Abstract
A substantial number of studies have shown that community-based approaches are more effective for conservation and natural resource management, since they promote selforganised governance in which the rules are devised and modified by the resource users and mutual monitoring is enforced. On the other hand, challenges of community-based conservation such as the lack of human and financial resources in local communities are expected to be tackled by ecotourism that was originally designed for financial benefits, conservation, local communities, and environmental education. Based on these theories, this study focuses on a case of forest conservation in Cambodia, in which people rely heavily on forest resources, to clarify the current situation and underlying issues for policy development of community-based conservation in the country. Results show that ecotourism has contributed to community-based conservation as the assumption, and positive outcomes for conservation were ascertained. Furthermore, it is also suggested that social capital was strengthened through communitybased approaches, which is expected to promote the self-organised system. In this case, a combination of community-based approaches seems to complement mutually existing challenges.
