Tetsuya Michinaka, Motoe Miyamoto, Yasuhiro Yokota, Heng Sokh, Sethaphal Lao, Vuthy Ma
Clarifying factors affecting forest area changes is critical to
implementing REDD+ scheme properly. We analyzed some socio-economic
factors and clarified their relationships with deforestation in Cambodia
for the period of 2002 to 2010. A panel data analysis was conducted for
18 provinces, while six other provinces were deleted from the list
because only a small amount of their land was forested. Time effects,
cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation in idiosyncratic errors,
and heteroskedasticity were tested, and robust variance matrix
estimations were obtained to solve the problems of heteroskedasticity
and serial correlation. The model estimation results showed that
population, gross agricultural production and large-scale plantation
development have negative impacts on forest area changes. On the other
hand, the impacts of rice cultivation, gross industrial production,
household income and house floor area by household were found not to be
significant. Overall, however, the results indicated that forests in
Cambodia still face pressure from the increases in population,
agriculture production, and the enlargement of land development. As the
increase in productivity of agriculture gives a better use of current
agricultural land and lessens the pressure on forest, intensifying
agriculture is important. It is also important to develop industry and
other economic ventures to grow national economy while not imposing
pressure on forest. This research reminds decision makers to use
discretion when developing large-scale plantations.