2015 Volume 61 Issue 3 Pages 24-34
Cambodian residents in rural areas often depend on forests for their livelihoods, particularly for collecting fuelwood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). However, many forests are being diminished because of timber extraction and conversion to agricultural lands. Our objective was to identify the characteristics, in terms of fuelwood and NTFP collecting, of households that were prone to be affected by deforestation and forest degradation within the last 5 years. We performed a comparative analysis of six sample villages across three districts in Kampong Thom Province. Using satellite image analysis and a household questionnaire, we found that households were affected differently depending on fuelwood availability around their villages. Households that were notably affected by deforestation and forest degradation were those that could not continue collecting NTFPs as one of their main livelihood activities because forest conversion occurred within a 10-km radius of their village and/or because of selective cutting of trees that provide NTFPs such as resin and fruit. These findings and assessment methods are useful for provincial land use planning and environmental and social assessments of the impact of large-scale development on rural residents.
