The biggest threat to the environment in Cambodia is logging. In the mid-1960s Cambodia was reckoned to have around 75% rainforest cov­erage. Estimates on coverage today vary, but it is likely that only about 30% of the forest remains. During the Vietnamese occupation, troops stripped away a lot of forest to prevent Khmer Rouge ambushes along highways, but the real devastation began in the 1990s when the wholesale shift from a command economy to a market economy led to an asset-stripping bonanza by the cash-strapped government. Most of Cambodia's primary resources beyond the national parks were signed away to logging companies during the first coalition government's rule, with the acquiescence of both prime ministers. Logging companies set about decimal- ing the forests while the politicians sat back and counted the cash.

International demand for timber is huge, and as neighbouring countries  like Thailand and Vietnam enforce much tougher logging regulations while at the same time helping to flout Cambodia's lax restrictions, it's little wonder that foreign logging companies flocked to Cambodia. By the height of the country's logging epidemic, at the end of 1997, just under 70,000 sq km of the country's land area had been allocated as concessions, amount­ing to almost all of Cambodia's forest except national parks and protected areas. However, even in these supposed havens, illegal logging continued.

The military has been the driving force behind much of the logging in Cambodia; it assists in logging legal concessions under the guise of pro­viding security, and then logs illegally elsewhere. The proceeds from these operations contribute towards the army's grey (undeclared) budget, with its nominal budget already taking up a huge chunk of the government's cash during peacetime. More recently the Thai military has turned up in Cambodia to build roads in the west of the country. Many of these roads are being cut through the heart of Cambodia's forests and no doubt many logs are disappearing across the border into Thailand, before resurfacing as garden furniture in Europe.

In the short term, deforestation is contributing to worsening floods along the Mekong, but the long-term implications of logging will be far more damaging. Without trees to cloak the hills, the rains will inevitably carry away large amounts of topsoil during future monsoons. There can be no doubt that in time this will have a serious effect on the Tonle Sap lake, as the shallow waters recede from prolonged siltation - a similar situation to that marking the fall of the Angkorian empire? Combined with overfishing and pollution, these problems may lead to the eventual destruction of the lake - an unmitigated disaster for future generations.

In the last couple of years things have been looking up, as there was no further to look down. Under pressure from donors and international institutions, all logging contracts were effectively frozen at the end of 2001, pending further negotiations with the government. Industrial-scale logging ceased and the huge trucks thundering up and down dirt high­ways crisscrossing the country disappeared. However, small-scale illegal logging continued across the country, including cutting for charcoal pro­duction and burning off for settlement, all of which continue to reduce Cambodia's forest cover. The next big threat may come from commercial plantations, or 'deforestation for development' as the companies involved are trying to pitch it, as many plantations are currently being established around the country.

Cambodia needs a sustainable forestry management plan that protects its natural environment while ensuring the country benefits economi­cally. It is not too late for Cambodia's forests, but without sustained action it soon will be.