law, protected areas are to be demarcated into the following four zones10:
• Core Zone: areas of high conservation value containing threatened and critically endangered species and fragile ecosystems. Access to Core Zones is prohibited except for Nature Conservation and Protection Administration officials and researchers who conduct nature and scientific studies for the purpose of preservation and protection.
• Conservation Zone: areas of high conservation value containing natural resources, ecosystems, watershed areas, and natural landscape located adjacent to the core zone. Access to the zone is allowed only with prior consent of the Nature Conservation and Protection Administration. Small-scale community uses of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to support local people’s livelihood may be allowed under strict control, provided that they do not present serious adverse impacts on biodiversity within the zone.
• Sustainable use Zone: areas of high economic values for national economic development and management, and conservation of the protected area itself.
• Community Zone: areas reserved for socio-economic development of the local communities and indigenous ethnic minorities.
The MoE is responsible for finalizing maps for each protected area11.
Development within the protected areas
According to the law, no clearance or building is allowed in the Core or Conservation zones, and any development within the Sustainable Use or Community zones can only take place with the appropriate approval from the Government at the request of the MoE. Any development in these areas or in areas adjacent to protected areas must first be subject to an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment12.
Since the Protected Areas Law was passed numerous sub-decrees have been passed classifying areas as Sustainable Use Zones. According to the law, after consulting with relevant ministries and institutions, local authorities, and local communities the Government may permit development and investment activities in these zones. According to the annex of the law, these activities can include infrastructure development, including irrigation and hydroelectricity projects, mining and resin exploitation13.
Anyone found to be in breach of the provisions of the Protected Areas Law is liable to face penalties ranging from a warning and payment of restorative damages, up to fines of 250 million riel and 10 years in jail, depending on the seriousness of the offence14.
Prospects for the future
Cambodia’s protected areas are recognized as being of both economic and environmental importance. Economically they continue to attract tourists who travel to Cambodia to visit the national parks and cultural sites, and in addition, the country’s protected areas contain a wealth of natural resources, which if exploited in a sustainable manner can provide employment, income and help contribute to Cambodia’s continued development. In terms of environmental protection, the protected areas system provides a focal point for the activities of environmental and community groups and Government departments concerned with conservation. If implemented appropriately and responsibly, such a system has the potential to protect the country’s most sensitive areas whilst limiting and controlling what development does go on in those areas adjacent in order to ensure that the needs of both economic and social development and environmental protection are balanced.
Links
- http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/gpap_home/
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Guidelines for Applying
- Protected Areas Management Categories, 2008.
- Socheat Leakhena San, Indicating Success: Evaluation of Community Protected Areas in Cambodia, Department of Nature Conservation-Protection, Ministry of Environment, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Published in: Sango Mahanty, Jefferson Fox, Michael Nurse, Peter Stephen, and Leslie McLees (eds.), Hanging in the Balance: Equity in Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Asia, Bangkok: RECOFTC (Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific); Honolulu: East-West Center, 2006.
- Royal Decree on the Protection of Natural Areas 1993, Article 1 & 2.
- Royal Decree on the Protection of Natural Areas 1993, Article 1.
- Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management 1996, Article 15.
- Sub-decree No57 On the Organization and Functioning of the Ministry of Environment 1997, Article 7.
- Ministry of Environment, Prakas No1033 on the Protection of Natural Areas 1994.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Articles 1 & 6.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Article 11.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Article 14.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Articles 36 & 44.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Article 11, annex.
- Protected Areas Law 2008, Article 56.
