The Cardamom Conundrum: Reconciling Development and Conservation in the Kingdom of Cambodia TIMOTHY J. KILLEEN Singapore: NUS Press, 2012, xxviii+354p.

Abstract

The Cardamom Conundrum: Reconciling Development and Conservation in the Kingdom of TIMOTHY J. KILLEEN Singapore: NUS Press, 2012, xxviii+354p.Cambodia is facing two main issues in its struggle over after a long period of social unrest: and conservation. Between the 1990s and 2010, experienced rapid economic growth with an annual growth rate between 8-10 percent. However, this growth has taken place at the expense of natural resources exploitation and sustainability, an issue of deep concern. How can maintain this growth while conserving its natural resources? From a conservationist perspective, Timothy Killeen raises this question and addresses development and through his book The Cardamom Conundrum: Reconciling Development and Conservation in the Kingdom of Cambodia.In this book, Killeen discusses and conservation in Cambodia, focusing on the Greater Cardamom Region. The Cardamom Mountains has abundant natural resources, but its exploitation and utilization have reached alarming levels to the extent that Killeen describes them as a conundrum. The Cardamom Conundrum denotes the choice between economic and reduction versus the conservation of natural resources, particular forms of biodiversity, and native that characterize the landscapes of the Cardamom Mountains, if sustainable economic growth is the goal.The book has eight chapters and from chapters one through to eight, an overarching theme is that natural resources play an important role. However, if natural resources are not well con- served, they will have an impact on economic growth. Killeen introduces the which is about pursuing economic and reduction through the conservation of its natural resource, particularly biodiversity and native habitats (p. xxi). Killeen sees the green economy as a way of addressing this challenge through which could potentially pursue economic growth through conserving natural resources. As such, his argument stresses that the conservation of natural resources will benefit from carbon finance and this in itself will contribute to the economic of the country. The Cardamom Mountains could help achieve the status of a economy.In the first chapter, Killeen introduces three scenarios-the utilitarian scenario; utopian scenario; and business as usual scenario-to determine ways forward for Cambodia's development. The utilitarian scenario focuses on satisfying the needs of people in which natural resources are utilized to improve human welfare and reduction; the utopian scenario will promote the utilization of natural resources to create a diversified economy, while conserving natural resources; and the business as usual scenario will lead to increased deforestation that will benefit the few while leaving many in and degrade the environment.Chapter two presents an overview of the richness of natural resources of the Greater Carda- mom Region: forest covers 55 percent of the region (p.36); mangrove forest covers 85,000 ha along the coast (p. 53), and the Tonle Sap Lake and rivers flowing into it from the main aquatic ecosystem. In line with this, in chapter three, Killeen illustrates the importance of natural resources for the livelihood of 3.7 million people living in nine provinces (p.66). While a large number of families (28 percent) still live in (p.69), Killeen states that poverty is largely a rural phenomenon in Cambodia (p.68) which leads to misunderstandings over the facts of in Cambodia. On the other hand, Development Resources Institute (CDRI) illustrates that is a multi-dimensional phenomena. At the national level, Cambodia's legacy of conflict, repression, and isolation stands as a central explanation as to why the country has become one of the world's poor- est. …