CAMBODIA: ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS HIGHLIGHT TOP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 001088

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SUBJECT: CAMBODIA: ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS HIGHLIGHT TOP
CONCERNS


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Environmental leaders cited land
degradation and encroachment on protected areas as Cambodia's
most pressing environmental concerns during a June 7
roundtable discussion. Wildlife traffickers seem to operate
in small, decentralized networks with Vietnam as either a
destination or a transit point en route to China. Efforts to
improve environmental protection are thwarted by government
inefficiency, lack of political will, and corruption. While
often overshadowed by arguably more pressing issues like rule
of law and poverty alleviation, in fact weaknesses in all
three areas are mutually reinforcing and the issues must be
addressed simultaneously if progress is to be made. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) Poleconoff hosted an environmental roundtable
discussion and reception on June 7 to introduce the new USAID
Economic Development and Environment Officer. Ten
environmental leaders, representing seven local and
international NGOs, attended the event and presented a
snapshot of the environmental conditions in Cambodia.

Land Degradation and Forest Encroachment Most Alarming
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3. (U) Nearly everyone present cited land degradation and
the encroachment of formally protected and/or environmentally
sensitive areas as the top environmental concern in Cambodia.
Edward Pollard of the Wildlife Conservation Society
described two distinct patterns of encroachment: small-scale
encroachment due to migration from the more heavily populated
lowlands to less densely populated, environmentally sensitive
areas, and large-scale destruction associated with land
concessions, commercial agricultural plantations, and illegal
logging.


4. (SBU) Land degradation and poverty are closely tied,
activists noted. Sam Inn of the Lutheran World Federation
noted that the poor often turn to environmentally-destructive
practices like collecting fuel wood and producing charcoal to
raise their incomes. At the same time, land degradation
often serves to destabilize already vulnerable people. Mark
Poffenberger of Community Forestry International said that as
forests are destroyed, rural communities dependent on forests
for fuel, timber and medicine must spend scarce cash for
these items, leading to poverty and haphazard migration to
cities. Poor and migrant Cambodians are susceptible to human
trafficking and vulnerable to a host of ills which, like HIV
infection, are more prevalent in urban areas, he asserted.
Cambodia can't effectively stem these problems until its
ecosystems are stabilized, he noted. Finally, indigenous and
poor communities are often politically disenfranchised and
easily manipulated. Suwanna Gauntlett, Wild Aid Country
Director, noted that the poor are often used as fronts by
rich and powerful Cambodians to stake claims on
environmentally sensitive areas.

Wildlife Trafficking Decentralized but Lucrative
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5. (SBU) Activists reported that most wildlife captured in
Cambodia is exported to Vietnam, either as a final
destination or en route to China. There are no indications
that Cambodian wildlife smugglers are also involved in
trafficking people, narcotics, or weapons, although
environmental leaders suspect that many wildlife smugglers
are also involved in smuggling consumer goods like gasoline
from Vietnam to Cambodia. These smugglers likely use the
same network of corrupt customs agents to facilitate
smuggling of both wildlife and more traditional consumer
goods. Wildlife smuggling in Cambodia seems to be fairly
disorganized and to operate in small networks, environmental
leaders noted.


6. (U) While trafficking in reptiles is perhaps most
common, several NGO leaders reported a dramatic increase in
the trafficking of macaques over the past several months.
Gauntlett reported that Wild Aid's wildlife rescue team has
confiscated 34,000 animals of various types over the past
four years, and is currently uncovering 100-200 smuggled
macaques each week. Macaques typically travel in groups of
8-10 individuals, and are worth about USD 80 each locally,
making them a lucrative target. Gauntlett relayed an

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incident in which one smuggler, stopped by robbers near the
Vietnam border, gladly agreed to give up his motorcycle as
long as he was allowed to keep his backpack, which contained
five macaques. Pollard noted that smuggling of macaques and
other primates leads to deforestation, as it is common for
smugglers to clear 100 meters of forest from the area
surrounding a tree with a valuable primate so that the
primate cannot jump to another tree to escape.

Poor Government Performance Impedes Environmental Efforts
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7. (SBU) Environmental protection efforts are often
hampered by government inefficiency, lack of political will,
and corruption, NGO leaders noted. Teng Seak, Country
Director for the World Wildlife Fund, noted that ministries
often have difficulty coordinating their work and that
decentralization efforts raise doubts about commune councils'
ability to assess and respond to environmental concerns.
Michelle Owen of Wild Aid noted that sub-decrees (prakas)
implementing the Forestry Law were supposed to be issued four
years ago, but have been delayed due to bureaucratic
in-fighting. As a result, there is no official Cambodian
government list of protected species, making prosecution of
wildlife trafficking offenses difficult. Finally, economic
growth often takes precedence over environmental concerns.
Environmental impact assessments for economic development
projects are often completely skipped, environmental leaders
noted, or when completed are done so poorly as to be useless.



8. (SBU) It is often difficult to determine if government
failings are due to government inefficiency or Cambodia's
endemic corruption. NGO leaders cited several examples,
including conservation efforts of dubious value, successful
environmental programs being transferred to other government
bodies with no explanation, and failure to respond to NGO
requests for information, which suggest government ineptitude
at best and corruption at worst.

Comment
--------------


9. (SBU) Environmental concerns in Cambodia often take a
back seat to political and economic issues more pressing to
foreign donors and international organizations. In reality,
however, environmental issues are inextricably linked with
corruption, an inadequate judiciary, and rural poverty which
top many international agendas. Wildlife trafficking, land
concessions, illegal logging, and land speculation enrich the
already wealthy and powerful while further marginalizing the
poor. Improving environmental protection, strengthening rule
of law, and alleviating poverty should all be seen as part of
a "virtuous circle" where improvements in one area help
facilitate improvements in the others.
STORELLA