Cambodia: Mekong Regional Conference
on Tree Plantations
“During our time
together, we heard directly from local community representatives
from twelve provinces in Cambodia and also from other countries
in the region about how their lives, livelihoods and environments
are affected by large plantations in their respective areas.”
The above is part
of the final declaration –the “Statement of Unity”- resulting
from the Mekong Regional Conference on Tree Plantations held in
Kratie, Cambodia on November 21-22, 2006. The meeting, organized
jointly by the NGO Forum on Cambodia, Oxfam Great Britain (Cambodia),
Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA) and
World Rainforest Movement, brought together people from the five
countries of the Mekong region: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam
and China, as well as representatives from other countries. The
meeting enabled participants to share experiences and lessons
learned on the issue of industrial tree plantations and their
impacts on local peoples' livelihoods. Additionally, they also
shared ideas and suggestions to resolve the problems arising from
tree plantations.
The reason for organizing
this meeting stems from the growing concern over government plans
for the expansion of monoculture tree plantations in the Mekong
region, including eucalyptus, pines, oil palm and rubber trees.
Sharing experiences,
participants learned about the importance of forests, lands and
other natural resources for the livelihoods and cultures of communities
who depend on them for food, medicinal plants, income and spiritual
security. They coincided that “plantations are not forests”
and that “when forests are replaced by plantations, the livelihoods
of numerous communities who live in and around these forests and
protect and nurture them are lost.” As a result, “plantations
impoverish communities and their environments.”
Contrary to government
claims that plantations contribute to national economic development
and poverty alleviation, the conference participants stressed
that “plantations have increased poverty by displacing entire
communities, destroying crucial livelihood resources and preventing
the access of communities to natural resources.”
Even worse, the shared
experience showed that “in many cases, plantations have come into
communities with a certain level of violence; in some cases the
violence has been open and obvious as in killings and imprisonments;
in other cases, communities are subjected to intimidation and
threats in order to frighten people so that they do not take action.”
But even without open intimidation, participants stressed that
“the very act of taking land away from villagers is an act of
violence.”
Within the context
of current government plans for the promotion of large scale tree
plantations, conference participants agreed that experience showed
that “in all cases the only way to create change has been through
peoples' struggles”, emphasising that “struggle does not mean
violence; it means the different ways that local people adopt
to secure and defend their rights.” They also stressed that “using
the law is very important, but laws alone do not guarantee that
peoples' rights are protected” and that “the most effective strategies
for peoples' struggles come from the affected communities themselves,
not from NGOs and other outside groups,” adding that “by
working together with other communities and finding common positions,
people can strengthen their cause.”
The most important
result of the meeting was the shared commitment to continue working
together against the expansion of monoculture tree plantations
and a strengthened resolve for moving forward in the region’s
struggles. Participants recognised “the importance and value of
regional exchanges such as this” and supported “the creation of
further exchanges between people's organisations in the region
to continue our learning and develop our strategies,” committing
themselves to share the conference’s “findings and principles
with all our movements, networks and governments.”
See the full text
of the “Statement of Unity” at
http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Cambodia/Statement_Unity.html
