Project Details


WSIS Prizes Contest 2021 Nominee

Prey Lang - It's our forest too


Description

Since 2007 PLCN has advocated against illegal logging and large-scale, government-sanctioned land grabbing on their ancestral lands. Together with their partners, PLCN has developed an app for smartphones (known as the Prey Lang app), making it easy for local patrols to geo-reference, document, and upload information about forest resources and illegal activities. The data is used to document the importance of the forest to local livelihoods, international biodiversity conservation, and to report illegal activities to the authorities. PLCN is at the core of the partnership and the partners are supporting the network in achieving its goals. The core of PLCN’s work is to; i) patrol the forest and document forest crimes and; ii) advocate for the long-term protection of Prey Lang as a continuous landscape and the recognition of local communities as co-managers.
Achievements: Regional and local patrols have been conducted with the participation of hundreds of community members. Illegally felled timber has been burned. Chainsaws and other logging equipment have been confiscated, and reports filed. Patrols are conducted based on principles in the Forestry Law and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. PLCN’s advocacy led to Cambodia’s government drafting a sub-decree to gazette Prey Lang as a Protected Forest. PLCN has organized consultations from village to national level to inform the process. PLCN has communicated the importance of environmental protection effectively at the national and international level empowered by the use of smartphones. Since the initiation of the partnership in 2014, eight Monitoring Reports on the Status of Prey Lang have been published. PLCN has used the reports as an advocacy tool for pressuring the government to take action against forest crimes. The reports have received extensive national and international media coverage, resulting in increased awareness of the widespread deforestation in Prey Lang.

Project website

https://www.facebook.com/PreyLang/


Action lines related to this project
  • AL C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
  • AL C2. Information and communication infrastructure
  • AL C3. Access to information and knowledge
  • AL C4. Capacity building
  • AL C5. Building confidence and security in use of ICTs
  • AL C6. Enabling environment
  • AL C7. E-environment 2021
  • AL C7. E-science
  • AL C8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
  • AL C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
Sustainable development goals related to this project
  • Goal 1: No poverty
  • Goal 2: Zero hunger
  • Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
  • Goal 13: Climate action
  • Goal 15: Life on land
  • Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals

Coverage
  • Prey Lang forest (4 provinces: Kratie, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng), Cambodia

Status

Ongoing

Start date

2014

End date

Not set


Target beneficiary group(s)
  • Indigenous and nomadic peoples
  • The poor
  • Remote and rural communities

Replicability

The initiative has attracted substantial interest from various local and international actors engaged in Prey Lang and other forest areas. The main reasons for this have been the unique composition of project partners and the use of ICT in community-based monitoring. With a focus on smartphones, evidence-based forest monitoring, peacebuilding, and advocacy, the initiative has provided information and communication technologies (ICT) along with the capacity building to voice the natural resource issues faced by the Prey Lang communities at both national and international levels.
The application for smartphones developed by Web Essentials, in close consultation with the project partners and based on the needs of local communities in Prey Lang, is regarded as having huge potential in similar contexts in Cambodia and other places that face a violation of their natural resources, forest loss, and land conflicts. Groups in the Congo Basin and Latin America have expressed interest in the technology. Project holders have come in agreement with three more forest network communities in Cambodia to use the smartphone app and a similar approach to advocate for forest protection. The app is ready to be replicated in other places. There are a number of interested parties who are eager to start as soon as funding is secured. Unfortunately, obtaining funding for this kind of initiative continues to be challenging.
With the aim of scaling up this initiative, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is looking for ways to better integrate and utilize local indigenous knowledge as demonstrated by PLCN. Additionally, the network has been contacted by many organizations working on similar solutions, such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) Sourcebook on local monitoring, and the Rainforest Connection.


Sustainability

PLCN is self-sustainable in many ways, as the work is done by self-organized volunteers. However, the challenges are massive
and local communities do need support to tackle economic interests and power plays like the ones involved in this area. PLCN focuses on mobilizing communities in the Prey Lang area, building social and organizational capacities. Whilst all PLCN members are volunteers, there are expenses for larger patrols, local transport to meetings, strategic support, and to make local voices heard at the national and international levels. Small grants are necessary to continue the work of PLCN and to make the work more sustainable.
PLCN partners seek to train PLCN members to be able to continue tasks with as little outside support as possible. However, as a globalized world infringes on the Prey Lang forest, the local communities will need science and knowledge from the outside world to deal with the challenges. PLCN aims to attract relevant and skillful collaborating organizations and build its own necessary strategic alliances to secure a place for Prey Lang and its people in modern Cambodia.


WSIS values promotion

PLCN advocates for the freedom of forest-dependent community members to access their ancestral land. Since early 2020, PLCN members have been barred from entering the Prey Lang forest. PLCN values equality. A core characteristic of PLCN is its commitment to equality. PLCN does not have a leader as it practices collective leadership. All members have a voice and are involved in decision-making processes. PLCN promotes solidarity and shared responsibility. The survival of the Prey Lang forest is a shared responsibility of community members, government, and the general public. Solidarity between the different actors is important in order to save Prey Lang. Respect for nature is the driving force behind the motivation of PLCN, the partners, and the local communities. The voluntary nature of the participating communities in forest monitoring can safeguard the notion of shared responsibility towards a just society. A society where the values of freedom of choice, equality of all its members, tolerance, solidarity, and respect for diversity are the founding principles. Through example, PLCN promotes values of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, shared responsibility, and respect for nature. PLCN has become a role model for other forestry networks and community-based organizations in Cambodia due to its commitment to these values.


Entity name

Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN)

Entity country—type

Cambodia Civil Society

Entity website

https://preylang.net/

Partners

Danmission - Senior Advisor Ernst Jurgensen: erj@danmission.dk, Copenhagen University - Pr. Ida Theilade: idat@ku.ifro.dk, Web Essentials - Co-CEO Amy Hunt: amy@web-essentials.co, Peace Bridges Organization - Ex. Director Som Chanmony: pbedmony@gmail.com, Cambodian Youth Network – President Vann Ul: president@cyncambodia.org