専攻分野及び研究計画

Field of Study and Research Program Plan

Full name in your native language

（姓名（自国語）） (Family name/Surname) (First name) (Middle name)

Nationality: Cambodian
（国 籍）
，
Proposed study program in Japan (Describe the outline of your major field of study on this side and the concrete details of your study
program plan on the backside of this sheet. This section will be used as one of the most important references for selection. The statement
must be typewritten or written in block letters. Additional sheets of paper may be attached, if necessary.)
日本での研究計画；この研究計画は、選考及び大学配置の重要な参考となるので、表面に専攻分野の概要を，裏面に研究計画の詳
( 細を具体に記入すること。記入はタイプ又は楷書によるものとし、必要な場合は別紙を追加してもよい。 )
If you have Japanese language ability enough, write in Japanese.
（相当の日本語能力を有する者は、日本語により記入すること｡）

１ Present field of study（現在の専攻分野）

In 2010, I won JDS scholarship and graduated from Kyushu University in 2012 with a Master Degree of Science in the field of Forest Management.
Currently I am working as a researcher for Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI), Cambodia’s leading independent policy research
institute in Cambodia, in the field of natural resource and environment. I have conducted various policy-oriented researches in forest and rural
livelihood nexus. My master thesis was on “Effectiveness of Community Based Ecotourism in Forest Conservation and Livelihood Improvement,
a Case Study in Chambok Community Based Ecotourism in Cambodia”. My PhD’s research will add up my knowledge and knowhow in community
forestry to contribute to the sustainable forest management in Cambodia.

２ Your research theme after arrival in Japan: Clearly explain the research you wish to carry out in Japan.
（渡日後の研究テーマ：日本においてどういった研究がしたいかを明確に記入すること）

Research Theme: Assessment of Socio-Economic and Forest Condition of Community Forestry in Cambodia

The reasons for selecting the topic is because The Royal Government of Cambodia has tried to conserve the forest by setting its target to keepforest
cover60 percent of the total land by 2015. One of the attempts is to apply decentralized forest management system to the community, which is so
called Community Forestry aiming to achieve both conservation the forest and improvement of the wellbeing of community members. However,
forest resource is still declining from 73 percent in 1960 to 57.59 percent in 2010and the poverty is still persistent. The trend of forest cover decline
is continuing and poverty is still a constraint.

If considering Community Forestry in a project cycle i.e. planning, action, checking, and revision, there have been a lot of implementation activities
in planning and some activities in taking action phase in Community Forestry (e.g. establishing 453 community forestry in 19 provinces) but very
few activities in checking and revision phases (checking what has worked and what has not worked and what should be revised to improve the
situation). Therefore, a research on socio-economic and forest condition of Community Forestry after its establishment since 1990s aims to figure
out what has and has not worked in the Community Forestry i.e. to check and revise to find solutions for achieving both socio-economic and forest
condition of Community Forestry.

３ Research program plan in Japan: (Describe this in detail and concretely—particularly about the ultimate goal of your research in Japan)
（研究計画：詳細かつ具体に記入し、特に研究の最終目標について具体的に記入すること。）

Assessment of Socio-Economic and Forest Condition of Community Forestry in Cambodia

I. Introduction

Forest is a very important source of resources not only for supporting rural Cambodian livelihoods but also for regulating the climate (Pichdara, L.
et al2012& Ra, K. et al 2011). The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) realizes the importance of conserving natural resources for sustainable
socio-economic growth. It is clearly stipulated in Rectangular Strategy Phase III, Rectangle I: Promotion of Agriculture Sector, Side 4: Sustainable
Management of National Resources. To achieve this objective, the Royal Government has made a noticeable progress: in forestry sector, more than
3 million hectare of land was allocated under Protected Areas, 2,020 Km of the protected area boundary was demarcated along with the
establishment of 453 forest communities in 19 provinces covering 399,880 hectare of forests (RGC 2013). Even though there have been a lot of
efforts, Cambodia’s forest cover has declined from 73 percent in 1960 to 57.59 percent in 2010, with the annual deforestation rate of 0.5 percent
due to remaining challenges such as weak institutions, law enforcement and governance of the natural resource management system, insufficient
legal and regulatory framework; and the requirement for strengthening coordination between related institutions and stakeholders, effectiveness of
necessary reform programs as well as management of the impact of climate and ecosystem changes (RGC 2013 & FA 2011). Therefore, the target
of keeping 60 percent of forest covers by 2015 set by the Cambodia Millennium Development Goal No 7 will not be met. In order to meet the
target, half a million hectares of non-forest land needs to be converted into tree plantation and Protected Areas; and Community Forestry needs to
be strengthened for their sustainability (FA 2011).
So far, Community Forestry has been introduced to Cambodia since 1990s to improve the forest condition and socio-economic development (Ty
S. 2013). A recent study on Community Forestry in Cambodia indicated that Community Forestry offers an effective means of conserving the forest
resources compared to its adjoining areas and in protected areas. However, over the past two decades of Community Forestry implementation, the
deforestation and poverty still persist in Cambodia, particularly in Community Forestry. Most of the Community Forestry are young and still
recovering and they have not yet prepared their resource management plans, which are requisites before they can proceed to commercial forest
harvest in the Community Forestry. The households’ incomes are expected to increase when commercial logging operates in the Community
Forestry.

