VZCZCXRO4229
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHPF #0160/01 0301055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301055Z JAN 07 ZDK CTG NUM SVCS
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7937
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000160 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, OES/OMC--DAVID HOGAN AND CLAY 
STANGER, OES/PCI--AARON SALZBERG, LYNETTE POULTON, ANN 
STEWART, AND OES/ETC--ANTOINETTE CONDO 
BANGKOK FOR ESTH--JIM WALLER, CON--REBECCA KINYON, 
USAID/RDMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PGOV CB
SUBJECT: SAVING CAMBODIA'S FRESHWATER DOLPHINS:  NGOS AND 
GOVERNMENT UNITED IN COMMITMENT, SEPARATED BY APPROACH 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000160  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.   (SBU) SUMMARY.  A 120-mile stretch of the Mekong River 
in northern Cambodia is home to the world's largest group of 
Irrawaddy dolphins, a critically endangered freshwater 
species.  The dolphins, which are a significant tourist draw 
in a little-visited corner of the country, have been dying in 
high numbers in recent years and could be extinct within a 
decade.  The National Dolphin Commission, a group created in 
February 2006 by Prime Minister Hun Sen, is making a serious 
effort to protect the species, including instituting a ban on 
environmentally damaging fishing nets.  However, NGOs 
criticize the commission's heavy-handedness, emphasis on 
enforcement rather than profit-sharing and alternative 
livelihood development, environmentally harmful tourism 
development plans, and vulnerability to corruption.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Cambodia Home to Rare Dolphins 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) While the Irrawaddy dolphin is found in small numbers 
in Burma, Indonesia, and Thailand,  the population of 80-100 
individuals in Cambodia's Mekong River is the world's largest 
surviving group.  The dolphins, which are classified as 
critically endangered, are concentrated in a series of deep 
pools in the river between the town of Kratie and the Lao 
border.  As recently as the 1970s there were an estimated 
2,000 to 5,000 dolphins in Cambodia's Mekong.  However, the 
dolphins declined quickly during Cambodia's upheaval as the 
Khmer Rouge slaughtered dolphins to harvest oil and 
Vietnamese troops reportedly used the dolphins for target 
practice.  In addition to the dolphins, Cambodia's Mekong is 
home to other endangered species, including freshwater 
crocodiles, the giant Mekong barb, the giant Mekong catfish, 
and the seven line barb, which would likely benefit from 
sound conservation efforts. 
 
Mysterious Deaths Threaten Endangered Species 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) In the past few years, mortality rates for the 
dolphins have risen dramatically, to at least 16-20% since 
2003, far above the 1-2% rate scientists suggest is 
consistent with species survival.  Initially, the majority of 
the deaths were among adults, and illegal fishing practices, 
such as such as electric shock, poison, explosives 
(especially grenades), and the use of mosquito nets or 
gillnets (fishing nets hundreds of meters long which are 
stretched across the river and left in place for weeks or 
months at a time),  were singled out as the culprit.  For the 
past three years, however, the number of dying infants has 
eclipsed the number of dying adults.  Dr. Verne Dove, an 
Australian veterinarian working with the Cambodia Mekong 
Dolphin Conservation Project, estimates that just a few 
babies have survived in each of the preceding years--a 
situation that could easily be setting the scene for 
localized or worldwide extinction within a decade.  However, 
the cause of death of these infants is unclear.  Red lesions 
on the necks of many dead calves suggest that a disease may 
be to blame.  Laboratory tests have ruled out mercury 
poisoning from local gold mines, but results of histological 
and organic pollutant analysis are pending. 
 
Government Emphasizes Enforcement, Tourism Development... 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Following the dramatic deaths of 14 
dolphins--including 12 calves--in January and February 2006, 
Prime Minister Hun Sen established the National Dolphin 
Commission and appointed Dr. Touch Seng Tana as its director. 
 Dr. Tana sees gillnets as the main culprit behind the deaths 
of adult and infant dolphins alike, and has charged 64 
recently hired river guards with enforcing a ban on their 
use.  Although the ban originally applied only to six core 
zones, which correspond roughly to the deep pools where the 
dolphins congregate, there is now confusion about whether the 
ban has been extended to cover a 120-mile-long area from 
Kampi to the Laos border.  While Dr. Tana explained that this 
"total ban" would only be enforced in some areas, it was 
clear from Poleconoff interviews with river guards and 
government officials that this had not been communicated to 
the field.  The total ban has provoked local fears about 
livelihoods with 90 people in two affected villages signing a 
petition in protest. 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000160  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The second part of the government's plan for 
dealing with the dolphins is to aggressively promote dolphin 
tourism.  In 2006, approximately 7,000 foreign and 35,000 
Cambodian tourists came to visit the dolphins at the most 
popular viewing location, Kampi, located 15km north of the 
provincial capital, Kratie.  Tana hopes to create a major 
tourist park there, including an interpretive center, 
performances by trained dolphins (non-endangered species) in 
a tank, opportunities to feed and swim with the endangered 
dolphins in the Mekong River, 24-hour karaoke, and 400 hotel 
rooms.  Tana also proposes dredging the Mekong south of Kampi 
and building a river port to accommodate ships filled with 
Vietnamese tourists.  To make space for this tourist park, 
Tana has asked Kampi villagers--90% of whom make their living 
from fishing--to move from their riverfront homes to a 
proposed inland road ringing the tourist development site. 
He reports that while the villagers were very reluctant to 
move at first, after considerable pressure they have "almost 
agreed."  Dr. Tana told Poleconoff that he does not foresee 
any adverse environmental consequences from these plans. 
 
