Sangkom Thmei Climates of Change : Forestry

Forestry: Re-forestation for Income Generation and Environmental Protection

The forestry component will focus on helping interested and committed villagers to begin family tree plantations in an effort to reverse damage done by widespread logging and land clearing. Most farmers in the target area currently practice ‘slash and burn’ agriculture, a highly unsustainable practice where they clear all the trees off their land and burn all the remaining greenery. This means that many families actually own significantly more cleared land than they farm in any one year. The project will encourage families to set aside a portion of this non-used degraded land for sustainable timber production. As this pilot aspect of the project is new to most Cambodians, plantations are initially expected to be small (one hectare or less) per household.

Teak trees have been identified as being suitable to the terrain in the target area, and because it is durable, valuable, in-edible to livestock and rapid growing, the project will emphasize the promotion of this tree species for planting. Other local native varieties such as rosewood will also be planted on a smaller scale either mixed with the teak or planted on the periphery. (Three types of local legacy Rosewood include: Dalbergia Bariensis, Afzelia Xylocarpa, and Pterocarpus Macrocarpus.) While these species take much longer to mature, they will ensure that the species are not driven to extinction and at the very least provide seeds for further planting in the future. While many factors affect grow rates, cultivated teak trees are often thinned and sold initially at 3 to 4 years, then again at age 7 or 8, leaving 600 to 800 trees per hectare. The third thinning/sale occurs in year 12, leaving 400 to 500 trees per hectare. Further thinning/sales take place every additional 5-7 years with progressively larger but tall-strait trees and farmers can to replant the lot between 25-50 years.

Teak nursery

A central tree nursery will be set up from which villages will be able to access tree seedlings. Community members will be taught how to plant the trees and take care of them so that the final product is both usable and marketable; they will also be educated on the value of preserving the forest and natural resources. Key households who are interested will be taken on exposure visits to see larger teak nursery’s and plantations in other provinces to learn methods and see the commercial value of this “crop”. Seedlings will be provided free of charge, however villagers must demonstrate that they have prepared their land, and have dug all the holes for the trees in advance. Other key tools and inputs will be subsidized based on the households own investment. Community members will arrange transport of the seedlings from the nursery to their land and will be obligated to carefully weed the plantation for the first 3 years, as well as maintain the plantation for the years after.

Prior to the completion of the project, the nursery will be transformed into a diverse variety tree nursery where nursery staff will grow other popular, high demand seedlings for profit including fruit trees. This will enable to nursery infrastructure built during the project (irrigation systems etc.) to continue to sustainably serve the community and provide continued employment for nursery staff. This will also continue to encourage villagers to plant useful trees, which will both positively impact the environment and increase food security.