What makes Community Forestry successful has been discussed in a wide range of literature reviews. Based on the literature, success or failures of
Community Forestry is likely case specific, relying on the ecological, social, and economic context of the local community (Pagdee A. et al. 2006).
The three factors discussed most frequently as necessary factors and significant association for successful Community Forestry were well-defined
property rights, effective institutional arrangements, and community interests and incentives; the three factors illustrate a human-ecosystem
relationship and a set of rules and underlying human organizational skills that coordinate human behavior in its interaction with forest resources
(Pagdee A. et al. 2006). Likewise, without these three factors, better forest resources and decent socio-economic condition of Community Forestry
in Cambodia could not be achieved. With weak institutions and governance, there have been widespread land conflicts across the country and no
exception to some Community Forestry’s areas in Cambodia. One of the strategies for strengthening sustainability of Community Forestry in
Cambodia, first and foremost, is to have an urgent need to study on socio-economic and forest condition of Community Forestry in Cambodia since
its establishment in 1990s until the present time to find out what has worked and what has not worked in such community based forest management
system. Through this research project, we hope to be able to make constructive recommendations for the improvement of Community Forestry in
Cambodia.

Figure 1: Locations of Community Forestry in Cambodia

II. Research objectives

The research has two main objectives:

1. To assess the impacts of Community Forestry on socio-economic development of the community

2. To assess the forest condition of Community Forestry after the establishment (1990s) until the present time (2014)

Research Questions:

1. Have there been any changes of socio-economic status of Community Forestry members since 1990s?
2. Have there been any changes of forest condition of Community Forestry since its establishment?
3. How to improve the Community Forestry system for sustainable forest management in Cambodia?

This research can be done in Japan because all the required primary data are available with the researcher and Japan is very good at forest
management with a lot of experiences in the field that the researcher can build up more capacity from.

III. Usage, application, contribution of research in society development

 The research will contribute to efforts in the sustainable forest management in Cambodia.
 The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) realizes the importance of conserving natural resources for sustainable socio-economic growth.
It is clearly stipulated in Rectangular Strategy Phase III, Rectangle I: Promotion of Agriculture Sector, Side 4: Sustainable Management of
National Resources. The focus is on intensifying crop production to increase yields and rural incomes, diversification of crops, improving
fisheries management, sustainable management of forestry through reforms, environment conservation and carrying out of land reforms,
particularly to ensure land tenure to the poor. Thus, applying for this scholarship majoring in Agriculture - Forest Management and conducting
this research is a good opportunity for me as a Cambodian person to help contribute to my home country to achieve its plan. This research will
basically help Forestry Administration of the Royal Government of Cambodia to more effectively assist the Community Forestry to achieve
both good socio-economic developments in the community and good forest condition, which is vital for sustainable growth. This also builds a
good relationship between Cambodia and Japan in the forest management and agriculture in general because Japan has helped Cambodia for
more than a decade in the field to reduce poverty of Cambodia’s population.
  Challenges due to inefficient natural resource management and law enforcement as well as inequitable and unsustainable exploitation of forest
resources will push rural people into poverty. Then, analytical researches to explore root causes of those problems are crucial for building a
highly competent researcher in this field. After conducting this research in Japan, I will be able to more accurately value and assess forest
resources, its services, socio-economic condition of local community who are the members of the Community Forestry, and I will know how
to control, utilize, conserve, maintain and increase those forest resources and services in a sustainable manner.
 Upon completion of my PhD study in Japan, I intend to resume my employment at Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) or work
for Forestry Administration (FA) of Cambodia. At Cambodia Development Resource Institute or Forestry Administration, I am going to apply
the knowledge and skills gained from conducting researches in Japan by conducting policy-oriented research, basically focusing on forestry
and environmental problems at grassroots level of Cambodia, investigating and finding solutions, which will importantly support community
forestry access to and sustainable management of forest product improvement as well as natural resource balance, which I believe is one of the
important contributions to help eliminate poverty and promote people's livelihoods in Cambodia.
 I also would like to pass down my knowledge to younger generation, including students, my colleagues and people in community in order to
help develop human resource in Cambodia.

