CAMBODIANS SEEK A BALANCE BETWEEN AGRICULTURE AND WILDLIFE         by Zoltan Istvan National Geographic Channel c.2004 National Geographic Channel (Distributed by the New York Times Syndicate)  In the Cardamom Mountains of southwest Cambodia, many farmers can cite the exact amount of time they spent in labor camps under the Khmer Rouge.  "Three years, eight months and 20 days," says Kley Phim. She and her husband live in the Thmar Bang district in the Koh Kong province _ 40 years ago, a major rice-producing region for Cambodia.  The couple is trying to rebuild a farming life destroyed by Pol Pot's regime. "My husband's mother was killed by the Khmer Rouge in the village of Arrang," says Phim.  Land mines and unexploded ordnance still worry farmers in the neighboring fields. But another challenge is how to balance the demands of development and the environment.  The region's agriculture is flourishing _ and threatening some of the most pristine forests in Asia, the habitat for 14 endangered species, including the Asian elephant, Indochinese tiger and the Siamese crocodile (once presumed extinct).  The 17,000-square-mile Cardamom region, with peaks up to 5,000 feet, is home to 30 percent of Cambodia's tigers. One of the last elephant migration routes in Asia passes through. Increasingly, farmers cross paths with families of elephants.  Sometimes the elephants are shot if they destroy crops. Poachers prey on the elephants _ as food and for the illegal wildlife trade.  When the Khmer Rouge took over, many villagers were forcibly relocated to labor camps. Fields lay fallow. Now the Chai Phat region is striving to regain its stature as one of Cambodia's major rice production centers.  During wartime, few companies, national or international, received commissions to log the forest.  Traditionally, Chi Phat farming succeeded because of what environmentalists call "shifting agriculture": New forest plots are cut down every year to open up the most nutrient-rich soil, then not reused.  Two decades ago, when Chi Phat residents began returning, they followed that pattern.  "Every time trees are cut down to make a new rice field, animals lose their homes and the forest is compromised," says Ty Sokhun, director of Cambodia's forestry and wildlife department, which supports programs in the Cardamoms that teach farmers about sustainable agriculture.  More than 700 families live in the Chi Phat community, which consists of the villages of Chi Phat, Kamlot, Chom Sla, and Tenk Laak.  "Few of the farmers have land titles to the forests they are cutting down," says Ai Ouy, Chi Phat commune chief and farmer. "No one really knows who the land belongs to so people just cut it down for themselves and use it for that year."  The government wants to preserve the mountains and the animals there. Surveyors have been trained to help farmers determine land boundaries, a way to manage "shifting agriculture." Conservation International, with an office in Phnom Penh, and other groups are providing support.  But in Chi Phat community meetings, farmers are passionately debating the land-reform program. Many farmers fear that the government may restrict access to their fields _ and to the forests they plan to cut down in the future, which they've long considered their own.  "I would like to have a title to the land my family and I live and work on," says Phim. "But what if they cut the size of our farm lands in half? Or what if they say we have to move since the land isn't really ours?"  Ouy understands the forests and wildlife around his community are disappearing. He tries to talk with villagers about the problem in community meetings.  "Villagers are poor," Ouy says. "Many are struggling just to get by. Shifting agriculture is something the people have practiced for a hundred years. It's going to be difficult to stop them from doing it."  Yuth Phouthang, the district governor of Koh Kong province, who issues land titles in Chi Phat, is hoping that if the villagers learn sustainable agriculture techniques, farmers will prosper _ but not at the expense of the forest.  "Right now it's difficult to teach so many farmers to break their old habits," says Phouthang. "Many of the people just want to be left alone to farm in peace. But we're hopeful in time they'll change and stop cutting down the forests."