VIETNAM and CAMBODIA: more trade ... but what about sustainable tourism?

Facilitating trade is always the excuse for new border crossings. Given the competing needs for the rural poor in Cambodia and the integrity of the eastern Plains forests, the opening of a new border gate in Rattanakiri is worrying. Has a feasibility study been conducted? And what is this trade going to be facilitated in -- timber, poached wildlife and chainsaws?

Source: Nhan Dan ... "Vietnam opens another border gate with Cambodia"

Vietnam on December 15 put into service an international border gate in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, which borders Ratanakiri province in Cambodia.
The border gate, situated in Gia Lai province’s Duc Co district, is called Le Thanh in Vietnamese and Oyadao in Cambodian.
It is hoped to facilitate trade activities in the two countries’ border areas and also cement the ties between residents on both sides of the border.
The establishment of the border gate is also expected to help create a breakthrough for development in the triangle area which encompasses Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

CAMBODIA: Silver bullets? How the sustainable tourism dream is being subverted by business and the government

According to Global Witness, Cambodia's government ranks as one of the most corrupt and its ruling cliques as the most incestuous. The government at all levels is grappling with how to deal with rising populations, pressures from its neighbours for its natural resources and the cries of conservationists. A policy of laissez-faire is supported. The latest silver bullet is proposed by a hunting safari company which wants to develop a hunting bag of 30 species in Rattanakiri province. As WWF point out (a) no assessment of populations has been conducted to discern suitability of these species for hunting (b) no supporting infrastructure exists for community benefits to be dispersed (c) poaching from Vietnamese hunters is a huge problem for species conservation and needs to be addressed. Experience from southern Africa shows that well-managed hunting operations integrated with communities, local and national official channels, and in harmony with nature, can be a positive addition to the conservation mosaic for an area. It is rarely the first tool one would use, and then only with good information.

Source: Reuters ..."Cambodia plans hunting safaris for VIP tourists" By Ek Madra; Illegal Logging ... "Global Witness Report Accuses Cambodia's International Donors of Inaction while a Corrupt Elite surrounding the Prime Minister loots the Country's Forests"
Cambodia is considering laying on hunting safaris for well-heeled foreign tourists in its remote jungle-clad northeast, to the consternation of green groups who say it could be a recipe for disaster.
Officials said on Tuesday a Spanish firm called Nsok Safaris had already drawn up plans for a five-star jungle camp to house hunters after trophies on a list of 30 mammals, birds and reptiles in a 100,000-hectare (250,000-acre) forest reserve.
The area, in Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces, is home to several indigenous hill-tribes whose first main contact with the outside world was during the Vietnam War when their territory was crossed by the myriad paths of the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Dany Chheang, deputy director of the Agriculture Ministry's Wildlife Protection Office, said allowing foreigners to pay to shoot game was far better for conservation than having poachers take it illegally.
"Illegal hunters are burning dollars every day," he told Reuters. "We have not explored all the potential of our natural resources. Now is the time to do so."
"The money we net will be invested in preserving the animals and forest. It is better for sustainable development than letting local hunters deal with cheap black markets."
He did not say what the 30 approved species were. The forest area is thought to be one of southeast Asia's last wildernesses and is home to wild elephants and tigers.
Environvmental group WWF, which has been promoting wildlife conservation in war-scarred Cambodia since 1998, said it was concerned about the plan, which has been in the pipeline for two years but which has remained shrouded in secrecy.
WWF's Cambodia programme manager, Bas van Helvoort, said little was known about animal population numbers in the two provinces, and so allowing them to be hunted could be disastrous.
"Putting species up to be hunted is not going to contribute to making them safe," van Helvoort said. "This has been done in Africa but it is very carefully selected and very controlled."
So far, Phnom Penh -- which is routinely accused of allowing rampant illegal logging -- appears oblivious to the concerns.
"These are our natural resources. We do not need permission from wildlife conservation experts to run our business," Dany Chheang said.
The Finance Ministry was still working with agriculture officials on the finer points of the plan, such as trophies and fees, he added.
Madrid-based Nsok Safari's Web site advertises hunting expeditions in Cameroon and Tanzania. (Editing by Ed Cropley and Roger Crabb)

CLIMATE CHANGE and ALUMINIUM: growth stock fuelled by CC concerns in China fuels incentives for expanding concessions, reduced indigenous rights

SEN MONOROM: BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company [and sixth largest producer of primary aluminium] is prospecting in Mondulkiri - a remote province in Cambodia, eight hours drive along poor roads. Yet, it is home to the Buong people, WWF's flagship conservation project Mondulkiri Protected Forest as well as some of the poorest people in Cambodia. Plus, little of the province's 1.2 million hectares outside of protected areas are titled, remaining the ownership of the state. With aluminium prices set to quadruple during the next four years - see excellent Herald Tribune article - what does this mean for conservationists. WWF have already lost 75,000 hectares of their conservation forest concession to BHP - a company with a reasonably transparent CSR wing - see their Corporate Sustainability Report here.

Throughout the developing world, will higher prices mean deeper digging, more widespread speculative prospecting, greater scullduggery in the industry or more competition, more openness to joint ventures with indigenous peoples and a new greener coat of paint for the aluminium extraction industry?

Climate change is an indirect driver here too ... China's drive to cut power consumption [of which aluminium smelting is a huge contributor] and reduce aluminum overcapacity [China produces over 60% of the world's aluminium] may slow growth enough that the nation becomes a net importer of the metal in the fourth quarter of 2008, said Chris Ding, a Beijing-based analyst at China International Capital, the nation's biggest investment bank [from HT article]

From the Phnom Penh Post:

Bauxite under the ground in Mondulkiri where exploratory drilling began a few months ago could result in an investment worth "billions of U.S. dollars," Deputy Prime Minister Sok An announced to 600 business people attending a two-day investment conference November 9.

Prime Minister Hun Sen told the investment conference that he also had high hopes for BHP Billiton efforts. "Cambodia has significant potential in iron, bauxite, precious stones, gold," he said. But regarding oil, he said, "much of the speculation is premature."

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton over the summer began what it expects to be five years of exploratory drilling for bauxite in Mondulkiri. The company has a concession signed a year ago by Sok An to explore 1,000 square kilometers, some still dotted with unexploded ordinance and land mines from 40 years ago. Billiton said it is using land mine clearance teams in the risky areas.

From Oxfam:

"The rapid pace of the development means that we might not have a say about if it happens, but more how it happens,” said Warwick Browne, a program officer in Oxfam America’s East Asia office.

From NGO Forum:

"Now they’re just exploring, but it’s important to get people involved early on. By participating, we want to avoid environmental, social, and cultural impacts,” said Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of The NGO Forum on Cambodia, an Oxfam partner. “We also want to empower communities to have some decision-making power.”

From the United Nations office in PP:

In late 2006, a licence was granted to BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corporation to explore for bauxite over 100,000 hectares of land in Mondulkiri province, overlapping with the Wuzhishan concession and encompassing indigenous traditional lands. Other mining concessions affect indigenous land in Veal Veng district, Pursat and Roveang district, Preah Vihear. The growing number of mining concessions gives rise to concerns about the potential impacts on indigenous
communities, their rights and their livelihoods.