66
LAO PDR
in Savannakhet Province. It should be noted that both Dong Phousoi PFA and Dong Sithouane PFA are included in the FAO list of exemplarily managed forests in Asia.
The assessment was conducted in May 2002 by SmartWood, a certifier and member of the Rainforest Alliance, which specified five pre-conditions that the two groups
must address to qualify for FSC certification.
In late 2003 the World Bank-WWF Alliance and the Tropical Forest Trust continued financial support to the Pilot Forest Certification Project so that the five pre-conditions
could be addressed by the two groups. A pre-condition audit was conducted in July 2004 by SmartWood, which resulted in closing out of four pre-conditions, leaving but
one pre-condition. Thus the one-year project ended short of getting the two groups certified. A new project, the Sustainable Forestry and Rural Development Project
SUFORD took over in providing support to the process.
5. Challenges Facing the Expansion of Community Forestry in Lao Production Forests
Implementation of community forestry, or more precisely village-based, participatory sustainable forest management, has been expanded from two production
forest areas in two provinces to eight production forest areas in four provinces. A donor interest has also been shown toward further expansion of PSFM to another five
provinces thus effectively covering all provinces with commercial production forests. The main challenges facing the expansion of PSFM to other provinces and production
forest areas are expected to be:
• Overcapacity of the sawmilling industry. The existing processing capacity
of the Lao sawmilling industry is more than twice that of the sustainable level of wood supply from production forests. The industry is engaging in a race to deplete the
forest resources of production forest areas before they can be officially declared and put into participatory sustainable forest management. Of the eight production forest
areas where participatory sustainable forest management is currently being introduced, two are already devoid of large trees of the commercially attractive species. The large
trees that remain are those of lesser-known species that are difficult to market. A large portion of four other PFAs are in the same state.
• Weak governance at local levels. Province and district authorities tend to
grant harvestlogging beyond or outside the plans approved by the Government to businessmen in exchange for infrastructure or village development fees, a practice
prohibited in 2002 for infrastructure not provided for in the National Socio-economic Development Plan endorsed by the National Assembly.
• Demonstrating the benefits of sustainable forest management. There is
a need to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable forest management to decision- makers who are faced with a seemingly attractive short-term option of depleting a
production forest now and then closing it from harvesting for half a century. Its attraction lies in the notion that high levels of timber revenue that can be used now for economic
development are preferable to a sustained series of revenue at lower levels stretched over time.
Bouahong Sousath
67
• Demonstrating that the tropical production forest could be managed on a sustainable basis. Forest management systems are designed for sustainability,
but technical information is often lacking to show that the management being implemented is indeed sustainable. This is made more difficult in a country like Lao
PDR where there is a dearth of research on forest stand growth and yields.
• Limited capacity of forest management participants. Many districts have
only a few forestry staff, poorly trained, usually with poor mobility, that are easily overwhelmed by the large areas of forest that they have to manage. There is a need
to provide them with enough incentive to improve their management skills and to put the skills into practice. Villagers have indigenous knowledge, but lack formal training
in forest management. An effective training program is needed that could train a large number of participants from the forestry staff and the villages in a short period of time
to do forest management work. Training could prove difficult in areas where the villagers speak only their ethnic language.
• Cost of introducing and nurturing the practice of PSFM. The introduction
and nurturing of participatory sustainable forest management requires a substantial investment in money, effort, and time. The country cannot afford to do it alone without
assistance from donors.
• Sustainability of project initiatives. Donors supporting participatory
sustainable forest management have to continue their support for a sufficiently long period of time. Early withdrawal of donor support could result in backsliding to former
times when the production forest was being depleted.
References:
Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, July, 2005. Forestry Strategy to the year 2020 FS2020 of the Lao PDR.
Department of Forestry, 2003. Status Report for Formulation of Forestry Strategy 2020 of the Lao PDR.
Forestry Law, 1996. Article 5. Lao PDR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2003. Regulation No. 0204MAF.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Forestry, 1999. Draft National Village Forestry Program.
National Statistical Center, 2002. Prime Minister Decree 2002. No. 59PM.
68
LAO PDR
Soydara, V. and Ketphanh, S. 2-4 Aug. 2000. Case Study on the Marketing Group of Bitter Bamboo Shoots in Nampheng Village, Oudomxay Province, Proceedings of
the Bamboo 2000 International Symposium. World Bank, 2002. SUFORD Project Preparation Main Report.
CAMBODIA COMMUNITY FORESTRY 2005
Sokh Heng
i
Ty Sokhun
ii
1. Introduction to Community Forestry in Cambodia
