|
|
Environment and Development Research Group |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Community Management of Protected Areas
in Angkor is a 400 square km temple complex located just outside of Siem Reap town in northern Cambodia. Angkor houses the world famous Angkor Wat, in addition to over 800 temples dating back over 1000 years. In 1994, Angkor was designated as a World Heritage Site and the temple complex was classified into zones under the Zoning and Environmental Management Plan (ZEMP). ZEMP demarcated Angkor into five zones and made recommendations for restricting activities in these zones, in particular prohibiting the harvest of forest-based resources in the Core Zone, to ensure the preservation of Angkor for conservation and tourism. Lesser known but equally important, Angkor is also home to 20 villages located within the Core Zone, with a combined population of almost 20,000. These villagers have a long history of living and working within Angkor, using simple agricultural and forest-gathering practices. In 1996, these villagers were faced with a law that restricted access to traditional forest products. To alleviate this conflict, Community Management of Forest Resources was introduced in four Core Zone villages, as part of the UNDP Community Participation in Protected Areas Project (CMB/93/007). This initiative allows villagers access to forest-based resources and, at the same time, promotes the protection of Angkor resources through education, conservation, re-forestation and the reduction of illegal harvesting of forest products. An assessment of the long-term benefits of this intervention for local communities and for the conservation of natural resources in Angkor is the basis of the Research Project. Publications/Presentations: Hubbard, C. 2003. "Living
with the Forest: Sustainable use proves more democratic than a forestry ban
in Hubbard, C. 2002. Seeing
the Community for the Trees: Assessing Locally-developed Sustainability
Indicators for the Angkor Community Forest Project, |
||||
last updated: May 2009 |