Review of Community Forestry and Community Fisheries in Cambodia: Report prepared for the Natural Resource Management and Livelihoods Programme

Background This study was commissioned by the Multi-Donor Livelihoods Facility (MDLF) of the Natural Resource Management and Livelihoods Programme (NRMLP) to review the progress achieved to date with regard to the implementation of community forestry and community fisheries and to assess the degree to which they are contributing to increased security of rights over natural resources, sustainable livelihoods (especially for the poor) and improved natural resources management. Essentially, the study has the following four key objectives: • to identify the degree to which community forestry (CF) and community fisheries (CFi) initiatives are delivering impacts at the community or group level (particularly with regard to economic, social and governance benefits) • to identify the degree to which these benefits are being equitably shared within participating communities and groups • to identify key obstacles and constraints to achieving greater impact within CF and CFi (in terms of poverty reduction, sustainable natural resource management and improved local governance) • to generate recommendations on how these constraints might practically be overcome – and based on this, how NRMLP might address them in its subsequent phase The team visited 7 CFi sites in 5 provinces and 6 CF sites in 3 provinces and had meetings with executive committee members, group members, women, commune councillors and poor members / non-members.