Reform of Cambodia's 2017 Community Protected Area Guideline

28 June 2024 – ClientEarth has released “Reform of Cambodia’s 2017 Community Protected Area Guideline”. The document assesses the 2017 Prakas on Guideline on Procedure and Process of Community Protected Area Establishment (CPA Guideline) via the ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks (AGP), in the hope that such an assessment provides useful insights for the revision of the CPA Guideline as well as development of an anticipated separate sub-decree on community protected areas (CPAs).

This analysis is being launched against the backdrop of the 2023 Environment and Natural Resources Code (ENR Code) coming into effect legally at the end of June 2024. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) is nearing completion of revising the CPA Guideline, aiming to pass the revised CPA Guideline close to the time the ENR Code comes into force.

The ASEAN Guiding Principles for Effective Social Forestry Legal Frameworks  (AGP) are regional-level guiding principles for effective social forestry (SF) legal frameworks, with the goal of strengthening national social forestry laws, policies and regulations and their implementation in ASEAN Member States. Social forestry is a broad term that can encompass various forms of community forest management, including community protected areas.

The AGP can provide a basis for the development of laws and regulations, and may also be used to reflect on existing legal frameworks and to carry out an assessment of whether essential aspects of SF are already integrated or may require legal reform. This analysis seeks to inform civil society, policymakers, and other stakeholders working on or interested in community protected areas in Cambodia, and in addition stakeholders from the broader Southeast Asia region who are interested in seeing implementation of the AGP in a specific context.

This analysis sets out the 10 guiding principles and their associated sub-principles and offers an assessment and recommendations below each section.

Download your copy for more information.