IV. Research Method and timeline

The research will select 4 Community Forestry in Cambodia in the four major ecological zones: lowland, mountainous, coastal, and plateau
zones. The research will focus on 2 main aspects of both socio-economic and forest condition of Community Forestry.

Socio-economic condition: The proposed research will take a quantitative approach. The study will use data from the Cambodia’s census 1998
and 2008, as well as Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey (CSES) for various years, from1999 until the most recent, to quantify and assess the
socio-economic changes of Community Forestry’s members. This household-level dataset, which comprises a wide range of variables
(demographic characteristic, housing condition, agriculture, education, labor force, health, household income and consumption), will provide a
great opportunity to employ various economic models to answer the research questions. Researchers at Cambodia Development Resource
Institute where I am working for can use these datasets in their research studies for free. They are also available for purchase from Cambodia’s
National Institute of Statistics.

Forest condition: The research is to do survey of forest condition in Community Forestry with the free and available data on:
1. Time series of satellite images (Landsat TM) to evaluate changes in forest cover: this is free of charge and they can be downloaded
from Web freely.
2. Time series of forest cover maps in whole country: GIS data of forest cover in whole Cambodia until 2010 are available.
3. Geographic Information System (GIS) data of Community Forestry boundary: GIS data of Community Forestry boundary in whole
Cambodia are available.
Forest resource condition changes will be compared using all the above available data.

The timeline for the research plan is as the following:

Timeline
Activities 2015 2016 2017 2018 Outputs

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

Objective 1: To assess the impacts of Community Forestry on socio-economic development of the community
Synthesis of
1.1. Literature reviews on Community Forestry and relevant literatures
socio-economic and forest condition of Community on Community
Forestry members in Cambodia Forestry
Clear research
1.2. Research design and research conceptualization design framework
1.3. Secondary data collection: all available data of
Cambodia’s census 1998 and 2008, and Cambodia
Socioeconomic Survey (CSES) for various years,
from1999 until the present year, which are
accessible. The variables include demographic
characteristic, housing condition, agriculture,
education, labor force, health, household income and
consumption All secondary data
collected and ready
Objective 2: To assess the forest condition of Community Forestry after the establishment (1990s) until the present time (2014) for analysis
2.1. Time series of satellite images (Landsat TM) to
evaluate changes in forest cover: this is free of
charge and they can be downloaded from Web freely
2.2. Secondary data collection on time series of
forest cover maps in whole country: GIS data of
forest cover in whole Cambodia until 2010 are
available
2.3. Geographic Information System (GIS) data of
Community Forestry boundary: GIS data of
Community Forestry boundary in whole Cambodia
are available
Tabulated data and
graphs of socio-
3. Data analysis using Arc GIS 10 and Excel, economic and forest
Access, R program, and stata condition
Research result
4. Writing the research results report
Presentations,
posters, policy brief
for national and
5. Research result dissemination: sharing research international
results in national and international conferences conference
Two papers
5. Publishing two papers in the international journal published
PhD Thesis
6. PhD Thesis writing and defend published

V. Conclusion and further research

Overall, the results of this research will provide a clear illustration and assessment on socio-economic and forest condition in community forestry
for policy makers to see what has worked and what has not worked and ultimately what needs to be done to improve Community Forestry in
Cambodia for a sustainable forest management and pro-poor community. Further research should be focused on forest resource management plan
for Community Forestry which are requisites before they can proceed to commercial forest harvest in the Community Forestry. The households’
incomes are expected to increase when commercial logging operates in the Community Forestry.

Reference

FA, Forestry Administration (2011) “Forest Cover Assessment 2010”, Forestry Administration, Cambodia
Pagdee Adcharaporn, Kim Yeon-Su, Daugherity P. J. (2006) “What Makes Community Forest Management Successful: A Meta-Study From
Community Forests Throughout the World”, Society and Natural Resources, 19:33–52
Pichdara, L., M. Nobuya, K. Tsuyoshi and Y. Shigejiro (2012), “Effectiveness of Community-Based Ecotourism in Forest Conservation and
Livelihood Improvement: A Case Study in Chambok Community-Based Ecotourism, Cambodia”, Master’s Thesis, Kyushu University,
Fukuoka, Japan

Ra, K., Pichdara, L., Dararath, Y., Jiao, X. and Smith-Hall, C. (2011) “Towards Understanding Household- Level Forest Reliance in Cambodia –
Study Sites, Methods, and Preliminary Findings” Forest & Landscape Working Papers no. 60-2011 Forest & Landscape Denmark.
RGC, Royal Government of Cambodia (2013) “Rectangular Strategy” for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency Phase III”
Ty Sokun (2013) “Evaluation of Community Forestry in Cambodia”, Forestry Administration, Presentation Power Point in Asia Forest Workshop
2013