Almost three in four persons belong to seven indigenous hill tribes (Preuw, Kachok, Kavet, Lun, Jarai, Kreung and Tampuen), while the remaining population includes Khmer, Lao, Chinese, and Vietnamese groups.2

In Ratanakiri, the Se San River journeys through four of its nine districts: O Yadao, Andong Meas, Ta Veng, and Voeg Say. Along this lowland river, about 20,000 people have settled in, relying on rice and vegetable farming, fishing and forest-based subsistence for their livelihoods.


The province includes four main agro-ecological zones:

• Mountainous Region - Elevation of 1,000m on the divide between Se San and Sre Pok Watersheds
• Central Plateau - Elevation from 500m near Banlung to 200m near the Vietnamese border
• Hilly Region - Average elevation of 300m in area including dense forests and watersheds of tributaries of the Se San and the Sre Pok Rivers
• Lowland Plains Region - Elevation between 60-100m at the Se San and Sre Pok valleys 3

The primary economic activities in Ratanikiri are subsistence agriculture, livestock raising, fishing, and non-timber forest produce harvesting. However, with external investments into logging and plantation agriculture increasing in the past decade, competition and tensions between indigenous groups are on the rise.

Until recently, Ratanakiri's indigenous groups lived fairly autonomously due to the province's physical isolation from Phnom Penh. In the post-civil war years, the country has turned its attention to promoting economic development.

Ratanakiri - with its rich volcanic soil, pristine rivers, abundant hardwood forests, and relatively low population - has become the frontier for proposed industrial plantations, hydroelectric projects, and logging concessions.

Amidst this investment boom, the livelihoods and needs of the province's 50,000 indigenous inhabitants are being overlooked, as highland swidden farming and traditional forests long harvested for non-timber forest produce come under the threat from commercial interests.

Collecting raw latex from the numerous rubber plantations in Ratanakiri Province. Photo: AMRC

Stung Treng Province lies west to Ratanakiri Province, downstream of the Se San River. This is where the river merges with another two tributaries Se Kong and Sre Pok, and finally with the Mekong River.

There are five districts in this province: Siem Pang, Se San, Theareabarivat, Stung Treng, and Siem Bauk. Two of these districts are affected by the Yali Falls Dam, namely Se San and Stung Treng.

Se San District stretches from the eastern border of the province - where it joins Ratanakiri, to where the Se San and Se Kong Rivers converge. The lower part of the Sre Pok River also runs through the Se San District and converges with the Se San River at the central part of the district. The district is located about 250 to over 300 km from the Yali Falls Dam.

Stung Treng District is adjacent to Se San District. Here lies the confluence of the Se Kong River, Se San River, and the Mekong River. The Yali Falls Dam is approximately 350 km from the district.

1. Dupar, Mairi and Badenoch, Nathan. (2002) "The case studies". Environment, Livelihoods, and Local Institutions: Decentralization in Mainland Southeast Asia. World Resources Institute.
2.Yorn Chetna, 2002, "Development Potential and Its Impact of Sesan Rivers-Mekong Tributary" Dialogue on River Basin Development and Civil Society in Cambodia. Brisbane, Australia. Sept 01-06, 2002.
3.Colm, S. (1997) Land Rights: The Challenge for Ratanakiri's Indigenous Communities, Watershed, Vol.3, No. 1.
4. Baird, Ian. et al. (2002). A Community-Based Study of the Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam Along the Se San, Sre Pok and Sekong Rivers in Stung Treng Province, Northeast Cambodia, Se San Protection Network Project, Partners For Development (PFD) Non Timber Forest Products Project (NTFP) Se San District Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Office
Stung Treng District Office.