Re-thinking benefits of community protected areas in Mondulkiri, Cambodia

• Community Protected Areas in Cambodia aim for livelihood and conservation outcomes. • A short-term evaluation highlights challenges of developing forest-based income. • Local perceptions signal broader benefits linked to governance and social relations. • Changing landscapes suggest a need to match future expectations with local realities. • Lessons should inform theories of change for community conservation programs. Balancing the needs of local people with biodiversity conservation is a universal challenge for protected area management. In Cambodia's forest landscapes, community-based forest management schemes are intended for rural communities to gain income in activities that support sustainable forest management in protected areas. Partnerships between communities, government, and non-government organizations to develop community-based forest management are still in their early stages, offering opportunities to learn from successes and challenges. In this paper, we report on the short-term results of a program led by WWF-Cambodia to support Community Protected Areas in Mondulkiri, Cambodia. Surveys were designed to capture changes in the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of members involved in community-based forest management. The surveys elicited local perceptions of benefits of involvement in forest enterprises and protection, and whether perceptions match the program's objective of conservation and income generation. The results of the short-term evaluation show that perceived benefits are linked to non-monetary attributes of the program, such as access to information and resources. There was no significant change in household income from forests over the two-year evaluation period. Overall, members perceived improvements in natural resource management, but expressed concerns over difficulties of managing forest enterprises. The short-term program evaluation suggests Community Protected Areas in Cambodia may have a positive impact on community governance but raises questions over realistic outcomes. Understanding local perceptions of the value of Community Protected Areas may help to better ground program objectives in local realities.