The World Bank said Wednesday that its work in Cambodias forestry sector has helped reduce deforestation, and rejected criticism that a proposal it has backed would encourage illegal logging, reports the Banks press review.
The proposal recommends that Cambodias government renew six companies logging rights for 25 more years, a move critics say would wipe out the Southeast Asian countrys remaining forests.
World Bank regional spokesman Peter Stephens said the banks efforts in Cambodia, including supporting changes in the forest concession system and encouraging community forestry initiatives, have helped reduce logging.
– This approach has seen the number of concessionaires reduced from 25 to the single digits and the concession area will be reduced from its original 6 million hectares to less than 2,4 million hectares, he said.
Under a 4,8 million US dollar project set up in 2000, the World Bank says it is trying to determine the best management system for Cambodias forests, including a reduction in rampant illegal logging.
Last week, London-based Global Witness said the six companies have been a “driving force behind illegal logging in Cambodia” with “persistent timber theft and tax evasion by the companies, in collusion with corrupt officials.”
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
