ABSTRACT
As Cambodia emerged from conflict in the 1990s, it became a model for post-conflict rehabilitation and the testing grounds of a new, neo-liberal post-Cold War order. The country’s rich forests came to symbolise these aspirations as donors pushed for reform based on sustainable forest management principles and a centralised model of capturing forest rents. Meanwhile, decentralised models of administration were also being piloted to facilitate the delivery of rural services. These agendas, however, were often contested and adapted to facilitate elite capture. This chapter examines the relationship between decentralisation reform and forestry reform in Cambodia through the development of community forestry. It argues that the donor–government relationship in the 1990s and early 2000s allowed for the political elites to decouple forestry reform from decentralisation reform and develop a legal framework for community forestry that further centralised control over forest resources.
