Fish accounts for approximately 75% of Cambodia’s animal protein consumption and is especially important for the livelihoods of Cambodia’s rural poor. However, recent years have seen a decline in the productivity and diversity of Cambodian fisheries, probably due to fish harvests exceeding sustainable limits, widespread use of illegal and destructive fishing methods, and the destruction of floodplain habitat essential for fish reproduction.

Community fishery establishment is a mechanism that can improve management of local fisheries and ensure local food security. In North-eastern Cambodia, WWF is working with Fisheries Administration and local government to assist local communities develop such community fisheries.

This project aims to increase community understanding and recognition of the benefits and importance of sustainably managed fisheries through direct participation by local people in planning, managing, sustainably utilising and protecting fisheries resources.

By assisting communities in the Srepok River area to establish community fisheries and develop and implement an effective community fishery management plans, the standard of living of local communities can be improved through sustainable fishery resource use and equitable benefit sharing.

Rattans are climbing palms that are extensively used for making baskets and furniture. There are around 600 different species of rattan worldwide, many of which have restricted natural ranges. In Cambodia, 21 species have been identified so far. Rattan is an important commodity in international trade and generates a significant amount of foreign exchange. 

In Cambodia, rattan makes a crucial contribution to local livelihoods, and rattan canes are vitally important to farmers as they provide extra income in addition to normal agricultural activities. Forest encroachment and land conversion as well as over harvesting has put pressure on rattan resources, and rattan is now mainly located in protected area forests. Additionally, ineffective supply chains and unsafe production methods threaten the survival of rattan, its management and the future of the rattan industry. 

WWF’s rattan project works throughout the three Greater Mekong region countries of Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Cambodia to promote systems of sustainable rattan harvest and production. In Cambodia, the project has also initiated the foundation of the first Rattan Association of Cambodia.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are all forest product other than timber. This includes not only fruits and vegetables, honey or resin, and non-timber construction materials like bamboo, rattan, and certain grasses, but also fish and other wildlife. Many people in and around protected areas in Cambodia depend on the collection of NTFPs for their livelihoods. When external influences decrease crop productivity, local communities resort to forest products as emergency sources to supplement their income.

The Bunong indigenous group has been living in the forests of the Eastern Plains Landscape for many generations. The majority of the Bunong people still uphold a subsistence and forest–based livelihood. However, over the past ten years the Bunong’s culture and livelihood have been threatened by forest conversions caused by the increase of migration and agribusiness operations in the province.

To assist the Bunong communities in protecting their remaining forests, WWF selected two community forests - the Trapeang Khaerm CCF, located within Mondulkiri Protected Forest, and Khnheng CPA, located within Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, as the pilot areas to receive support.

The TRAFO project was created upon the recognition that natural forests will not provide the same level of income that could be achieved with other land uses. The objectives of the TRAFO project are to identify appropriate financing incentives through an ‘Incentive to Conserve’ assessment, to establish and build capacity in the management of community forests, and to develop sustainable NTFP (non-timber forest products) use and management processes.

One part of the TRAFO funding supports the 30 forest patrol team members whose dedication to protection takes them away from their normal activities. Another part will provide financial support to CCFMC and CPAC members to start up new enterprises, based on natural products, or to scale up their existing ones to allow them to move beyond a subsistence level and, hopefully, provide continued financial resources for the management of their community forests.

Ecotourism offers one of the most sustainable means of making substantial economic returns from investing in wildlife conservation. The Royal Government of Cambodia, along with WWF and other NGOs, is testing tourism development as a way to conserve wildlife and contribute to economic development in the Eastern Plains Landscape.

Since 2009, a small-scale community-based homestay experience is now operating within Mondulkiri Protected Forest. Guests can enjoy a hospitable stay in the village of Dei Ey, an ideal starting point for overnight forest tracks on foot. As part of this homestay, WWF has trained community members in topics like hospitality, cooking, and weaving. 

In addition, an African-style tented camp is planned to begin receiving visitors in the remote Srepok River area of Mondulkiri Protected Forest in 2011.

WWF-Cambodia hopes that Ecotourism can help to create additional opportunities to sustain community livelihoods in the landscape, to raise awareness among community members about the value of forest and wildlife, and to co-finance protected areas.