PHNOM PENH, April 14 (Xinhuanet) -- In recent years, Cambodia has
taken effective measures to preserve forests and achieved good
results since the country stressed the importance of protection of
its forest.
   Sok An, senior minister and minister of cabinet, recently said
that forests are vital to the daily life of the Cambodian people
because today 85 percent of the population, who live in rural
areas, totally rely on agriculture and forests.
   In 2001, Cambodia stepped up forest management. About 7,180
cubic meters of logs and 760 cubic meters of timber that had been
illegally exploited were confiscated; 158 illegal wood processing
workshops, sawing workshops and charcoal kilns were dismantled or
burnt down. In the meanwhile, 73 people were arrested for illegal
hunting in forests and 3,406 captive wild animals were sent back
to the forests.
   However, forests in the country are disappearing at an alarming
speed. Before 1970, Cambodia's forests covered 13.2 million
hectares which was equivalent to 73 percent of the country's total
land areas enriched with natural resources; but the rate of forest
coverage now is only 58 percent, or totaling 10.6 million hectares,
said Chan Sarun, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
   Although Cambodia's forest coverage seems to be quite high
compared with some other countries, yet the forests are
qualitatively and quantitatively deteriorating due to the
denudation of forests and the damages by the protracted civil war,
which has severely damaged natural eco-environment, resulting in
floods and droughts in the country every year, he added.
   In order to improve management and protection of forests, the
ministry, with the financing from the ADB (the Asian Development
Bank) and WB (the World Bank), in 2001 held various kinds of 19
workshops and ministerial meetings to discuss the matter of forest
preservation, and finally formulated a draft law on forest which
was approved unanimously by the Council of Ministers on August 17,
2001. 
   Before the draft law on forests comes into effect, Cambodia has
enforced the regulations on the management of concession forests,
which canceled some agreements on concession forests with some
companies who had concession for timber right and suspended their
logging business in a bid to eradicate forest anarchy.
   The authorities issued a directive that has stipulated that as
of January 1, 2002, all the logging and transportation of chopped
logs should bee stopped.
   In addition, the Cambodian commission in charge of forest
investment, consisting of the Council of Ministers, Ministry of
Finance, and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and
Law Committee, in coordination with ADB supervision experts, held
emergent consultations with 17 companies that currently have
concession on timber right, and reviewed their timber-chopping
plans and requested them to draw up new plans for logging and
management of forests for future.
   More importantly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries has regular meetings with these companies, examines the
process of logging and gives them necessary instructions. While
forest experts and officials often go to the forest areas to
inspect the implementation of their logging plans including
planting trees after tree chopping on the scene.   
   With the help of WB, UNDP (the UN Development Program) and WFO
(the World Food Organization), Cambodia will tighten up the
supervision and reporting system for criminal forest activities,
which was set up in 1999, through employing satellite sensing
system and recruiting experts who know Khmer language as well as
technology of management with the assistance of the ADB.
   In addition, the government has officially set up forest parks
and protection zones for wild animals so as to preserve forest
areas. Currently, the protected zones in the country cover more
than 3 million hectares of land, equal to 18 percent of the
surface area of the country that boasts 774 kinds of wild animals
including 122 kinds of mammals, 114 reptiles and 538 birds.
   Cambodia has also decided to establish more protected zones for
wild animals, including one in Mondulkiri province, eastern
Cambodia, and the other in Preah Vihear province, northern
Cambodia. They cover a total of 470,000 hectares and 200,000
hectares, respectively, aiming to enlarge the forest coverage and
protect forest resources in the country.  Enditem 
  by Yan Ming, Li Chaobi