The project will raise awareness on issues of land, forest, and mining concessions, and further strengthen the communities engagement dialogue with authorities, companies, and relevant stakeholders; As to enable communities in Cambodia to have a role in shaping the discourse on how their resources should be managed, with particular regard to their socio-economic needs. Similarly, the project will ensure to emphasize the pertinence of protecting the environment, in community led development.
Weak law enforcement institutions and a lack of clear mechanisms on economic land concessions have caused mass land disputes between companies and local communities. This led to violations of indigenous peoples traditional lands, forced evictions, land grabs (20 community forests destroyed, 39 threatened), and water pollution. Furthermore, 197 wood species are lost, 161 species of wildlife are under threat, and the destruction of habitats around and in Prey Lang forest persists.
The project provides communities with the tools to mitigate against the adverse effects of land disputes, and environmental degradation. This is done by, firstly making communities aware of the gravity of the issues facing them, and secondly providing a facilitation process, in which communities can negotiate these issues with the relevant stakeholders. The facilitation will strengthen the communities resilience and capacity to address future community concerns.
The project will establish a new understanding between local communities, companies, and government authorities, in allowing for disputes between the three stakeholders to be resolved in a timely manner. This is materialized through a facilitation process including 3775 families, a total of 20 villages, 6 communes, across 3 districts and provinces. At the end of this project, these beneficiaries will be able to negotiate in addressing their basic needs, whilst protecting their land.
