5.1 Timber and fuelwood production
5.2 Non-wood forest products
The forests, in addition to their important role in protecting the fragile country's environment, provide variety of goods and services. The major forest products are timber, fuelwood, and a number of other non-wood products. The wood based industries set up by forest concessionaires will provide some employment to the people.
During the 1981-1990 period, war activities shifted mainly to the western provinces, bringing a gradual increase in logging activities in central and western Cambodia. The average annual cut for the period was 140,000 cubic meters and about 2.4 million cubic meters of fuelwood. Most current logging activities are illegal and although since January 1995 the Royal Government has imposed a complete ban on logging, this has had little impact in the field. The 1995 production of logs is estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters, the same as prior to the introduction of the ban. Table 1.3 summarized the estimates of the level of log extraction in Cambodia over the last four decades.
For the last five years, the volume of logging increase because it was the main revenue at the disposal of The different factions and armies before the 1993 election and because it is still, actually, one of the major sources of income for many rural people. Moreover, the insecure situation favours illegal logging and transportation to foreign country in particularly Thailand by road and boat, and Malaysia/Singapore by boat. Thus actual removal are estimated to be around one and one-half times official information which is based on the legal sawmill capacity and officially recorded exports period.
Table 1.3 - Past Logging and Log Production (m3)
|
|
Total Log Production |
Exports |
|
|
Logs |
Sawnwood |
||
|
1960 to 1970 |
(350,000 m3/year) |
|
|
|
1971 to 1980 |
(100,000 m3/year) |
|
|
|
1981 |
19,000 |
|
|
|
1982 |
68,000 |
|
|
|
1983 |
68,000 |
|
|
|
1984 |
70,000 |
|
|
|
1985 |
97,000 |
86,000 |
96,500 |
|
1986 |
127,000 |
|
|
|
1987 |
167,000 |
|
|
|
1988 |
200,000 |
12,800 |
283,000 |
|
1989 |
300,000 |
16,400 |
224,000 |
|
1990 |
300,000 |
15,700 |
257,400 |
|
1991 |
600,000 |
16,000 |
308,900 |
|
1992 |
900,000 |
16,000 |
104,000 |
|
1993 |
1,500,000 |
76,000 |
|
|
1994 |
1,500,000 |
|
|
|
1995 |
1,500,000 |
|
|
|
Total 1960-1995 |
12,000,000 |
|
|
Source: Joint World Bank. UNDP and FAO mission estimates in Cambodia 1995
Wood is the principal source of fuel of the Cambodian population and fuelwood is the largest use of wood harvested in Cambodia. Most fuelwood is collected by rural people in the accessible forest area (i.e. on the outskirts of forests, on the degraded or deciduous forests) or in woodlands. Although accurate data are not available it is reasonable to assume that half of all fuelwood is extracted from the forests (Table 1-4) (Total consumption is based on an estimated 0.6 cubic meters/person/year).
Table 1.4 - Fuelwood Extraction 1961 - Present
|
|
Total Fuelwood |
Extraction from forest (50%) |
|
1961 to 1970 |
18 million m3 |
9 million m3 |
|
1971 to 1980 |
10 million m3 |
5 million m3 |
|
1981 to 1990 |
24 million m3 |
12 million m3 |
|
1990 to present |
6 million m3 per year |
3 million m3 per year |
Source: Joint World Bank, UNDP and FAO mission estimates in Cambodia 1995
At present, the most important non-wood resources that are being harvested heavily are rattan and bamboo. Rattan has been harvested in the forests throughout the country, while bamboo has been heavily extracted mostly from the forests in north-eastern part. Besides rattan and bamboo, there are other non-wood products that are being exploited: resin (esp. from the Dipterocarp species) lian, medical herbs and plants, honey. Hunting activities are also found countrywide. Large-mammal hunting (elephant, tiger) is done especially in the north-eastern part of the country. Although they are comparably not so economically beneficial as timber harvesting, non-wood products will increasingly be harvested and lead to serious destruction of biodiversity if not well managed.
