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9 - ForestryForestry 9The forestry sector is of great importance to the future of land and water resources in the LMB, aswell as to the social and economic development of the riparian countries. Forests are heavily exploitedin parts of the LMB, and this has important implications for the quality of land and water resources.Forestry activity takes place on two levels: commercial logging, and the gathering of wood andother forest products by individual smallholders. On the commercial level, forestry is of considerableeconomic value and forms an important component of GDP and export earnings for Lao PDR andCambodia. However, this industry faces problems related to illegal over-exploitation of resources.In terms of smallholder activity, exploitation of forest resources is a major source of livelihood forpeople who live in or around forests. It is estimated that 17 percent of the people living in the basindraw a significant proportion of their livelihood from forest resources, particularly in terms ofgathering food, non-timber forest products and fuelwood. 1Forest resource use is causing loss of forest cover, with MRC data suggesting an annual basin-widedeforestation rate of 0.53 percent between 1993 and 1997. Although the causes of deforestationcannot be directly determined from the data available, it appears that logging is a driving force behindforest degradation, and that degraded forest lands are often cleared and converted to agricultural use.Human activity in the forestry and agriculture sectors is thus reducing the stock of forest resources inthe LMB. While 0.53 percent per annum may not seem a large figure, this rate will have profoundimplications if it remains steady or accelerates in the longer term. If this rate of deforestation remainsconstant, the LMB will have only about 20 percent forest cover left in less than 100 years from now,as opposed to the more than 35 percent that it currently possesses. The environmental impacts ofdeforestation on such a scale are complex and uncertain,but could involve greater erosion and soil degradation, withincreased run off of silt and sediment into the river systemand a resulting decline in the quality of water resources.Logging in watersheds can have seriousconsequencesForestry management has become a highly controversialissue in the Lower Mekong Basin and adjacent areas.Controversies centre on three main issues. The firstconcerns the exploitation of forests and forest products,including non-timber forest products. Important questionsinclude: Who should be permitted to use forests? For whatpurposes should forests be used and at what rates? Asecond issue is prevention of the illegal exploitation offorests and their resources, including the illegal alienationof forest lands, illegal logging and illegal trade in wildlife.The environmental consequences of forest loss, the thirdimportant issue, includes potential impacts on hydrologicalprocesses, water quality and soil loss. It is not appropriateto discuss all these issues in this report but more detaileddiscussions may be found elsewhere in publications bythe Siam Society and Smith. 2185