Globalization Lays Siege to Forests and Communities:
Cambodia

Take Action to help Eva Galabru.

"What we are seeing is the rapid destruction of the Cambodian forests, and the destruction of the future for generations of people who are mainly subsistence farmers. If it is not stopped,Cambodia will face a human and ecological tragedy."
— Peter Leuprecht, Special Representative for the UN Secretary General

Cambodia is struggling to emerge from a history of financing conflicts through the destruction of its natural resources.

On the afternoon of December 5, 2002, Cambodian villagers gathered at the Department of Forestry and Wildlife to discuss possible changes in national forest-management policies. Concerned that these changes would threaten their sustainable use of the region's forests and their way of life, the villagers asked to speak with department officials.

Instead, they were attacked by government-deployed police who were armed with electric batons. Many demonstrators were hospitalized for injuries, and one village chief died that night.

Eva Galabru served as the director of an independent monitoring project run by U.K.-based Global Witness created to track illegal logging in Cambodia. She spoke out on behalf of the Cambodian demonstrators — in retaliation, the government announced it would take legal action against her.

Galabru explains "You have a population that depends on the forest for their livelihood and for the products they need to subsist...Deforestation leads to climatic changes, so it's essential for the region that Cambodia's forests remain."

State-controlled media broadcasts accused Galabru and Global Witness of inciting protests and fabricating claims of government violence during the December 5 incident. Although international pressure forced the Cambodian government to drop its lawsuit against Galabru, she, her family, and her colleagues continued to face harassment and persecution.

Since its inception, Galabru's monitoring project — set up as a condition of World Bank and other foreign aid to the government — was hampered by constant obstruction from uncooperative Cambodian officials. Despite an official ban on commercial logging instated in 2002, Galabru and her staff uncovered vast evidence of illegal logging in national parks and community forests.

A large percentage of furniture made from Cambodian wood ends up falsely marketed in Europe as sustainably harvested in Vietnam

She documented many cases where companies with ties to the Cambodian government were permitted to illegally log forests with impunity. Published reports based on her work exposed a web of widespread corruption linked to uncontrolled timber extraction.

In response, the government ransacked Galabru's office. She feared her family members would become the next targets of retribution. In May 2003, Galabru's project was terminated after Prime Minister Hun Sen declared it was damaging the government's reputation with foreign donors. After an international outcry, the government hired a new forest monitor. However, the government has restricted the new monitor's activities so severely, that any findings they report are likely to reflect the government's views.

This is a standard response from the Cambodian government whose human rights record, according to a State Department report, remains riddled with "serious problems." A desperately poor, war-scarred nation, Cambodia is struggling to emerge from a history of financing conflict through the destruction of its natural resources. Over the past decades, political and military leaders have amassed personal fortunes by exploiting hardwood timber from Cambodia's forests.

So far, these leaders have had little incentive to change. International donors who have provided funds to reform Cambodia's forest sector — including the World Bank — have consistently failed to enforce the conditions of their loans. In fact, at the time of this writing, the World Bank-funded forestry management project was preparing to approve plans for work in Cambodia by two companies with proven records for illegal logging: Colexim Enterprise and Everbright CIG Wood.

The commercial value of Cambodia's evergreens makes them enticing to officials in a position to plunder the forests for profit. Companies operate in collusion with government officials — illegally logging in protected areas and exporting semi-finished wood products to China, Taiwan and Japan. Firms in these countries finish and sell the illegally harvested wood locally, or in the international market.

According to Friends of the Earth (UK) and Global Witness, furniture made from Cambodian wood ends up falsely marketed in Europe as sustainably- harvested in Vietnam. American consumers also buy these wood products — imported from China and other Asian countries — and unwittingly subsidize Cambodia's illegal timber trade through their purchases.

At the current rate of logging, Cambodia's forests will disappear in 2005, depriving many rural communities of their only source of cash income — harvesting resin. Deforestation also threatens critical habitats for hundreds of plant and animal species, including the endangered Asian elephant.

In addition, the extensive destruction of Cambodian forests will continue to accelerate disastrous environmental changes. In 2002, massive floods — caused in part by deforestation — displaced hundreds of thousands of Cambodians from their homes at a cost of over $150 million.