Land dynamics in rural Cambodia from accessibility via suitability to social land concessions
Mund, Jan-Peter
The paper presents the application of a land resources assessment (LRA) method for a social land concessions program to assess biophysical resources their condition, trends and capability for use in rural Cambodia. The applied landscape-ecological method takes account of topography, climate, soils, geology, biological diversity, wildlife, forest, land use, and hydrology. Results are systematic arrangements of land into various predefined categories according to their capability for particular land uses and the adapted treatment required to sustain those uses without land degradation. LRA is required to serve the long-term needs of economic and environmental development, planning, land allocation and environmental impact assessment as well as land management and monitoring of land related to development projects. Social concession land for suitable and sustainable agricultural purposes will be provided to landless and poor households in Cambodia according the new and law promulgated in 2001. Major constrains for an agricultural production on those kind of land are limited commercial inputs and operation of low level technology. These circumstances imply that unfavorable land or soil qualities are difficult to modify by current farming operations. Qualities to be considered for a suitability rating are e.g. soil fertility, water retention capacity, soil depth, slope and susceptibility to erosion.
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