Cambodia’s RECOFTC launches project to fund forest sustainability efforts

Phnom Penh/Cambodia – The environmental organization RECOFTC, Regional Community Forestry Training Center (Asia & the Pacific), launched a partnership project in the forestry and fisheries sector to ensure the sustainable management
of forests.

The project, entitled ‘Community Forestry Credit’, is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida).

It grants loans with interest to residents to use in agricultural activities such as purchasing fertilizers and feeding chickens and ducks without the need to mortgage their property, and about a quarter of those interests is allocated to support efforts to preserve community forests.

According to Kao Vutha, Provincial Community Forestry Partnership Coordinator, ROCOFTC raises forest credit to raise interest from borrowers as a capital for forest conservation.

When people borrow money from a community forestry credit, they are obliged to pay interest, so community forestry credit takes away one of fourth of that interest as capital for conservation work, he said.

Those four parts include conserving the community forest, raising capital, the salary of the Community Forestry Credit Committee, and administrative affairs.

Community forest conservation includes forest patrols, sign building, tree planting, building a road to prevent the forest from fire, and arranging community meetings.

People voiced happiness when their interest gives benefits to their community forest.

Meanwhile, Seang Vinh, Secretary of Forest Community, said that thirty-five percent of the interest rate is for community forest conservation to prevent perpetrators from deforestation.

“In patrolling the forest, the committee and the people work together. And the cost of patrolling is sometimes $2.5 for 1 person, sometimes $2.5 for 2 people sharing petroleum and buying food for patrols,he added.

RECOFTC, which operates in four provinces, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie, and Stung Treng, and is assisting 14 communities, looking forward to providing support to other 14 communities, targeting them with community forestry loans.