...But NGOs Raise Red Flags 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Staff at the two NGOs working most closely with the 
dolphins, the Cambodia Rural Development Team (CRDT) and 
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), are deeply skeptical of Dr. Tana's 
plans.  Adam Starr, CRDT Management Advisor, warned, "I fear 
the complete extinction of the Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin due 
to mismanagement, not because of the government but because 
of one man (Tana)."  Richard Zanre, WWF Dolphin Project 
Manager, described Tana as "dedicated and single-minded" in 
his pursuit to save the dolphins, but also very suspicious of 
foreigners and NGOs--a claim given credence by Tana's boast 
to Poleconoff that he had used "spyware" to bug the house of 
a Isabel Beasley, a now-departed Australian doctoral student 
researching the dolphins. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Starr and Zanre do not share Tana's conviction that 
gillnets are behind nearly all the dolphin deaths, and 
strongly support more research to determine the cause of the 
dramatic increase in infant deaths.  More critically, they 
oppose Tana's ambitious tourism scheme as environmentally 
disastrous and detrimental to the local communities.  In 
preparation for the development of the tourist park, NGOs 
operating in Kampi--including CRDT and WWF--were told to 
suspend their work there, ending not only community education 
efforts, but also alternative livelihood projects designed to 
reduce fishing in the over-fished Mekong. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) At the same time, proceeds from admissions to the 
Kampi viewing area, which were once split--40% to the 
community via the village development committee, 30% to the 
provincial fishery department, and 30% to the provincial 
tourism department--now go entirely to the National Dolphin 
Commission, eliminating a powerful financial incentive for 
villagers to protect the dolphins.  To add a total gillnet 
fishing ban to this mix, in an area where 90% of villagers 
make their living from fishing, is simply too harsh, they 
say.  Proposals to dredge portions of the river and allow 
tourists to feed or swim with little-studied rare dolphins 
could be environmentally disastrous.  Zanre and Starr are 
enthusiastic about an effort by the World Bank and the Dutch 
aid agency SNV to develop a sustainable ecotourism plan for 
northeast Cambodia, which would include the development of a 
"dolphin trail" where tourists could bike along the Mekong 
stopping at various viewing locations. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Corruption--an endemic problem in Cambodia--also 
concerns Starr and Zanre.  The river guard system is ripe for 
payoffs and bribes, they assert.  While many river guard 
units have excellent reputations, a few have developed 
reputations for corrupt behavior, including accepting bribes 
to ignore illegal behavior and using seized illegal fishing 
equipment for their own fishing in restricted areas. 
Moreover, they believe that the motive behind the proposed 
Kampi tourist park is unclear:  Is this really an attempt to 
build a facility that will contribute to local economic 
development, or is it an opportunity for sweetheart deals 
that will enrich the well-connected investors? 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000160  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The disagreements and significant distrust between 
NGOs and the National Dolphin Commission on dolphin 
conservation policy are unfortunate and hinder conservation 
efforts.  Nonetheless, the fact remains that both the 
government and the NGOs are taking the dolphin decline 
seriously and are moving quickly to address the issue.  While 
NGOs raise valid concerns about the lack of community 
participation in decisionmaking and profit-sharing and the 
potential for corruption, some of their hopes are unrealistic 
or out of step with the Cambodian context.  Expat NGO staff 
may prefer cycling tours and low-key tourism to 24-hour 
karaoke entertainment and trained dolphin shows, but for a 
site that draws many more Asian tourists than Western 
sightseers, the government's plans may be more appropriate. 
Concerned NGOs should focus their efforts on guiding the 
government away from the most damaging of their plans--such 
as river dredging and dolphin swims--and promoting 
transparency and community engagement in any land sales, but 
may need to accept that sweetheart deals on prime hotel real 
estate are a lamentable but nearly unavoidable part of the 
process in a country well-known for corruption. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Unfortunately, efforts to determine what is behind 
the mysterious deaths have been hampered by a number of 
factors.  Isabel Beasley, an Australian PhD student who spent 
many years researching the dolphins and cooperating with NGO 
conservation efforts, had a falling out with National Dolphin 
Commission Director Dr. Touch Seng Tana and left the country, 
taking all of her research with her.  She has so far been 
unwilling to share the preliminary results of her work, and 
Dr. Dove and others feel their only option for gleaning 
information from her work is to wait until she publishes 
academic articles or her dissertation.  The relative decline 
in deaths in the past few months has actually hampered 
research efforts as there are fewer dead dolphins for 
analysis.  Additionally, the lab space at CMDCP headquarters 
has limited equipment and specimens must be sent abroad for 
testing.  In a sign of the on-going tension between expat NGO 
teams and the National Dolphin Commission, Dr. Tana has 
challenged the legality of researchers shipping tissue or 
blood samples overseas for analysis, arguing that because 
they come from an endangered species, the researchers must 
apply for permission to export the samples. 
 
¶12. (U) As for the success of the government's gillnet ban 
and other conservation efforts, the next few weeks will be 
critical.  Dolphin mortalities, and particularly infant 
mortalities, have typically peaked from November to March. 
If the government is able to show a significant decrease in 
deaths during the first peak season since the National 
Dolphin Commission was created, their approach will gain 
credibility.  END COMMENT. 
MUSSOMELI