© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

I would like to clarify the government’s policy on deforestation to those who held a demonstration on June 5 outside the National Assembly for World Environment Day.

The deforestation that takes place in Cambodia today is well planned and takes into consideration the fine balance between economic development and the need for forest conservation.

We recognize the important role that our forests have to play in the country. Our natural forests are a precious natural resource for the nation. The forests play a major role in natural water conservation, particularly when regulating the seasonal rainfall. The forests play an important role in preventing soil erosion and acts as an important habitat for the rich biodiversity present in Cambodia.

Moreover, natural forest products contribute to enhancing the livelihoods of our people. The government has a concrete policy and strategy on the use of the forest that aims to balance conserving the country’s natural resources while also promoting economic growth.

Firstly, our population is increasing to more than 15 million people and our farmers need land to farm on. This is why our government has encouraged student volunteers to provide land titles to thousands of villagers living on deforested land so they can farm for rice.

Secondly, our economy should not only be based on garments when we have such tremendous potential for a robust agro industry. Cambodia has ample amounts of land suitable for rubber, palm oil, sugar and cassava. We have a policy of allocating economic land concessions (ELC) on deforested land only and, of course, work on the land can only go ahead once an environmental impact assessment is conducted. ELCs cover a total of 1.5 million hectares so far and we estimate that 80 percent of those ELCs are suitable for planting rubber.

In the next 5 years, new rubber plantations will create 1.2 million jobs. We hope to provide these farmers with land titles and clearly demarcate the boundaries of economic land concessions while at the same time ensuring that the remaining 9.2 million hectares of forest cover is conserved.

Lastly, Cambodia plans to start selling carbon credits on 400,000 hectares of forestland in the Cardamom Mountains. Selling carbon credits will contribute to the conversation of our forest. The community who de­pends on the forest for their livelihoods will benefit from the income coming from the carbon credits.

Mok Mareth is the Cambodian Minister of Environment

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent demand that the government pass a law against the denial of Khmer Rouge crimes, piqued my interest here in France.

The law came after acting Cambodia National Rescue Party president Khem Sokha allegedly asserted that Tuol Sleng prison was in fact a Vietnamese invention.

However good our Prime Minister’s intentions, the consequences of such a law should be carefully considered.

Now, let it be clear as the son of a Khmer Rouge survivor, I can only express my deepest sympathy and compassion to everyone who endured atrocities and this article is by no means a defense of Mr. Sokha’s words.

As a French student on the other hand, I cannot help but draw a comparison with France’s abundant laws since 2000 prohibiting the denial of such things as slavery, the Armenian genocide, or the negative role of colonization etc.

In 2005, this stirred an important intellectual movement against the official writing of history. Historian Pierre Nora denounced the Armenian genocide-denial law as an attempt to attract Armenian voters living in France. No, French history does not belong to the French and we might learn something from that experience.

I am dubious about this law because it could prove detrimental to the already fragile state of free speech in Cambodia. The main problem with the law is the restriction or rather the penalization it implies.

While Khmer Rouge history is still open for debate—the ECCC is still judging the culprits and different groups trying to repress history even as the young generation starts to wonder about the past—it is crucial for historians to be able to determine the facts.

To each his own duty: the historian’s goal is to determine history according to his own analysis of the facts. History is in a state of constant debate, a relentless search for truth. What I am trying to say is that politics should not sully this already difficult task.

Politics are, by vulgar definition, about conflict of interests, and by intruding into the field of history, it undermines its legitimacy. History is important to Cambodia especially as we are still in the process of redefining our national identity after the communist era.

As I wrote before, I don’t question Mr. Hun Sen’s good intentions but it is one thing to condemn morally, quite another to punish legally. With the elections coming soon, the focus should be on more serious issues such as un­employment, poverty or forced evictions to name a few. To use Khmer Rouge history as a political maneuver not only hides the real issues, but is also discourteous to the victims. This usage of history sadly reminds us of a part of history we would rather forget.

Samir Pheng is a graduate student at Sciences Po Bordeaux in France.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.

© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.