Villagers from Kompong Thom province claim their livelihoods are being threatened by logging companies that continue to cut down resin trees used for generations by villages as a source of income.
Sar Sarin, 53, from Sandan district, Kompong Thom province, said he represents villagers from four communes in the district accusing the companies GAT, Colexim, Mieng Ly Heng and Pheapimex, of cutting more than 2,000 resin trees.
“Villagers lose about 5,000 riel of income a day that we could have made with those trees and now those companies are targeting more than 7,000 new resin trees to cut,” Sar Sarin said. He said villagers have estimated the number of trees scheduled for felling by counting logging company markings identifying trees to be chopped down.
Henry Kong, chairman of the Cambodian Timber Industry Association, said if the logging companies have a cutting permit and the trees have been marked and approved by the Department of Forestry, then it is legal for them to be felled.
“It is the responsibility of forestry officials to consider what trees they allow the companies to cut,” he said.
Forestry Director Ty Sokhun said he was unaware of this specific case. He said the law allows trees larger than 1.2 meters in diameter to be cut because they are older and do not produce resin, but resin trees smaller than 1.2 meters cannot be cut. He added “company officials have to negotiate with villagers about the cutting of resin trees.”
Prak Rit, 38, from Tom Ring commune, said the loggers cut the largest trees first and then moved on to the smaller trees, adding “they even cut trees as small as 0.4 meters in diameter.”
An official from Pheapimex, who did not give his name, said “the government allows us to cut [trees] from 0.5 meters in diameter.”
“We cut [trees] from 0.6 meters in diameter…the forestry department marks the trees and we cut those they mark,” said a representative from Mieng Ly Heng, who also did not give his name.
GAT officials could not be reached for comment while an official from Colexim—who did not give his name—denied the allegations, saying that had not cut a single tree in the area.
Global Witness, the government’s independent forestry monitor, said three of the companies, GAT, Colexim, and Mieng Ly Heng, “have illegally cut resin trees in the past and according to recent reports, are preparing to cut again.”
Each family has ancestral trees that have been passed down for generations and are used for collecting resin, Sar Sarin said. Villagers make a small hole in the tree and then scoop out the resin, which is then sold and used as a binding glue. The process can be repeated many times and does not kill the tree, he said.
“I have 700 trees which were left to me by my great-grandparents. I make about 300 or 400 riel from a kilogram of resin, but now these companies are targeting our land,” Sar Sarin said.
Prak Rit said villagers became alarmed about the logging in 1997 when they saw the numbers of trees being felled close to their villages by the logging companies.
He said he wanted to meet with company representatives to tell them that his 350 resin trees have been passed down in his family for many years, but he was afraid he would be shot if he tried.
“The bosses all have bodyguards with guns and they won’t let me talk to their bosses,” Prak Rit said. “We addressed our concerns about the logging near our villages to the district office in 1997 but we were ignored.”
The villagers said they wrote a document detailing their concerns and submitted it to the National Assembly Tuesday. They also attempted to submit it the same day to King Norodom Sihanouk and to the Council of Ministers.
“The government should consider whether it is appropriate to have forest concession companies in this area…because of the disastrous impact that felling resin trees has on villagers’ livelihoods,” said Rosie Sharpe, a staffer at Global Witness.
(Additional reporting by Ryan George)
