Cambodia Vows to Halt Illegal Logging

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

10/25/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

The Cambodian government has pledged to stop illegal logging and limit

log exports. This follows increasing concern over clearly unsustainable

logging, particularly along the Thailand-Cambodian border.

Interestingly, the stimulus for action to address the situation came

from the International Monetary Fund. Increasingly multi-national

lenders are coming to realize that a once over liquidation of tropical

forest resources does little to promote development, while actually

fostering long term poverty.

g.b.

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Cambodia vows to halt illegal logging

10/25/96

PHNOM PENH, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Top Cambodian officials have vowed to stop

illegal logging and address shortcomings in the government's often-

criticised forestry policy.

Government spokesman Sok An told reporters on Thursday the government

had drafted a statement on logging along the Thai-Cambodian border that

provides for "no export of new logs."

A Council of Ministers spokesman said the statement would be released on

Friday.

Sok An said that cabinet members had approved a forestry policy pushed

by international donors and a draft forestry law submitted by the

Ministry of Agriculture.

The announcements came after mounting donor dismay over a perceived

absence of government action on continued logging and a lack of

transparency in accounting for timber revenues.

Most recently, the International Monetary Fund threatened to halt

payment of $60 million in loans unless the government corrected its

timber policies by the end of the month.

Turning up the pressure, a World Bank official arrived in Phnom Penh on

Wednesday to discuss logging with the government.

"We share the concerns of the IMF," the official told Reuters.

The protests of international aid agencies carry some weight in

Cambodia, where about 40 percent of the national budget derives from

foreign aid.

The IMF, which provided a three-year, $120-million loan package to

Cambodia in 1994, had suspended instalment payments to Cambodia in May,

citing dissatisfaction with government accounting practices in the

logging area.

The Cambodia Daily reported this week that IMF Central Asia Director

Hubert Neis delivered a sharply worded ultimatum to the government over

logging on October 4, raising similar concerns.

Neis told Cambodia to account for logging revenues by October 31 or lose

its assistance package, the newspaper reported.

Michael Kuhn, assistant director of the IMF Central Asian Department, is

due to arrive in Cambodia on November 3 to discuss logging issues.

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