Chou Phanith
"Uncovering the Hidden Economic Value of Non-timber Forest Products from Poverty Alleviation Perspective: Evidence from Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri, Cambodia"
Cambodia has the largest areas of pristine tropical forests in mainland Southeast Asia, but the widespread destruction of Cambodia’s forests in recent decades have been seen very obvious. Valuation of Cambodia tropical forests has been traditionally based on a financial appraisal of its timber stock and forest conversion for plantation concessions. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs), which role in the national economy and in the daily life of million rural Cambodia people has mostly overlooked by country’s ruling elite. This study aims to answer three research questions as follows: What is the economic value of NTFPs? How can NTFPs contribute to reduce rural poverty? How can NTFPs contribute to reduce vulnerability to poverty? This study conducted fieldwork in September 2015, March and April 2016. Participatory rural appraisals (PRA) were conducted in four communities in Phnom Prich wildlife Sanctuary. Besides, structured interviews were conducted with 310 households, which were randomly selected from six communities. This study found that the economic values of some NTFPs always go beyond the conventional monetary value. NTFP may not go to be a panacea for poverty alleviation in large scale, but to some extent measurable households can be lifted from poverty or prevented them from slipping deeper into poverty due to four reasons such as contributing to household income, supplying home consumption, reducing the rural poverty rate, reducing the some vulnerability to poverty. The decline in NTFPs leads devastating impacts on the lives of rural families. Therefore, NTFP extraction is strongly encouraged for local communities to sustain their livelihoods. It regards as the sustainable development strategy that government and multi-stakeholders should pay attention.
